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LOS ANGELES — Toyota said Tuesday it will order all dealers to inspect their cars for mismatched floor mats after a mat was suspected of snagging a gas pedal on a runaway Lexus, ending with a fiery crash that killed four family members in San Diego County.
Way too early to determine what caused the accident form the desription given really. Almost sounds like a theroy given by a trail lawyer really. I am surprised tho that they had toime to call but never seemed to disble the engine, But then things liike coke bottles.Cas and junk on the floor board cause similar crashes all teh time. Notice later they claim that they don't really know the cause.Manufacuters will always give out a notice whether the actual; cause or not. HMM;120 miles a hour ;time to call ;no brakes seems odd really.
I just don't understand how a police officer would not think to do anything to disable the vehicle - take it out of gear or turn the engine off but leave the car in ON so to steer. It seems fishy to me.
I just don't understand how a police officer would not think to do anything to disable the vehicle - take it out of gear or turn the engine off but leave the car in ON so to steer. It seems fishy to me.
It does sound a bit strange... I was driving an Astro van once during the winter with my big work boots on. Coming up to a light, pressed on the brake and my foot slipped between the two pedals and got jammed on top of the now fully pressed down gas pedal. My immediate reaction was to throw it in neutral and turn off the engine.
Technology... I am not familiar with these new "finger tip" starters on these newer cars, but seems like they would be designed to not lock the steering when the car is moving if you had to shut it off while moving.
I had a Mercedes once that the accelerator pedal had broken on... I was going up a highway grade, then when I leveled off and released the pedal, the car kepted accelerating. I turned the ignition off one notch back (enough to turn only the car off) and safely steered to the side of the road and came to a nice and smooth stop from 60 mph. Yes, the car had power steering and brakes and that was gone with the engine off, but it still easily steered and the brakes still worked well. I managed to pull the pedal back up and not being that far from home, I was able to safely get the car back home to repair.
Yes, its strange that this "officer" didnt think to simply engage the car in neutral then stop the car (who cares if the engine redlined, the familys safety was a risk and most cars shut off before it gets that close to redine).... and the pedal must have really been mashed down great deal for it to have accelerated to 120 that fast. All I can guess is that he was in a panicked state and didnt think of it?
Sad situation any way you look at it. People were killed.
This is one in a long list of Toyotas with acceleration issues that led to crashes. A while back, the owner of a Prius ended up driving through his garage after he said the car suddenly lunged forward. Toyota always blames it on the floor mats, but both victims and some consumer websites suggest it is something more. Personally, I think it may be an issue with their drive-by-wire system, which Toyota began introducing around 2005. Toyota vehicles that have had unintended acceleration claims: Prius, Sienna, Tacoma, Camry. While the NHTSA closed the case in 2008 due to lack of evidence, there are numerous parties pushing to have it reopened again, especially in the case of a 2005 Camry accident.
I'm not sure if Toyota has repeated throttle sticking issues but I know of various makes who have. I believe certain early years of the C5 Corvette had this issue but GM never formally admitted to it. I was looking to buy one a few years back and was shocked to find multiple instances of this happening so I'd definitely buy a 2002+ if I was in the market.
I just don't understand how a police officer would not think to do anything to disable the vehicle - take it out of gear or turn the engine off but leave the car in ON so to steer. It seems fishy to me.
You know just because he is a police officer does not mean he was smart.
You know just because he is a police officer does not mean he was smart.
But its kinda common sense, particularly working in a field where you're constantly driving or having someone drive away from you.
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