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wide open throttles

The U.S. Department of Transportation has analyzed dozens of data recorders from Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles involved in accidents blamed on sudden acceleration and found that at the time of the crashes, throttles were wide open and the brakes were not engaged, people familiar with the findings said.

The results suggest that some drivers who said their Toyota and Lexus vehicles surged out of control were mistakenly flooring the accelerator when they intended to jam on the brakes. But the findings don't exonerate Toyota from two known issues blamed for sudden acceleration in its vehicles: sticky accelerator pedals and floor mats that can trap accelerator pedals to the floor.

The findings by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration involve a sample of reports in which a driver of a Toyota vehicle said the brakes were depressed but failed to stop the car from accelerating and ultimately crashing.

The data recorders analyzed by NHTSA were selected by the agency, not Toyota, based on complaints the drivers had filed with the government.

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Reply to
badgolferman
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Well,

I guess one has to accept NHTSA findings as objective and valid but it's tough (at least for me). I, like all of you, have owned many cars over the years including five Toyotas. Never have I accidentally hit the accelerator on any of them. Don't know of anyone else that's done so either. Why would an experienced driver suddenly mistake the accelerator for the brake? Also, let's say these unfortunates did, in fact, do that. Why would he they leave their foot mashed to the floor? Are they all in some kind of trance or what? I would think most people in this freak out situation would start stabbing all the pedals, engaging the parking brake, shifting, whatever. I thought the same thing in the Audi deal. But I guess I've gotta accept that I'm wrong on this one. jor

Reply to
jor

In message , jor writes

I've done this very thing about ten years ago. I'd never had a car with a rest for the clutch foot before but my new car (6months) had one. I was crawling in traffic when the vehicle in front stopped. Instinctively I rammed down the clutch foot and hit the brake pedal with my right, just the next pedal along and thought my brakes had failed. Only after the crunch, luckily at about 3mph did I realise where my feet were, I now make sure I keep a positive thinking distance between me and the car in front.

Reply to
Clive

Q: What controls the throttle plate? A: The computer.

Q: What controls the brakes on a car with ABS? A: The computer.

Q: What generates the data that is recorded in the data recorders? A: The computer.

Are you beginning to see a pattern here? One of the inputs to the computer glitches and tells the computer the throttle needs to be wide open. The computer opens the throttle wide and logs it as a command from the driver. Upon a power cycle, the computer input resets and the tech sees no code because the computer didn't see a failure, it saw valid command.

Reply to
Just my name

In message , Just my name writes

I bet that in your mind, pigs fly.

Reply to
Clive

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