hehe, post 12 and 14?

but yeah, i think some people are really trying to take advantage of things but unfortunately their stories are so far stretched, in my eyes it really makes them look stupid. picking up the phone, call husband, cry, ask what to do, umm.....

not to forget the tundra girl who is still with "brand new" neck support after a yr

 

It is showing possibilities of "How dumb a human beeing can be"

 

The training program will help in this situation. However, have you seen the minimum qualification to be a cop? Do a quick search on web. No surprise many of those can't be trained.

 

^^^
+1 lol

 

Not to claim that you guys are wrong about this runaway problem, but didn't the lady that testified in Congress claim that she tried everything including putting the car in neutral? And, hasn't her story been confirmed that there is some sort of electronic problem where the accelerator gets stuck in rare cases and there is virtually nothing that can be done to stop the car? If so, that would explain why the highway patrolman and his family got killed. If true, that is extremely scary.

I any case, Toyota was not very truthful about this acceleration problem from the start. If they had just told the truth and taken action immediately, (at least a year ago now?), they would be in much better shape at this time.

 

no, the highway patrol, it's just the floormats. nothing to do with electronics as far as i know. it's the floormats clipping to gas pedal. and i don't think they have evidence saying that on the es350 the car continues to go if you throw it to neutral (at least last when i checked). i don't think they called anyone before they crashed and died

the lady in congress, again, i don't think at this point they have discovered anything conclusive yet. and honestly i still question that the car was going that fast and she was able to do so much (including calling husband and cried) all within a few miles?

 

No offense to the ladies out there but you have to remember that was a woman and like most women are not very well informed about the mechanics of a vehicle.

For example, my wife left the light on in our mini van so I had to get it out of the garage to get the battery for a jump. I had my lovely wife sit in the vehicle with the key turned enough to unlock the steering wheel. I told her to put it in neutral and I pushed it a little. Our drive way is down hill sloped so it started rolling down hill. She just sat there as it rolled into our cable junction enclosure with me trying to stop it from the rear. I was asked why she didn't step on the brake (simple instinct move even if you have no idea about autos) and she replied she didn't know it would work. Duh! How about trying it! LOL, small scratch on the rear bumper but all is well......

 

It's unfortunate for anyone to experience such malfunction. However, I do not understand the deal with that joker showed all that tears and drama in congress . I'm sure she planned to make few quick bucks out of Toyota.

 

rominl, I sure hope you are right that it has nothing to do with electronics. However, I have to say that at this point, I am skeptical about anything Toyota says. They have lost a tremendous amount of credibility.

 

In both those cases, it's been confirmed by the official investigation that improperly placed floor mats were the cause of the acceleration. That lady who testified in Congress? I watched the local news reports in 2007 when her story came out, and the same conclusion then as now:

She didn't follow the instructions which say that the carpet mat should be taken out if the all-weather is to be installed. That's what the news video indicated at the time, and it's still the case now IMO. The electronics examination cleared the car. Frankly, she's full of it because a) she doesn't want to admit that she didn't install the mats properly, b) she claimed the car was deadly yet sold it to another family, c) the other family has logged some 27,000 miles with no problem, etc.

And the San Diego tragedy? Here it's a 100% positive that the accelerator was stuck by the floor mat. The RX 400h mat was found stuck to the crash car's pedal. Also, a previous driver of the same loaner car had the same stuck issue, pulled on the mat, and switched to neutral. He reported the problem to the dealer receptionist but nothing was done.

These two cases show clearly that a misplaced floor mat can be deadly. There are a number of other cases which have been heavily publicized, and Toyota has been crucified from all quarters, some of it legitimate, but a lot sensationalized to make the company look evil (repeated disgruntled ex-employee's claims even when discredited; misleading politician's statements, etc.). There have been defective pedals but they have not been implicated in most of the alleged ~20 accidents in the past decade, and no one wants to admit driver error when years of research indicate that is a main factor. Moreover, the statistics show that Toyota has medium rates of acceleration complaints vs. other makes, but the news media would have everyone think otherwise.

 

OK, but what about the "several failed attempts to turn off the engine" comment? If the vehicle is stopped a simple press of the engine button should shut it off.

 

of course no one would know for sure, but me personally, while i don't believe 100% about what toyota says, i am more skeptical about a lot of the claims that people put up.