esmarkey

Saw/heard this one on the news..... scary
They also showed how you should put the car in nuetral if it does happens.

87silver

It all depends upon the individual if someone is going to pull this off without injury or worse. It's instinctive to those who do not understand their vehicle or mechanical concepts to simply stand on the brakes in a panic. Perhaps those who have spent some time under a hood or chassis will react differently if this emergency ever presented itself, as they might have ulterior reactions based upon a subconscious understanding of what's going on with the vehicle. This problem occurs unexpectedly and at random.

sleeper

Sad to learn of more deaths from this known Defect..

I don't know, as a kid I drove some clunks, half the time driving & 1/2 fixing 'em.. so I learned to down shift & or throw it in neutral etc...

But I guess you never know at that moment.

This should have been stopped long ago.

ChevyMgr

I really can't believe I read this in the LA times. But here it is.

Doubt cast on Toyota's decision to blame sudden acceleration on gas pedal defect
The pedal maker denies that its products are at fault. Some independent safety experts also are skeptical of Toyota's explanations. 'We know this recall is a red herring,' one says.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s decision to blame its widening sudden-acceleration problem on a gas pedal defect came under attack Friday, with the pedal manufacturer flatly denying that its products were at fault.

Federal vehicle safety records reviewed by The Times also cast doubt on Toyota's claims that sticky gas pedals were a significant factor in the growing reports of runaway vehicles. Of more than 2,000 motorist complaints of sudden acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles over the last decade, just 5% blamed a sticking gas pedal, the analysis found.

What's more, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has conducted eight investigations into sudden-acceleration problems in Toyota vehicles over the last seven years, none of which identified a sticking pedal as a potential cause.


http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...073,full.story

sleeper

UNREAL, spread the blame around. Cause law suits are coming..


My neighbors wife has a pretty new toyota car..
She has stopped driving it (totally) till something can be done to give her peace of mind.

EcoBoost

Right there with you, sleeper. My wife has a Highlander that I inherited from my late father. It has unusual throttle characteristics, to say the least. It's inconsistent in this regard. Teaching her how to react should it "take off running" was a most unsettling thing to have to do.

I can only imagine what's happening to the resale value of this 2008 vehicle. I'd bet it's lost 10% or more of its value since this debacle began. Grrr...

solman98

Isn't she your neighbor also......

HHRSSouth

Sounds more like a quick "fix" to get people off there backs then to find the real reason why there cars are doing this?

sleeper

Guess it's a 'southern respect' kinda thing..

Doc brown

Feel like buying a Toyota? Their troubles aren't over yet. Read this:

The newest version of Toyota’s Prius hybrid has already racked up at least 96 consumer complaints to U.S. safety officials about braking and sudden acceleration, more than double the number of complaints about all flaws in the 2009 version.

According to a review of federal data by the Detroit Free Press, most of the complaints allege the Prius accelerated after traveling over a bump or pothole and didn’t immediately respond to the brake pedal. The 96 complaints reviewed by the Free Press link the problem to two injuries and two crashes.

One owner from Commerce Township told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that they could reproduce a “lurching” in their Prius every time they hit a certain pothole.


http://www.freep.com/article/2010020...ing-over-bumps