Owners of Toyota Cars in Rebellion Over Series of Accidents Caused by Sudden Acceleration

[RamboLiberal]

Source: ABC News

Refusing to accept the explanation of Toyota and the federal government, hundreds of Toyota owners are in rebellion after a series of accidents caused by what they call "runaway cars."

Safety analysts found an estimated 2000 cases in which owners of Toyota cars including Camry, Prius and Lexus, reported that their cars surged without warning up to speeds of 100 miles per hour.

Toyota says the incidents are caused by floor mats becoming stuck under gas pedals, but owners say that's not what happened to them.

"I'm absolutely certain that in my situation, it was not the floor mats," Elizabeth James told ABC News. She was driving her Toyota Prius outside Denver, CO when she says it suddenly shot up to 90 miles an hour, even though her foot was on the brake and not the gas pedal.

-----

James and some other Toyota owners suspect the accidents have been caused by some kind of glitch in the electronic computer system used in Toyotas that controls the throttle.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/RunawayToyotas/sudden-acceleration-toyota-cars-owners-rebel-accidents/story?id=8980479

[high density]

1. Suspect?

How about some facts instead of bullshit. I'm far from a Toyota fan but I'm tired of MSM speculation instead of real reporting.

[musiclawyer]

2. Hyundai Genesis

and Genesis Coups is going to cause mayhem in Lexus/Toyota land in due time.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

31. I already have buyers remorse

I recently bought a Hyundai as a second car and I am kicking myself for not having considered the Sonata and Genesis when I bought my Honda Accord.

[fujiyama]

34. Hondas are nice...and I like the recent Accord redesign

but I was looking for a car over summer (decided to hold off), and I test drove the Civic and several other compacts. Honda and Toyota seem to nickel and dime consumers for every small feature. I live in the Midwest and wanted Electronic Stability Control. I found it disappointing that neither Honda or Toyota offered the feature in lower level trim packages.

The biggest surprise was the Kia Forte. In that class, it was a clear second behind my personal favorite (Mazda 3), though feature wise, the Forte was the winner. They offered all the safety features of the other cars and tons of other goodies like bluetooth, iPod control, etc.

I decided not to bother with it in the end, but Hyundai and Kia really have improved. When I'm seriously considering a car again, I won't be dismissing Kia and Hyundai outright.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

44. i'm not unhappy with the Accord - just regret not looking at the Hyundai

I had to buy a new car because my old Toyota met an untimely end in a freak accident that involved a runaway dumpster - my main frustration was dealing with the dealers who were really pushing the financing, SUV's and luxury hard and best of all the dealer who thought accusing me of being gay was the best way to get me into an SUV. "Well if your looking for something to impress the men... we just got a trade-in on a Seabring"

My girlfriend just bought a Kia Rio 3, mostly out of necessity because she owned four vehicles (don't get me started) and not a single one that could bring something home a reasonable load from Costco after I cash for clunkered her Ford Bronco to buy the Hyundai. While she would rather drive her S2000 or 1960's Jeep, she acknowledged the Kia was a hell of alot of car for the money. It has the interior of a car three times the price.

[Oerdin]

3. All the talk.

With all the talk about unintended acceleration Toyota seems to have forgotten about acceleration of the intended kind. My girlfriend owns a Camry and it is such a slow old man's car.

[tXr]

36. I drive a 1993 Toyota truck.

It couldn't surge to 100 miles per hour even if it wanted to.

[XemaSab]

37. Seriously

My Corolla is as stubborn as my 100-pound springer mix.

You ask them to do something, and there's a pause while they're thinking about what's in it for them. :P

[Fearless]

4. Years ago wasn't there something...

About drivers simply mixing up the pedals because they are smaller and closer together than many American cars... I forget.

[RamboLiberal]

5. Had this happen to me over the weekend

I got a new Suzuki SX4 a couple of weeks ago. Over weekend I had sneaker boots on. Somehow at a stop sign I had my foot on both the brake & accelarator & figured it out when engine revved. Scary for a sec till I figured out what happened.

[Mnpaul]

18. It can cause real problems in the parking lot

as the BMW M5 owner found out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do6pmYfNco0

[imdjh]

22. Back in the 1980's there was an epidemic of runaway Audi's in the DC area

[Fearless]

28. That might've been it.

[Tesha]

39. That's what they ultimately decided was the root cause of all the Audi "sudden accelerations".

The clinching data was that in most of those incidents, the accelerator pedal
was smashed (by people who thought they were mashing the brake pedal).

Tesha

[Mosby]

6. whatever the cause

I'm surprised so many drivers don't know how to (or thought to) simply turn off the engine.

[AtheistCrusader]

8. I think the instinctive reaction is

to hang onto the wheel and steer, while applying max brake pressure. Even using the steering wheel for leverage to press on the brake, even though the brake pedal may already be at it's maximum extent.

Not easy to think clearly enough to take a hand off the wheel in that situation. Caught unexpectedly, people just react. I've seen dents in the floorboard on the passenger side, from people stomping where the brake should be, in an impending crash.

For those of us running manual transmissions, this probably isn't a big deal, because the instinctive reaction would be to engage the clutch. Of course, then you have to remember to 'off' the key before the engine tears itself apart. This can be a problem if you were already in motion, because you'll lose the steering booster, and brake booster.

[Lautremont]

10. Another good reason to stick with a manual transmission.

More fun, more control and more safety.

[FiveGoodMen]

12. Because with an auto-tran you could never just throw it into neutral!

[AtheistCrusader]

15. Have to take your hand off the wheel to do so.

I can do it, and in fact, will instinctively do it, with my left foot.

I didn't mean to start a manual/auto pissing contest, but for this particular issue, a manual transmission carries benefits. If people aren't going to take a hand off the wheel to key off, I don't see how they would be likely to take a hand off the wheel to shift to neutral, which most automatic drivers don't normally do anyway.

[Mosby]

11. Some of the new Toyotas don't have ignition switches

they use a start button. When the car is driving down the road one must press and hold the button for 3 seconds to shut down the engine. From the coverage I have been reading about these problems, very few Toyota owners know this.

[madokie]

42. Plus in your rush to turn the key off

if you turn it too far it will lock the steering wheel and if you've ever accidentally done that before you will remember it being real hard to get the key to turn back on enough to let the wheel turn because you more than likely will be trying to turn it either one way or the other which in turn keeps the key from turning. I've been there and that was scary

[Changenow]

9. That can cause a loss of control at high speeds

as the power steering and breaks go out. Better to shift it into neutral.

[Mosby]

13. That's a good idea

the only problem though is engine damage from high revs with no load.

[Tesha]

40. If the engine management computer is still at all sane, ...

it won't let the engine over-rev; it'll kill the spark to prevent that.

Tesha

[Jazzgirl]

19. Or shift it into neutral which is better because you still

have control to pull the wheel over to the curb. Several years ago I had a Opel that would do this. I figured out real fast to pop it into neutral and let it coast to the shoulder.

[Dan]

43. Don't do that...

you might end up losing control over the steering wheel, etc.. Best approach might be to throw the car in neutral.

[AtheistCrusader]

7. This happened to Ford a few years ago.

The Cruise Control would go berserk, and full throttle, even if you weren't using it to begin with.

http://www.safetyforum.com/fordsua/

If I remember correctly, this problem was finally admitted after a spare presidential limo took off, with the driver standing on the brake pedal, in the 90's. (Pre-cadillac)

[madmom]

14. Good reason NOT to buy a toyota, IMO.

[AtheistCrusader]

16. This has happened to other auto manufacturers.

It comes and goes. Due to the liability issues, all automakers are reluctant to admit such a problem, and in fact, may have trouble identifying and fixing the problem.

[imdjh]

23. not until idiot has been eliminated

[boomerbust]

17. A lady crashed

Through my laundromat the day the recall was announced. 2007 Corolla. Still closed from all the damage.

[fujiyama]

35. I don't think the Corolla was on the list of affected models

and I had not heard anything about the cruise control for that car being an issue. But hopefully it's not. My sister drives one...same model year I think.

[imdjh]

20. I wonder if this has happened on any car without cruise control.

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. I had a runaway car. This was back in the 1980s. A Toyota Celica.

I was in heavy traffic that was stopping at a stoplight. Suddenly the car lunged forward and I had to put both feet on the brakes. I don't know how I missed hitting the car infront of me. I pulled to the side of the street and was overwhelmed with fear and stress.

[HughMoran]

24. See, Toyotas are built in the USA

Why else would they be having failures?

:sarcasm:

[kristopher]

25. In a long ago 69 Ford Gran Torino

The passenger side motor mount separated and very slight engine torque caused that side of the engine to lift, which in turn put tension on the accelerator cable as it ran to the 4 barrel carburetor, producing maximum acceleration.

Scared the crap out of a then very new driver. Dropped auto to neutral but engine continued to rev so I shut off the engine. I was fortunate that this happened on an empty, straight country road.

Just says there is nothing new under the sun...

[PJPhreak]

26. This is not just a Toyota Problem,

It is happening in ALL Brands of Automobiles and has for years.

The OBD2 Computer System is a standard item found in ALL modern Autos,Domestic and Import as Required by law since 1996.

From the EPA...

"On-Board Diagnostics, or "OBD," is a computer-based system built into all 1996 and later light-duty vehicles and trucks, as required by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. OBD systems are designed to monitor the performance of some of an engine's major components including those responsible for controlling emissions"

To do this OBD II has over 300 sensors to monitor the vehicle.

Own a Windows Computer? Think about what if the Operating System in your OBD II Onboard Computer is as crapply scripted as Windows!!

Thats why my next car is gonna be one of these...



No Computers,Very Simple,Easy on Gas, And Two Hippies can have the engine out and on the ground in 45 min.with just simple hand tools,a floorjack and a coupla of milk crates to set it down on!

[dixiegrrrrl]

32. I salute your good taste.

Had VW bugs for many many years.
Would have one again, but the older models do not do A/C, which is important thing to have where I live now.

[Devil_Fish]

45. 45 minuts is too long. more like 25 minuts. especially that one. NT

[Peace Patriot]

27. My car just got hit in this very circumstance. I was not in the car.

My car was parked in front of my house on a commercial street (but not a terribly busy one). I was in the shower and heard a big thump against the front of the house. Threw on my robe, ran to the front door. Somebody had been trying to back up and re-park in the parking lot across the street, when their Toyota Camry suddenly shot across the street and into my parked car and front porch. Totally sober, nice lady. She said, "I don't know what happened. It just spurted backwards on its own. I couldn't stop it." She said it was totally horrifying. We both started dealing with insurance issues. I told her I'd just heard about this Toyota acceleration thing. She called Toyota about it and was told that because she had put her own floor rug under the gas pedal, and not Toyota's, Toyota was free of liability.

She, too, said that she didn't think it was the floor rug. She'd been driving with that rug with no prior problem. And it happened so fast, at such sudden speed, that there was nothing she could do. Lord, if she'd been in heavy traffic or near a cliff, she (and others) could well be dead. She's lucky my house and car stopped her.

I'm going to call her and give her this link. Thanks for posting!

[European Socialist]

29. Sorry to change the subject a bit...

Being a type 2 diabetic, I have some numbness in my feet. Once in while I find my foot on both the brake and the accelerator--talk about scary--so far I've chosen brake. But, I often wonder when on the news you see these cars going through store windows, if that might have been the problem.

[mule_train]

30. whatever car you own, yolu have to practice turning it off without locking the steering wheel

if you turn it off but lock the steering wheel, you could be wirse off

or throw it in neutral

car cant run away, if it's turned off or in neutral

[flvegan]

33. ...unless you have a clutch pedal.

[Tesha]

41. Cars are designed to make it difficult to inadvertently lock the steering.

Generally, you have to do three things: 1) Switch the ignition off, 2) Put the shifter
all the way into "Park"; and 3) Remove the key.

Fail to do any of those steps and the steering remains unlocked.

Tesha

[madrchsod]

38. my daughter has an accord that has a peg that holds the floor mat

our early 90`s camry`s floor mat ends up the floorboard but it does`t interfere with the pedals.

unless they placed the pedal on the floor it would be dam near impossible for a floor mat to hold down a pedal.