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That does seem to be the police's analysis, however their analysis does not explain why multiple witnesses saw the vehicle going very slow as though the driver was experiencing car trouble or ran out of gas. Also, if I recall correctly, one witness said he/she saw black smoke coming from the vehicle's exhaust when it was going real slow as though the engine was running overly rich, which would explain why the vehicle was going so slow because the engine would be running very rough (stalling, stumbling, bulky) and lose power. Then, 45 seconds or so after these witnesses passed the troubled vehicle these same witnesses saw it speeding by them with the emergency flashers on.
In my opinion it is highly unlikely that a jammed gas pedal on the all-weather floor mat would have caused the engine to lose power and run roughly. (This sort of thing only happened years ago when vehicle's did not have a computer to control engine parameters, the engine was cold, used carburetors, and had mechanical chokes.) The problem this vehicle experienced [early-on when it was going very slow on the highway] sounds to me like it was likely caused by a malfunctioning engine management computer system. What is confusing is what caused the engine to suddenly operate at wide-open-throttle thereafter. It could have been caused by the computer, which appears to have already been malfunctioning - causing the engine to run poorly and not be able to get up to highway speed. Or it could have been caused by the driver scooting the loose all-weather floor mat with his foot during the time he was feathering the gas pedal as he was trying to keep the balky engine from stalling-out completely. I'm assuming he either had the transmission in-gear when he was experiencing the engine running roughly, or when the engine started revving up smoothly he put the transmission in gear and drove off.
I can visualize the driver possibly mashing the gas pedal all the way to the floor once he drove off from the side of the highway (or from going so slowly) to test the engine's performance, or maybe flooring the gas pedal because he was irritated by what had happened. Nevertheless, from that point forward until the crash it sounds like the engine was operating at full throttle - not partial throttle. It's my view that even if the heavy driver's side all-weather floor mat was over top of the gas pedal the weight of the mat would not have been able to mash the gas pedal all the way to the floorboard. And, the pictures I have seen of a jambed gas pedal on an all-weather floor mat does not make the gas pedal go all the way to the floorboard either. That said, a partial deployment of the gas pedal is far different (from an acceleration standpoint) compared to a fully deployed wide-open-throttle condition.
It remains confusing (to me) whether the vehicle experienced one problem (engine computer or floor mat) or two problems either simultaneously or one after another.
There is no doubt the driver experienced a problem with the vehicle. But what remains just as big a mystery to me is why the experienced state trooper didn't gear-down or put the transmission into neutral, or apply the emergency brake. It makes no sense whatsoever that he failed to do this. (I asked my wife what she would do if the engine in her car all of a sudden went into a WOT. Without any hesitation she said - ("slam on the brakes, put it in neutral and turn off the key." Within one second of saying that she then said, "put on the parking brake.") And she's not a state trooper or a race car driver!
Lastly, the police report analysis said the brakes had indications of severe braking. I find it hard to believe that the brakes were damaged from when the prior driver experienced a similar problem two days before the state trooper crashed. It appears the first driver was able to bring the vehicle to a safe stop quickly, and experienced no problem with the brakes thereafter while he had the loaner vehicle. Tests have been performed on various cars (see previous post with chart) that clearly show any vehicle's brakes can easily stop the vehicle even under wide-open-throttle conditions. Modern four-wheel disk brakes are extremely reliable and extremly durable. It is my opinion that it would take well over a thousand feet of fully-applied hard braking before the brakes faded and became even partially ineffective. Automotive brakes are designed to handle extremely high heat while braking very heavy loads on extended downhill mountain inclines. That said, during the state trooper's initial hard braking attempt, when the vehicle was going well below the high crash speed, the brakes should have easily brought the vehicle to a complete stop. But, even if the brakes completely failed to slow the vehicle down even 1 mph - why didn't the state trooper slip the transmission into neutral or at least gear down? (If you read the entire police report you know that the state trooper's personal car had a sport transmission which included gear shift paddles on the steering. It wasn't like this man didn't know anything about gear shifting or how to gear down.) And, for whatever it's worth - the Lexus ES350 transmission can easily be geared down or slipped into neutral while under full torque acceleration load and at any speed.
Very confusing - concerning what took place with the vehicle and also why the experienced driver failed to take any action beyond [assumed] braking.
I think we are in agreement on most of this. I do want to throw out though that we do not know how many miles were on the brakes on the car. Supposed they were due soon for replacement and the first driver experienced very hard braking and wore them down. They could still have had enough to feel normal under normal conditions, but be too worn down for the hard braking two days later. All speculation since I have no evidence other than that they loaned the car out without checking just a short time after having an issue. I have had my own accident before because I put off doing my brakes too long. They drove fine until I needed them in an emergency situation. Well, just throwing that thought out there...
I think we are in agreement on most of this. I do want to throw out though that we do not know how many miles were on the brakes on the car. Supposed they were due soon for replacement and the first driver experienced very hard braking and wore them down. They could still have had enough to feel normal under normal conditions, but be too worn down for the hard braking two days later. All speculation since I have no evidence other than that they loaned the car out without checking just a short time after having an issue. I have had my own accident before because I put off doing my brakes too long. They drove fine until I needed them in an emergency situation. Well, just throwing that thought out there...
My guess is that since the 2009 Lexus ES350 involved in the deadly crash was a dealer loaner vehicle from the beginning it had minimal miles on the odometer. Rarely are loaner cars driven much, or very far, by a dealer's service customers. Also, dealers almost always take their loaner vehicles out of service and sell them as dealer demos when they have between 6k and 9k miles on them, 12k miles at the most for lower volume dealers. Most of these loaner vehicles, especially high-end vehicles like the Lexus, are driven by middle-age or older clients that live or work relatively nearby. Seldom are they mistreated and rarely are they driven more than 50 miles per loan/day - the average probably being less than 25 miles 4 times per week. The brakes on this vehicle should have been practically new.
State Farm says it alerted feds to Toyota problems in 2007 Christine Tierney and David Shepardson / The Detroit News
Insurance giant State Farm alerted U.S. safety regulators in late 2007 that it was seeing an uptick in reports of sudden-unintended acceleration incidents in Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles, a company spokesman said today.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials confirmed that they had been notified by State Farm but were already investigating reports of unintended acceleration from drivers of Toyota and Lexus vehicles.
Still, the disclosure by the country's largest auto insurer, reported by the Washington Post, is bound to turn up the pressure on both NHTSA and Toyota.
State Farm, which maintains a vast trove of crash data from its customer base of more than 40 million, also passed on a report to NHTSA of a 2007 accident that contributed to a small recall.
State Farm spokesman Dick Luedke said the insurer has received "numerous claims about alleged unwanted acceleration problems in Toyota and Lexus vehicles in recent years."
"State Farm notified NHTSA in late 2007 about an uptick in situations involving alleged unwanted acceleration in Toyotas," he said, adding that the company communicates regularly with NHTSA about product-related claim trends.
A spokeswoman for the federal agency confirmed that NHTSA had received a copy of a claim letter to Toyota dated Sept. 7, 2007, related to the crash of a 2005 Camry. "Our investigative staff reviewed the report and added the information to our complaint database," said spokeswoman Karen Aldana.
State Farm says it alerted feds to Toyota problems in 2007 | detnews.com | The Detroit News (http://www.detnews.com/article/20100209/AUTO01/2090384/1148/rss25/State-Farm-says-it-alerted-feds-to-Toyotas-in-2007#ixzz0f5IYp8vf - broken link)
My guess is that since the 2009 Lexus ES350 involved in the deadly crash was a dealer loaner vehicle from the beginning it had minimal miles on the odometer. Rarely are loaner cars driven much, or very far, by a dealer's service customers. Also, dealers almost always take their loaner vehicles out of service and sell them as dealer demos when they have between 6k and 9k miles on them, 12k miles at the most for lower volume dealers. Most of these loaner vehicles, especially high-end vehicles like the Lexus, are driven by middle-age or older clients that live or work relatively nearby. Seldom are they mistreated and rarely are they driven more than 50 miles per loan/day - the average probably being less than 25 miles 4 times per week. The brakes on this vehicle should have been practically new.
It looks like the NHTSA has a high degree of culpability. Likewise, it looks like Toyota has worked with the NHTSA to their satisfaction...satisfaction that did not solve the problem of sudden unintended acceleration.
All this is no more than media hype (The Domestic car companies are licking their chops for nothing, it will clear soon).
Relax people..
I see too many Toyotas on the road for these articles to scare me. I drove mine today. Friends, strangers, family members, business colleagues were on the road today with their Toyotas (Avalons, Priuses, Highlanders, Corollas, Camrys, 4Runners, Land Cruisers, Yarises, etc).
A few voices on this forum is not enough to stop the Japanese from pushing through. Once the smoke clears, we'll see who's still on top.
Mark my words.
Recall or not, Toyota is still better than most of its domestic counterparts. Hate it or love it, it's still true, regardless of these recalls. Read this article. It's recent, and nothing's made up. I have no reason to.
All that does is show the media bias for Japanese cars. That's it. It does not mean that the problems will just go away. Positive thinking does not make them disappear you know.
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