Since no one was in the car other than this guy we will probably never know for sure but I find the whole thing a little questionable. This guy has been driving for many years and yet never thought to put the car in neutral? He was able to call for help and make a huge production of the whole event with news crews and choppers yet never once thought to take it out of gear or even put it in a lower gear to slow down? It sure brought a lot of bad press to Toyota didn’t it? Seems designed to get out of car he bought in my opinion. Just not buying his story either.
Toyota has a history of lying to consumers. 6 years ago Toyota was sued by the Japanese government for safety recalls. So their statements here in the US that they are sorry and didn’t expect this to happen are pure lies. They hide problems from the consumers and don’t do the right thing to keep their vehicles safe. Their history of quality was true 30 years ago, but not today.
None of us know for sure about this one guy and his case. There is no way for us to judge him, at all. Doing so only shows poor judgement. Judging Toyota is very easy and very proper. They lied, folks have died.
Hey Joe – I see that you didn’t let the facts get in the way of your rant. Many incidents (including this one) are investigated by engineers – so, yes, we have a pretty good idea of what did or didn’t happen. The vast majority of incidents are caused by “driver error” (people push the wrong pedal). That’s a fact. Ford (and other US manufacturers) have had far more recalls than Toyota (including some potentially serious issues). That’s a fact. Interesting that the media coverage favors the now-government-owned US manufacturers over Toyota.
Car companies do NOT recall vehicles if the averages show that it will cost more to recall than to defend and pay out on a law suit for injury or death.
Why would Toyota be any different? Oh yeah, they are not.
I am curious when we will hear about the results of what was able to be pulled from the EDR (Event Data Recorder).
It should tell use what the percentage of throttle (gas-pedal) depression was. This is likely how Toyota was able to determine that he pressed on brakes only “lightly.”
Is it possible that he was pressing on brakes in order to activate brake lights and cause burning rubber smell, but was simultaneously pressing on the gas?
Two observations, The first is Toyota is saying that moderate to heavy pressure will kill the engine??? Living in Michigan, I’d be heavily irritated if my car engine died every time a deer ran out in front of me.
Observation #2, someone recommended putting the vehicle in neutral while traveling in excess of 90mph… I don’t know about these new high fangled hybrds but doing this action in any car I’ve ever driven would blow up the engine almost instantly.
Obervation #3… In the heat of the moment, I can see where he wasn’t thinking clearly.
Question… I haven’t seen the interview but given events in the Toyota lineup…. why whould we question the guy.
It really isn’t that surprising that they couldn’t duplicate it… Toyota has said multiple times that this is a freak unlikely occurance… why would they expect it to happen multiple times unless the issue is bigger than they are letting on.
Your observation #2 makes no sense. It may have blown up the engine, but he would have been able to coast slowley to the side of the road and not risk injury to himself or others.
Observation #3. You say he wasn’t thinking clearly, but he had plenty of time to put on a performance for the 911 operator, dialing and holding onto the phone.
Brake override means if you slam on the brakes and the gas at the same time, the brakes always win
The RPMs in neutral should be zero, how would this blow up the engine? I drive a stick and it isn’t a problem at all to shift to neutral at high speeds… you just lose active control of the vehicle since there’s no power to the wheels
This guy drove for 20 minutes without shifting to neutral or turning the engine off. There’s the “heat of the moment” but this sounds like a lot more than a momentary lapse in judgment.
The guy, who apparently wasn’t injured, immediately lawyers up. Why?
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Since no one was in the car other than this guy we will probably never know for sure but I find the whole thing a little questionable. This guy has been driving for many years and yet never thought to put the car in neutral? He was able to call for help and make a huge production of the whole event with news crews and choppers yet never once thought to take it out of gear or even put it in a lower gear to slow down? It sure brought a lot of bad press to Toyota didn’t it? Seems designed to get out of car he bought in my opinion. Just not buying his story either.
I knew this guy was lying the first time I saw him being interviewed , could look in the camera at all.
Toyota has a history of lying to consumers. 6 years ago Toyota was sued by the Japanese government for safety recalls. So their statements here in the US that they are sorry and didn’t expect this to happen are pure lies. They hide problems from the consumers and don’t do the right thing to keep their vehicles safe. Their history of quality was true 30 years ago, but not today.
None of us know for sure about this one guy and his case. There is no way for us to judge him, at all. Doing so only shows poor judgement. Judging Toyota is very easy and very proper. They lied, folks have died.
Hey Joe – I see that you didn’t let the facts get in the way of your rant. Many incidents (including this one) are investigated by engineers – so, yes, we have a pretty good idea of what did or didn’t happen. The vast majority of incidents are caused by “driver error” (people push the wrong pedal). That’s a fact. Ford (and other US manufacturers) have had far more recalls than Toyota (including some potentially serious issues). That’s a fact. Interesting that the media coverage favors the now-government-owned US manufacturers over Toyota.
Remember the Ford Pinto?
Car companies do NOT recall vehicles if the averages show that it will cost more to recall than to defend and pay out on a law suit for injury or death.
Why would Toyota be any different? Oh yeah, they are not.
I am curious when we will hear about the results of what was able to be pulled from the EDR (Event Data Recorder).
It should tell use what the percentage of throttle (gas-pedal) depression was. This is likely how Toyota was able to determine that he pressed on brakes only “lightly.”
Is it possible that he was pressing on brakes in order to activate brake lights and cause burning rubber smell, but was simultaneously pressing on the gas?
I won’t draw conclusions until more is known.
Claims Ben, you hit the nail right on the head.
Two observations, The first is Toyota is saying that moderate to heavy pressure will kill the engine??? Living in Michigan, I’d be heavily irritated if my car engine died every time a deer ran out in front of me.
Observation #2, someone recommended putting the vehicle in neutral while traveling in excess of 90mph… I don’t know about these new high fangled hybrds but doing this action in any car I’ve ever driven would blow up the engine almost instantly.
Obervation #3… In the heat of the moment, I can see where he wasn’t thinking clearly.
Question… I haven’t seen the interview but given events in the Toyota lineup…. why whould we question the guy.
It really isn’t that surprising that they couldn’t duplicate it… Toyota has said multiple times that this is a freak unlikely occurance… why would they expect it to happen multiple times unless the issue is bigger than they are letting on.
PUZZLED.
Your observation #2 makes no sense. It may have blown up the engine, but he would have been able to coast slowley to the side of the road and not risk injury to himself or others.
Observation #3. You say he wasn’t thinking clearly, but he had plenty of time to put on a performance for the 911 operator, dialing and holding onto the phone.
This just doesn’t pass the SMELL TEST.
Brake override means if you slam on the brakes and the gas at the same time, the brakes always win
The RPMs in neutral should be zero, how would this blow up the engine? I drive a stick and it isn’t a problem at all to shift to neutral at high speeds… you just lose active control of the vehicle since there’s no power to the wheels
This guy drove for 20 minutes without shifting to neutral or turning the engine off. There’s the “heat of the moment” but this sounds like a lot more than a momentary lapse in judgment.
The guy, who apparently wasn’t injured, immediately lawyers up. Why?