CHP officer & family killed

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Re: CHP officer & family killed

Postby cheapski » Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:36 am

Guess what?

Toyota's runaway-car worries may not stop at floor mats

The tragedy Aug. 28 was at least the fifth fatal crash in the U.S. over the last two years involving runaway Toyota and Lexus vehicles made by Toyota Motor Corp. It is also among hundreds of incidents of sudden acceleration involving the company's vehicles that have been reported to Toyota or the federal government, according to an examination of public records by The Times.

Toyota has blamed the incidents -- apart from those caused by driver error -- on its floor mats, asserting that if they are improperly installed they can jam open the accelerator pedal. A month after the Saylor crash, Toyota issued its biggest recall in company history, affecting 3.8 million vehicles in model years as far back as 2004. But auto safety experts believe there may be a bigger problem with Toyota vehicles than simply the floor mats.

The Saylor crash and others like it across the country, they say, point to a troubling possibility: that Toyota's ignition, transmission and braking systems may make it difficult for drivers to combat sudden or unintended accelerations and safely recover, regardless of their cause.

"This is Toyota's Firestone," said Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, a Rehoboth, Mass., auto safety consulting firm. He was referring to the public relations disaster that hit Bridgestone/Firestone almost 10 years ago over defective tires that caused a series of fatal accidents.

"Right now," Kane said, "when you say sudden acceleration, Toyota is it."
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Anybody else own a "recalled" Toyota?

Postby boarddad » Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:34 pm

I own a 2008 Camry and frankly I'm shocked by Toyot'a response thus far. The only notice of a recall I've been given has been through the media. Accordingly, I removed the driver's side floormat. We took our car in for service yesterday and asked about the recall. The dealer said the floor mats are not a problem as long as they are the OE mats. Admittedly the mats didn't just slip right out - it took a little doing to unhook them, but that's NOT what has been reported in the media! IMHO, the pedal design is a huge contributing factor. Not only is it not hinged as the NTSB concluded, but it also has a little divot in the body that the pedal gets pressed into. In other words, when the pedal is fully depressed, it sits BELOW the edge of the floor mat - YIPES!

Keep in mind, Toyota has said NOTHING to us! No notice in the mail, no frantic robocall, not even so much as a recal alert at the time of servce - NOTHING! When I had a Nissan they ran a complete check every time I so much as called to schedule an oil change. It's as if Toyota doesn't believe they have a problem. Toyota better damn well get more proactive on this! Frankly removing the floormat is no solution - it's there to protect the carpet from wear...or at least it was.

As if their sharky sales techniques wasn't enough to keep me from buying another one...
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Re: CHP officer & family killed

Postby susylia » Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:02 pm

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Re: CHP officer & family killed

Postby Sierra Lady » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:29 pm

^ Thanks for that update.
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Re: CHP officer & family killed

Postby SurfnSnowboard » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:33 pm

I wonder if anyone has done a test to see what can be done to stop this model of car when the accelerator is stuck. With electronic controlled everything it's taken away some of the options that are available on older cars such as shifting into neutral or simply turning off the key.

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Re: CHP officer & family killed

Postby oldskier » Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:11 am

Sounds like it several models of cars. This whole thing blows my mind. After reading some of the blogs from people that had it happen to them and managed to get the vehicle back under control it seems like it may be more common than the article lets on. I wonder how many (like Ski-Bum 4 ever) took it to the dealer to have it fixed and it was never reported.
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Re: CHP officer & family killed

Postby boarddad » Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:30 pm

Really makes me wish I'd bought an Altima instead of a Camry :@
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Re: CHP officer & family killed

Postby Biker395 » Fri Nov 06, 2009 2:44 pm

Wow! I think we were the victim of an unitended acceleration inicident.

Last year, we were driving along up to Mammoth at about 65 MPH, and all of a sudden, our van went full throttle for no reason! I tried and I tried to get the accelerator off the floor, all to no avail. I was at it for at least a couple of minutes or so before I finally got everything untangled. By that time, we were going almost 70 MPH!

Do you think I should report it?
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Re: CHP officer & family killed

Postby snowboard247 » Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:58 am

Biker395 wrote:Wow! I think we were the victim of an unitended acceleration inicident.

Last year, we were driving along up to Mammoth at about 65 MPH, and all of a sudden, our van went full throttle for no reason! I tried and I tried to get the accelerator off the floor, all to no avail. I was at it for at least a couple of minutes or so before I finally got everything untangled. By that time, we were going almost 70 MPH!

Do you think I should report it?


are you kidding, i cant tell.
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Re: CHP officer & family killed

Postby theHighwayman » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:26 am

snowboard247 wrote:
Biker395 wrote:Wow! I think we were the victim of an unitended acceleration inicident.

Last year, we were driving along up to Mammoth at about 65 MPH, and all of a sudden, our van went full throttle for no reason! I tried and I tried to get the accelerator off the floor, all to no avail. I was at it for at least a couple of minutes or so before I finally got everything untangled. By that time, we were going almost 70 MPH!

Do you think I should report it?


are you kidding, i cant tell.



I'm thinkin that's a WAY underpowered "van" ;) :D annnnd a great storyteller :lol:
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Re: CHP officer & family killed

Postby susylia » Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:47 pm

Today in the LA Times:

Runaway Toyota cases ignored
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