Toyota stop sale

[jinx]

I wonder it's the same problem the audi 5000 had. That would be ironic.

[tw]

Originally Posted by jinx

I wonder it's the same problem the audi 5000 had. That would be ironic.

The audi 5000 was clearly drivers stomping on the gas pedal. Then claiming they were pressing the brake pedal. Even a Consumers Report investigation and video made that obvious.

This Toyota problem is different. In one crash, the brakes literally melted.

[jinx]

Originally Posted by tw

The audi 5000 was clearly drivers stomping on the gas pedal. Then claiming they were pressing the brake pedal. Even a Consumers Report investigation and video made that obvious.

Yes. I know.

In one crash, the brakes literally melted.

Didn't know that. Is there a link?

[glatt]

Originally Posted by jinx

Didn't know that. Is there a link?

I hadn't heard that either, but just found this.

"In the accident that has drawn perhaps the most publicity, a 2009 Lexus ES 350 raced through San Diego, weaving at 120 miles an hour through rush-hour freeway traffic. Veteran California Highway Patrol officer Mark Saylor was at the wheel, with his wife, teen-age daughter and brother-in-law aboard.

"We're in trouble. ... There's no brakes," Saylor's brother-in-law told a police dispatcher over a cellphone. As they approached an intersection, and the end of the road, the passengers could be heard urging each other to pray. All four died.

Afterward, investigators said that it appeared the brakes had been applied for so long that the brake pads melted, according to a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

[tw]

Originally Posted by jinx

Didn't know that. Is there a link?

To the Audi and Toyota problems? Or a URL? I have so many sources that I cannot remember which ones reported on that one crash and the melted brakes.

And BTW, one would be completely devoid of basic driving techniques to not know how to put a car into neutral or switch it off (without the steering wheel locking up). For those who do not know how to do this, well, even after thirty years of driving, I still learn a new driving technique. Most who learn how to drive have only started to learn what should be common knowledge - such as how to put any moving car into neutral.

Same is why drivers go to snowy parking lots. Get up a little speed and spin the wheel. Every driver should have a feeling for how that car spins out - and how to control it. Even a parking brake is a steering tool when one finally learns basics.

Fact that so many have suffered death due to this ‘failure combined with little driving knowledge’ implies how much larger the problem actually may be.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by tw

Same is why drivers go to snowy parking lots. Get up a little speed and spin the wheel. Every driver should have a feeling for how that car spins out - and how to control it.

Cruisin with tw in a snow covered parking lot - Now THAT sounds like a good time. :p

[classicman]

Originally Posted by jinx

I wonder it's the same problem the Audi 5000 had. That would be ironic.

And the answer is...
..
..
..

The U.S. Department of Transportation has analyzed dozens of data recorders from Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles involved in accidents blamed on sudden acceleration and found that the throttles were wide open and the brakes weren't engaged at the time of the crash, people familiar with the findings said.
The early results suggest that some drivers who said their Toyotas and Lexuses surged out of control were mistakenly flooring the accelerator when they intended to jam on the brakes.
The initial findings are consistent with a 1989 government-sponsored study that blamed similar driver mistakes for a rash of sudden-acceleration reports involving Audi 5000 sedans.

Link

[glatt]

The early results suggest that some drivers who said their Toyotas and Lexuses surged out of control were mistakenly flooring the accelerator when they intended to jam on the brakes.

I was annoyed when I heard this news report on NPR the other day. They didn't give any numbers at all. They said of all the reported incidents, "some" were cause by driver error. That's not very helpful. Was it 99% or was it more like 5%? You leave the report thinking "Well, that's that. It was the drivers' fault." When really you can't make any such statement without the numbers. "Some" is not a number. This article basically says nothing at all.