Fly4u

Part of the problem is pathetically lax licensing standards in the U.S. Even worse is the woeful lack of routine assessment and training short of the infantile renewal written tests and visual exam.

While states give lip service to driving as a privilege, it is practically assumed to be a right, paticularly as a person moves into later years. It takes either an insightful senior or dedicated family intervention to "ground" an enfeebled driver.

dc893

In America nobody is ever at fault, unless you are a company that people think they can profit from. In that case it will always be your fault. I'm getting really tired of the sense of entitlement people have in this country and how everybody is a poor innocent victim.

We do need much tougher classes and driver tests in this country. I miss Japan, when you hit a certain age guess what happens, that's right you get a annual drivers test you have to pass. It's also much easier to lose a license for infractions. I am all for raising the traffic fines and making tougher tests. It will only make the roads safer.

RXSF

is it in switzerland or the netherlands where you have to pass a drivers' course full of skidding tests and emergency handling tests to get your license? we need that

UZ214

I refuse to believe that the highway patrol guy didn't know how to put the car in neutral... does not make sense. We can sit here and pass judgments but few folks with families actually died. The accelerator getting stuck in mats is BS, they couldn't find a problem so create one and put a fix to calm
pEople down

spwolf

uh, who was calming people down exactly? Head of US NTHSA said that all Toyota drivers should stop driving their cars.

Nobody was calming anyone, if they could, they would have destroyed Toyota... but there was nothing wrong with cars, so they could not.

UZ214

I dunno man, I really want to believe nothing is wrong with the cars, I heard that guy 911 call from es350 I think was on live leak scared the crap out of me

UpSideDown

Why Does this only happens in USA and not in other country?

joshthorsc

Lawsuit hungry?

Whitigir

NASA engineers also put extensive researches into Toyota blue prints and all the technologies. They also could not find a fault, beside that floor mat which can make the pedal stuck. It actually happened to me. Two things happened.

1/ floor mat went up on the pedal but it is still under the brake pedal, and it got my gas pedal stuck, the more i brake, the harder it accel (because the brake pedal is higher than the gas pedal), i had to pull it back, and it happened in 2003 with my new 2002 camry. Since then, whenever i got in the car, i look at the mat to make sure it is aligned properly. I still have this habit to my new RX, but they now have anchors.

2/ my flip up phone dropped, and it jamed the underneath of my brake pedal, i couldnt brake, and freaked out. I took several quick peeks to realize that, and i could kick it out, and brake to the side of the road to take it out. Now i check to make sure there wont be anything which could roll under the pedals.

Both of those cases i was totally freaked out, and i didnt know how to use Neutral. I was both lucky, and calmed enough to get it right. But these cases are the reason why there is a black box in Cars nowadays. I dont know if they have it in the 06 yet, but imagine if your car accelerated unintentionally, the emergency brake wont be able to do anything. But it is Impossible for the engine to over come both the Brake pedal + and emergency brake at 45mph. Unless, she didnt know what happened until it got to 100 mph, and both of the brakes would take so long to stop, and she got in the accident during that time frame.

Such a tragedy.

jim537

I hate to burst every ones bubble, but I just experienced this "phenomenum" myself the other day. I bought this RX 300 12 years ago new and have been happy with it ever since.
Coming back from getting a pizza my wife and I were heading home thru a small town and had to slow down for a traffic light. I took my foot off the gas and it just held it's speed, the tach showing 2000 rpm. I tapped the brakes and it kept going. As the light was green I proceeded to the next light. I had to shift into neutral to stop and the engine was racing, holding around 2500 rpm at that point. The light changed to green and I dropped it into gear (with a lurch) and proceeded. The car slowly accelerated on it's own and I watched the tach as the rpm's increased. I popped it into neutral again to control acceleration. Rpm's up around 3000 now. I pulled off the road at a safe spot (shifted into neutral to stop) and stopped. It was holding at around 3200 rpm now in neutral. I shut it off and checked under the hood to see if possibly the cruise control might have activated, but everything looked ok. Throttle cables in the idle position, cruise control cable in idle position. Called AAA and had it faltbedded to my home.
NO INTERFERENCE from floor mat or anything else. It would appear this is electronic or vacuum related. I will be forwarding the vehicle to a garage for diagnosis.
As you can see from my explanation, I did not get flustered, did all the right steps but the engine was increasing speed on-it's-own.

spwolf

your car does not have electronic throttle, and nothing to do with cars in question in these articles.

Whitigir

With a little knowledge about automotive, how would an engine hold it own rpm at 2000 rpm steadily ? Even in auto trans is beyond me.

That not to mention wired throttle body, no air ? Wut ??

jim537

SPWOLF, WHITIGIR

Gosh, sorry if I stuck my nose in where it's not wanted!
No my vehicle is not "drive-by wire" but nonetheless still experienced the problem. I am not a " the sky is falling" type of person, not even close. This is real. Right now if I go out and start the car cold, it will go right to 3000 rpm and then creep up. I have a video showing this. I'm not in the car and neither is anyone else. I started it standing out side and reaching in with the key. There is nothing around the accelerator pedal.
I know more than a little about cars. Been working on them since my early teens and do my own maintenance that I'm comfortable with and pay for what I'm not. I know my limitations and with modern cars and the need for certain special tools and proper electronics equipment, I leave the "big stuff" to the pros.
WHITIGIR, to your question of why it would hold at 2000 rpm.....that's what I want to know, too! Why is it going to 3000 rpm when started cold? Good question. I'd like to know the answer.
Several electronic sensors AND vacuum actuators could be involved. Who knows, it could be the main ECU. It doesn't need to be drive by wire to have a problem.
When (I hope) the problem gets resolved, I can post the resolution if you are interested.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

can we see the video(s)? thanks.

Och

iTrader: (3)

On a car without drive by wire, its most likely just a stuck throttle cable. Happened to my ex girlfriend on her Nissan.