Toyota Says Drivers, Not Throttle, to Blame for Unintended Acceleration

July 14, 2010

  • July 17, 2010 at 8:33 am
    Jim says:
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    How stupid are these drivers? If the throttle was the problem,how about turning the ingition off or put the trans in nuetral.Are you American drivers that F$!%!!$in stupid / PLEASE !!!!!!!!

  • July 19, 2010 at 11:31 am
    ? says:
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    Coming home from Vermont yesterday, I myself was the victim of an unitentional lane change. The car in the lane next to me wanted to pass the car infront of him & went into my lane just like that!

  • July 19, 2010 at 12:14 pm
    GB says:
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    It doesn’t take a whole lot of IQ to realize that the problem is not the throttle or floor mats. Based on some of the reports where the speed changes as the vehicle is out of control, it can only be the computer itself. Direct link throttle should never have been allowed to switch to electronic control. I am surprised that when stepping on the brakes the car doesn’t say “are you sure”…
    As long as I can I’ll drive a car with real throttle and steering.
    PS: we have some smart cars in our fleet, they are great. An 80,000 lb semi will crush the big car as flat as the smart car, seen it when I was working ambulance.(Smart cars are built by Mercedes)

  • July 19, 2010 at 12:23 pm
    Tom says:
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    GB, maybe you missed the basic physics about mass, velocity, and distance were overlooked. Last I looked at a smart car, the distance from the front, or back of the vehicle to your knees and back was about the distance between injury and death. You can’t for one moment believe that survivability in a Smart Car is the same as that of a Lincoln Town Car. If you can stretch out and have your feet touck touch the car ahead of you, and have your head touch the bumper of the vehicle behind you, then don’t be surprised if you are head over heels when the truck hits you.

  • July 19, 2010 at 3:14 am
    GB says:
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    Actually Tom, I didn’t miss the basic physics. When you hit an egg with a sledgehammer it doesn’t matter if it is hard boiled or raw, the result is the same (80,000 lb semi vs any car, at the speed mentioned you won’t survive). It’s the in between stuff that counts. Check out ” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJHpUO-S0i8 “. It is still a compact but fares better than most cars in it’s class.

  • July 19, 2010 at 3:30 am
    Tom says:
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    Having handled over 5,000 tractor-trailer v car claims, I can tell you that size does matter. If it didn’t, then you would have the same chance on a motorcycle as you would in a car. I reiterate, you don’t want to put your 16 year old daughter in a SC and have her hit by a T-T, even at 15 MPH. I will grant your point that a TT going 100 MPH hitting a stopped private passenger vehicle will yield the same result for a SC driver or a Lincoln driver. My point is all the accidents in between. End of story, end of this email discussion. Thanks, and good luck

  • July 19, 2010 at 4:31 am
    GB says:
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    Question Tom, You brought up Motorcycle, would you let your daughter ride one?

  • July 19, 2010 at 5:00 am
    Tom says:
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    Nope, I have a 2002 Indian and I know what the risks are and accept them. I assume the same for you. I wouldn’t let her on the interstate on a motorcyle, a SC, or a Geo Metro for that matter. I want a lot of metal around her until she has a lot of experience, knowledge and maturity to make her own decisions. As you can see, I am not against SC owners, just that they should appreciate the risks.



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