I actually don't see this as toyata's fault, but instead the fault of the receptionist who was told about the problem and then didn't do anything about it. none-the-less, there are 4 people dead and a recall that i'm sure is costing Toyota millions http://autos.aol.com/article/toyota-tragedy-saylor-family?icid=main|compaq-desktop|dl2|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fautos.aol.com%2Farticle%2Ftoyota-tragedy-saylor-family
Would no one think to put it in neutral and let the motor blow up rather than try to continue driving?
My girlfriend just got the floor mat recall in the mail for her Camry... I havent checked out yet to see if it actually looks dangerous yet.. Maybe I better get on that.
I heard about this prior to this tragedy. Toyota was haggling with many owners who stated that their cars did this without the "pedal entrapment," caused by the floor mat. Sounds like throttle linkage, or cruise control and or ECU badness. I would be cranking that e-brake and exploding that tranny. Sad story though! Definite marketing opportunity for the competition.
yeah the guy was a retired air force, and california highway patrol man. i wonder if he really was trying to take it out of gear or anything or if he just freaked
Probably freaked! Happened to another guy who had the same vehicle as a loaner a couple of days before that family got it. He was able to put it into neutral and slow it down.
It would be quite a stir all of a sudden accelerating like that for no reason, but its not like the brakes don't work...? That would at least slow you down so you can think about taking it out of gear.
Turn the key off and the steering wheel will most likely lock. I have a similar kind of problem with my WRX. My floor mat slides under the brake pedal, so when I push the brake in fully, sometimes it catches on the floor mat and won't depress. I got a newer hook for the floor mat at SoG a few weeks ago, and it is holding the floor mat better, but it still twists a little bit and gets stuck on the edge of the brake pedal. I think I am about to remove my floor mat again and just drive without it. I already wore a hole in the carpet where my heel rests when I am driving. Guess I will make that hole bigger now.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-toyota-throttle29-2009nov29,0,5254584.story?track=rss I am not buying the floor mat story. It may be true in some of the unexplained accelerations, but a lot of the ones reportedly still do it with no floor mats. Toyota has been all drive by wire since 02. The recall they are doing not only trims the acceleration pedal but changes the software so the engine will idle if the brake and accelerator are pushed down at the same time.
that's my next step, i also have the hook on the mat but the other side with a hole doesn't latch onto anything so it slides even more with one corner pinched.
I hate my all weather mats because of this, there is nothing keeping it attached to the floor so they slide forward really bad and get taggled in the pedals. I took a knife and modded my driver's side one so that I could atleast put the lil peg thing in the mat to keep it from sliding forward.
This situation reminds me of the time when Audi went through almost the same thing. I am sad/sorry whenever any one dies in a car crash.. After having driven hundreds if not thousands of cars over the years,I have yet to find one that the engine can overpower the brakes.I do not mean one that will break the tires loose,I used to power brake My mustang at the drag strip.I mean one that move forward with the brakes fully depressed. As far as what caused the acceleration,that can be verified through the on board computer.You just go back and read the throttle position sensor reading and determine if the gas pedal was pushed down or not.This would confirm or deny what was 'causing' the unintended acceleration. I am fairly certain that not all Toyotas since 02 are drive by wire.Esp. if you count Scion as part of them.I will do some research and get back on this point. Also,I have it on a very reliable source that as of now there is not a decided upon repair/fix.Again I will confirm this and get back to you.
just one more reason that drive-by-wire systems are bullshit. Sad to see Toyota giving so many people the runaround on this.