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The news has been playing the 911 call from the back seat passenger in the Lexus that killed him, the driver and two other passengers.
The driver, a CHP Officer, was driving with his family. It is believed that his wife was in the passenger seat and their daughter was riding in the back along with driver's brother in law who made the call.
At about 6:30 p.m. Friday a call came into 911 by the brother in law sitting in the passenger's backseat. The 911 tape reveals the terror and desperation in his voice during the call while the car he was in was accelerating at more than 100 miles per hour.
It's believed that shortly after that call came in the Lexus reached the intersection of Highway 125 and Mission Gorge Road where it clipped a Ford Explorer, careened off the road and flew 150 feet before it landed in the San Diego river basin and burst into flames, killing all passengers inside.
What's so sad is that Lexus is trying to blame it on a floor mat. I could be wrong, but the driver is a CHP Officer, and I am sure that he had enough sense and experience, even during that crises to have tried to, at least, pull back the floor mat and or put the car in neutral.
But again, I DON'T BELIEVE IT WAS JUST THE FLOOR MAT. I think that it was a software failure--a crash--like your home computer. The car could not be shut off, nor shifted to neutral because the computer was frozen (locked up). Some people have asked why didn't the driver prevent this tragic accident by just shuting the car off or shifting it to neutral?
Unfortunatly for the driver and all of his passsengers, everything in this car is computer controlled, the ignition is a button wired to the computer, not a key; the shifter is simply switches wired to the computer, and you have to press this button for 3 seconds in order for the car to turn off. Perhaps during the driver's panic, that was that last thing for him to think about doing, since a typical iginition has a key in it. Nothing he possibly could try worked because the computer was locked up.The brakes failed and burst into flames, and witnesses saw smoke coming out of the tires from the brakes literally burning up.
So Lexus says Recall a Floor mat. Are you serious? What a lie! Lexus is diverting because they know the millions they will lose if the public finds out the ES 350 is a speeding death trap that cannot be escaped. I never thought that I would be saying anything negative about Lexus or Toyota since I drive a 2001 Camry with yes, 181,000 miles on it, and it still runs like new, and my wife drives a 2007 Camry which is affected by the recall.
Tragedies like this one need to be prevented, and I hope that Lexus and Toyota figure out a way to have some type of switch to suddenly make a car deccelerate or shut off so that when another one of their cars suddenly accelerates, the driver can simply press anbutton so that the car can safely come to a stop without anyone losing their lives or getting hurt.
Toyota should make cars that allow the driver to shift into neutral when moving. That has always been my plan for if my gas pedal gets stuck.
I think they always were if the shifter wasn't 100% electric like this Lexus was. Every car I've had with an auto, you can freely move between neutral and drive.
Just a personal opinion, I think computers are the result of pollution laws; every aspect of an engine is governed by a tiny chip to save gas or reduce emissions.
Safety laws are passed because of one accident and we get more chips controlling shifting and brakes. It is impossible to buy a mechanically simple car any more. Repair bills are through the roof because you need another computer to see what is wrong with a car.
I still remember a kid in high school that thought his 1941 Ford was complicated!
you can still put the trans in neutral. Or park for that matter.. Maybe I am missing something.. What makes you thing the trans control is electronic also? Ill bet its still cable control
you can still put the trans in neutral. Or park for that matter.. Maybe I am missing something.. What makes you thing the trans control is electronic also? Ill bet its still cable control
On the exterior, the ES 250 shared the same general body style and overall dimensions as its Toyota counterparts, but had a more prominent grille, bigger tail lights, chrome trim, frameless windows, and distinct wheel design similar to its LS brethren. Inside the cabin, the ES 250 featured a six-speaker Pioneer sound system, genuine wood trim, one-touch power windows, and leather seats. A four-speed automatic or five-speed manual transmission was offered. The Electronically Controlled Automatic Transmission (ECT) featured "normal" and "power" modes.
It doesn't seem credible that an average driver would not know to shift into neutral, even if he weren't wholly familiar with the push button ignition. I ran into a similar situation (not floor mat-related, but pedal to the metal-type engine revs without the accelerator being depressed) in a domestic make several years ago. I shifted into neutral, coasted to a stop and turned the engine off. After a restart, the problem went away. I fixed the problem for good by replacing some fuel system sensors.
Makes me really miss the old Volkswagen Beetle - where even if the accelerator did stick, you could just open the door and jump out. I mean, come on, a 35 mph fall usually doesn't kill people.
Seriously though, this news story is really sickening.
As for ECT, hell, my old Camry 87 has that, as far as I know you can shift any auto into neutral any time you want to.
Couldn't give me one of these Lexi now though...
Apparently Toyota have a problem with this drive-by-wire throttle.
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