No Problems w/ Toyota; Gov't to Regulate Anyway

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

As it turns out, there are no electronic problems with Toyota vehicles. DRIVERS were the cause of virtually ALL the "sudden acceleration" problems with Toyota vehicles, but that won't stop government (the owner of Toyota's competitors) from regulating...

blogs.forbes.com/danbigman/2011/02/08/government-no-electronic-flaws-in-toyotas-but-well-regulate-anyway/?partner=contextstory

So the U.S. Department of Transportation came out with a report today (produced in consultation with NASA, the government’s shorthand acronym for smart and politically neutral research) and found that Toyota’s drive-by-wire systems were not the cause of a series of car wrecks a couple years back.

Those wrecks, in which drivers said their Toyotas suddenly accelerated out of control and couldn’t be stopped, resulted in one of the largest auto recalls in American history and put a pretty good ding in Toyota’s decades-in-the-making reputation, not to mention its sales.

The real cause? Turns out it was driver error, as my colleague Joann Muller explains:

NHTSA’s investigation, conducted with NASA engineers, found that the “vast majority” of cases of unintended acceleration were actually due to what NHTSA called “pedal misapplication” — stepping on the gas instead of the brake, or in addition to the brake.

[Transportation Secretary Raymond] LaHood bristled at usage of the term “driver error” by some reporters during a press conference Tuesday afternoon in Washington. “Nobody up here has characterized it as driver error,” insisted LaHood.

Leadfoot, Not Electronics, To Blame For Most Runaway Toyotas, Government Finds – Joann Muller – Transmissions – Forbes = blogs.forbes.com/danbigman/2011/02/joannmuller/2011/02/08/leadfoot-not-electronics-to-blame-for-most-runaway-toyotas-government-finds/.

Of course not. So what does the LaHood do with this discovery? He promises to regulate the industry anyway:

Despite its findings, LaHood said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was considering new regulations to improve safety. They include requiring brake override systems on all vehicles, standardizing keyless ignition systems and requiring event data recorders, or vehicle black boxes, on all new vehicles.

Transportation officials said they would also consider conducting more research on electronic control systems and review the placement and design of accelerator and brake pedals

.

[bean29]

What is the explanation for the Police officer driving the lexus? How did he err?

I view this with some degree of skepticism. Everyone has their price. Toyota probably just greased some palms.

Not saying that some of the incidents could not have been driver error, but all of them?

[fairlycrazy23]

I thought the Police officer issue was the wrong floor mat was installed, so was not an issue with Toyota, but someone at the dealership put the wrong mat in.

But the issue is the official report absolved Toyota, but the government is going to increase regulations anyway.

I went back and examined some of the stories about this incident, and i still don't understand why the driver didn't just put the car in neutral.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

May 26, 2011 9:34:47 GMT -5 bean29 said:

What is the explanation for the Police officer driving the lexus? How did he err?

I view this with some degree of skepticism. Everyone has their price. Toyota probably just greased some palms.

Not saying that some of the incidents could not have been driver error, but all of them?

My personal theory, that I have no evidence to support, is that that incident was a suicide. A trained officer doesn't know enough to turn the car OFF, or put the car in neutral? Sorry, I just don't buy it.

[burnsattornincan]

Despite its findings, LaHood said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was considering new regulations to improve safety. They include requiring brake override systems on all vehicles, standardizing keyless ignition systems and requiring event data recorders, or vehicle black boxes, on all new vehicles.

"Event data recorders"? Sounds like a good way for enforcement to find out everything about your driving habits. So how much will all of this add to the sticker price, I would say about 2k? This is in addition to the new stability control costing around $500. Once you people get everything back in order down there do not forget about people like this who were once in a position to unleash economic terrorism on all of you. Nothing short of execution should be the payback.

[Opti]

"A trained officer doesn't know enough to turn the car OFF, or put the car in neutral? Sorry, I just don't buy it. "

Or intentionally crash the car before the speed got too high. Really odd to choose to make a cell phone call yourself when you are just about to go into a high speed crash.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

May 26, 2011 10:23:36 GMT -5 burnsattornincan said:

Despite its findings, LaHood said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was considering new regulations to improve safety. They include requiring brake override systems on all vehicles, standardizing keyless ignition systems and requiring event data recorders, or vehicle black boxes, on all new vehicles.

"Event data recorders"? Sounds like a good way for enforcement to find out everything about your driving habits. So how much will all of this add to the sticker price, I would say about 2k? This is in addition to the new stability control costing around $500. Once you people get everything back in order down there do not forget about people like this who were once in a position to unleash economic terrorism on all of you. Nothing short of execution should be the payback.

Sounds like a great way to know lots of things about you-- and of course TAX you by the mile...maybe tax you at higher rate if you don't drive in the government proscribed manner...

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

May 26, 2011 10:41:47 GMT -5 Opti said:

"A trained officer doesn't know enough to turn the car OFF, or put the car in neutral? Sorry, I just don't buy it. "

Or intentionally crash the car before the speed got too high. Really odd to choose to make a cell phone call yourself when you are just about to go into a high speed crash.

Yeah- I admit to not having a shred of evidence to back up my theory-- maybe the cop was actually that stupid. He WAS a cop, after all. But the whole thing smells to high heaven.

[floridayankee]

May 26, 2011 9:47:45 GMT -5 fairlycrazy23 said:

I thought the Police officer issue was the wrong floor mat was installed, so was not an issue with Toyota, but someone at the dealership put the wrong mat in.

But the issue is the official report absolved Toyota, but the government is going to increase regulations anyway.

I went back and examined some of the stories about this incident, and i still don't understand why the driver didn't just put the car in neutral.

I always thought the stories of stuck accelerators was total bullshit....until I experienced it. I don't know if it is related to these incidences or not, but a few years back, my 1999 Camry started accelerating quite rapidly and I was coming up on the rear of the car in front of me. I hit the brakes and slowed...basically riding the brakes. If I let off the brakes, it would continue to accelerate. I did put the car in neutral and the RPM's red-lined.

Thinking that blowing the motor by over-revving might be quite so good either, I ended up putting it back in gear and riding the brakes for the mile or so to get to a turnoff. Once I got off the main road, I got the car stopped. Holding my left foot on the brake, I had to mash the gas a couple times with my right foot to get the pedal unstuck and drop the car's RPM's back to normal.

I drove the car for a couple years and never experienced it again.

ETA: this "sudden acceleration" is not something that puts you back in your seat like taking off in a jet or something. The 4 cylinders simply don't have enough power to pull any G's. It was really no problem "detecting" the problem and figuring out what needed to be done to avoid careening uncontrollably down the road like a runaway train.

And I'm not even a cop.....

[Deleted]

Lots of cars do weird things. I have had some crazy cabs over the years, and most of them were Fords. A few times my life (and others, too) was at risk from some weird thing the cab did that I had to drive my way out of, as Yank said. This was (is) an attack on Toyota. Good job putting the Toyota factory workers in the USA at risk of losing their income.