And now the Bull starts (2025 Update)

Nope. I don't. What about the OFF button? So, do YOU know if it can or can't? Add something instead of blather for once. You seems to be adept at ruining transmissions.

If anyone wants to lend me their Lexus (Raaaayyyyy?) I will GLADLY find out what happens at 125 MPH.

Conceptually the electronically controlled transmission can be inhibited from switching to neutral whenever a wide-open throttle input is received.

Catch-22. Can't release the throttle, therefore you can't shift to neutral, brakes don't override throttle and return the engine to idle, and you have to hold the "start" button for >4 seconds to shut down the engine.

Now only a moron would program a PCM that way. But then I thought only a moron would fail to include brake-overrides-throttle logic in EVERY electronic throttle model too. Silly me.

I'll say.

But absoultely correct. Just like the Cruise Control.

Brake overrides cruise control. Give the geniuses 10 years to figure out that they could extrapolate from that idea....

But in Toyotas, the brake does NOT override the accelerator pedal, as it does in BMW, GM, Chrysler, and virtually other electronic-throttle vehicle out there. Toyota has admitted this.

And yet you attack the woman who made the statement. Tells plenty about you.

What about it? As many have already said, it seems that you have to hold it for 3 seconds. She probably didn't hold it that long. Most likely it's the ONLY on/off button on anything she owns that has to be held for 3 seconds to turn off.

Really? Shows your reading comprehension problem. The ONLY transmission that has not been up to the task of MY *normal* driving is the junk in the Toyota Tercel. Whereas my domestics last forever it seems, the Toyota only lasted a month. Since they work so well for you I'll assume you drive like you write, sloppily, slow, and all over the place, whereas I'm tight, fast, and on the mark.

ad hominem? you can't address the facts so you attempt to discredit the person pointing them out to you? [rhetorical]

so read the freakin' owners manual!

besides, unless this is absolutely the first time this person has ever sat behind the wheel of this vehicle, and hasn't yet turned it off, they will have LEARNED that the button needs to be pressed for THREE SECONDS to switch off the vehicle. duh.

"forever" and "it seems"? those are well known legal and scientific terms that tell us precisely NOTHING.

right, we believe you. the millions of tercel drivers out there that have hundreds of thousands of miles on their cars - they believe you too.

except that you're not. see above.

Maybe they should have considered that (RTFM) before engaging the starter.

You both have your facts confused. It only takes three seconds to turn it off if its running down the road in gear. When its sitting in the driveway in Park, the normal state of cars about to be turned off, a single touch turns it off.

Did i say the driver is not responsible? Or are you having a hallucination?

Nope. That isn't what many people do. If the brakes don't work they may pump them. They may repeatedly press a button also if they don't get the response they are expecting. The fact that she failed to hold the button for 3 seconds in a crisis is completely believable.

The point is it is not unbelievable that a driver couldn't get her vehicle under control. A lot of horror movies are built around the premise that when faced with a frightening situation the obvious simple way out of the crisis is often overlooked. Incompetence does exist. I don't think she is lying. I do think she is incompetent.

The point is that if toyota was taking money from fools without a care or thought given to making that transaction foolproof - well s*it happens. It is not as if there isn't a long history of other manufacturers getting burned in exactly the same way. that they could have referred to.

No you're ignoring the facts and revising what happened to fit your fantasy. This appears to be all you are capable of....

So?

OK and a car maker that is responsible for offing fools is going to get a reputation for that. So its all as it should be. No? Except there are other people who never bought a Toyoat getting hurt, which is why the govt. is stepping in.

No but if Toyota had any foresight they might have realized they could get their image damaged. If we look at the history of unintended acceleration complaints, in the end NHTSA as always will probably find that Toyota did nothing wrong.

right on.

"God shut the car off" tells me all I need to know to determine she needs to ride the bus.

So, how has she been shutting the car off since she bought it? Buses aren't very expensive to ride.

A MONTH!!! Holy Crap! Mine have gone YEARS, but then, I don't expect an Econobox to have Porsche performance.

We're kind of assuming you familiarize yourself with a vehicle loaded with technology that may be unfamiliar BEFORE you find yourself hurtling through space at 125 MPH. How had she been turning the car off before that?

A lot of companies have adopted it. I think Honda was one of the first with the S2000.

No s*it Sherlock!

Don't you read the OM when you get a new car?

In message , jim writes

I can remember cars from between the wars having starter buttons as standard, it was a long time later that there was another space (other than off and on) that allowed you to crank the engine with the key.

driver = Mrs. Rhonda Smith of Servierville, Tenn Car = 2007 Lexus ES350 Event date = October 2006 Event location = I-40, Tennessee Event Car Mileage: 3000 miles Current Car Mileage: 30000 miles

Event description = The driver testified before congress that her car accelerates to

Ms. Smith trade in her 2007 Lexus ES350 after 3000 miles. It was purchased by another family whom has since driven it another 27000 miles without incident until the NHTSA has purchased it for testing at its Vehicle Research and Test Center in East Liberty, Ohio. It has been reported that the NHTSA purchased the car for about $42,500 for testing [2]. The blue book value of the car in good condition is $23,185.

Sure, but this one had celebrity status...

I hope THIS is what she's driving now...

I was talking in terms of modern, electrically controlled ignition rather than have a button on the dash in place of a soleniod.

But you knew that.