13 deaths cheaper than 0 deaths

GM reported these problems to NHTSA quite a few years ago and NHTSA didn't see a problem. Since the liability is with the OLD GM most of what you see playing out now is just theatre for the politicians to grandstand and get their ugly faces on TV. If the gvt presses this they will have to deal with the question of why NHTSA, not just GM, didn't see a reason to do a recall.

And there were deaths in the Toyota's, the most notable being the cop on vacation with his family who called 911 while the car was racing out of control due to the poorly designed gas pedal catching on a floor mat. He didn't live thru the crash.

Cop??

Too dumb to switch off the ignition.. shift to neutral position.. driver ed ???? He had time to call 911 while driving out of control.

Anything getting out of control.. first try switching it off.

Don't they teach anyone to think anymore..

It was a dealer loaner car with push-button on/off switch that needs to be held down for several seconds to stop engine. They were unfamiliar with it.

That's the convention with 'off' buttons. As on many cell phones and other devices.

Don't expect that to work on some Chrysler stuff made in the last few years. Push the button all you want... the dash just says "Vehicle not in Park", and refuses to turn the engine off, even if you're stopped with the parking brake on. What next, the car won't let you swerve to miss that cow in the road because a sharp maneuver might "destabilize" the car? Ahhhhh, modern technology!

Ashton Crusher wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

The mats had been installed by the dealer and were the incorrect ones for that car, being too long.

In addition, the dealer had not bothered to secure the mats using the hooks that Toyota had designed into both the car and the mats.

This meant that the mats had a tendency to bunch-up under the gas pedal.

That same vehicle had been loaned out to another customer the day prior to the incident you mention. He, too, had the mats bunch-up under the gas pedal and make the engine rev very high.

Luckily, this other customer had the presence of mind to simply step on the brake until the car stopped. Then he used the toe of his shoe to pop the gas pedal up from the mat, at which point the engine returned to its normal idle.

This other customer pulled the mats back into position using his feet and hands, and drove the rest of the day without incident.

When he returned the car to the dealer, he mentioned to the Service Advisor what had happened with the mats bunching-up and how that had caused the gas pedal to stick down. The Service Advisor never bothered to pass this information on to anyone, so the problem was never corrected.

And the next day, the incident you refer to happened.

Toyota had ZERO to do with that incident. GM had 100% to do with their 13 deaths.

Bob Flumere wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

The cop was pulsing the brake pedal. This caused the brakes to overheat and lose their effectiveness. I find it very odd that he would do that, considering the amount of driving training cops receive. I can only conclude that he wasn't very smart.

The customer the previous day (who had experienced the exact same problem) had the presence of mind to simply keep his foot on the brake until the car stopped. See my other post for more detials on the incident.

Department of Justice announced a deferred prosecution agreement with TOYOT A under which the company admits that it misled U.S. consumers by concealin g and making deceptive statements about two safety issues affecting its veh icles, each of which caused a type of unintended acceleration.

" snipped-for-privacy@detroit.usa.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

That's all politics. There is not one single incident of "unintended acceleration" that was due to any sort of defect in any Toyota vehicle.

Toyota had to grovel and pay whatever the government wanted in order to make them go away. That's how the US legal system works: If you don't knuckle under, the prosecution will make your life a living hell.

Tegger wrote in news:XnsA332BDDBD6F8Ategger@208.90.168.18:

pulsing the pedal can not cause the brakes to over heat and is standard practice if no antilock is present. and quit making excuses for Toyota, they are just another car company, don`t do anything better or worse than any other car company. which means they have plenty of problems in their vehicles too. I don`t know why he didn`t shift into neutral, but none of the other stuff worked, thanks to the fu*king push button starting. KB