Feds find majority of Toyota unintended acceleration cases were people hitting wrong

[ichitaka05]

Really? After 10 months of researching using NASA scientists & fined Toyota $16.4m for faulty electronic problem... conclusion come out to be driver error? Really NHTSA?

Feds find majority of Toyota unintended acceleration cases were people hitting wrong pedal

— The U.S. government's ten-month probe into Toyota validates the initially unpopular argument we at Jalopnik put forth at the start of this unintended acceleration witch hunt: This was a case of people pressing the wrong pedal. In every way, this was Toyota's beige-ification of cars biting them back, and hard.

The probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA scientists examined 280,000 lines of Toyota software, 3,054 complaints of sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles and several dozen individual vehicles. "There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas. Period," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

(The NASA team did find one theoretical way for a Toyota's electronic throttle control to screw up and open wide even when the brake was depressed. But doing so requires two inputs at a precise electrical resistance; any variation and the car's warning lights come on, and NASA reviewed Toyotas own warranty data and found no evidence of any such faults.)

NHTSA officials said the causes were the ones they suspected all along — bulky floormats, sticking gas pedals and driver mistakes. "We found that when a complaint alleged the brakes didn't work, what most likely happened was pedal misapplication," said deputy NHTSA administrator Ron Medford.

Yet the proposed solution? More electronics and more regulations. NHTSA officials say they'll now push forward with three new rules for vehicles, requiring brake-override software, electronic data recorders and new rules for keyless ignition so that people don't get confused when they have to shut down a car by holding a button for one-Mississippi two-Mississippi. NHTSA will also study pedal design, to see whether vehicles need to be designed with podiatry standards in mind.

In the heat of the recalls last fall, everyone who complained of sudden acceleration had the benefit of the doubt, and even today, LaHood tried to claim that "nobody up here has even insinuated the term 'driver error.'" Why not? We know what Toyota did wrong: it's mechanical and business mistakes led directly to four deaths and several injuries, and it faces hundreds of lawsuits and a dented reputation for ignoring defects. We know what's wrong with Toyota's software: Nothing. Why avoid discussing what many drivers did wrong — mistake the gas for the brake?

Human nature suggests some of those who claimed sudden acceleration problems without a defect will likely go on believing the government just overlooked something rather than admit a smidgen of responsibility. New rules for safety technology will take several months, if not years, to put into place, while the technology on vehicles will require several more years to filter into production. Even then, it will only protect those who buy new models, not the ones on the road today.

Where's the call to improve American drivers? Where's the charter to make driving an essential skill rather than a chore which should be handed off to computers as much as possible? If part of the Toyota imbroglio stems from people becoming disconnected from driving their vehicles, part of the answer should be to restore that connection — rather than making every vehicle as somnambulant as the worst Toyota.

[4agze]

This says people are getting stupider behind the wheel

[ichitaka05]

Originally Posted by 4agze

This says people are getting stupider behind the wheel

Amen... They need to make all cars MT to weed out all those morons

[RRnold]

So that's saying that the CHP officer doesn't know how to drive! What an insult!

The accident happened in a Lexus yet they only investigated on the Toyotas? If anybody has seen the floor mats on Lexus and on Toyota, they are very different.

[Dark]

Witch hunt and everything was made to up the sale of Government Motor.

[Snaps]

I've been saying this from a while ago

Could someone keep this in mind and get back to me on it please: Take a look to see if this is shown anywhere on the news (not online news), I want to see if the news stations will bother to correct thier earlier 'articles' (I guess you could call them?). My guess is no....

[70NYD]

My guess is that a big apology for slander is in order followed by a refund of the fines.
Also wasn't this said months ago on this very forum from a article describing how all the tested units (so far in those times) showed drover error??

[Dimman]

Originally Posted by 70NYD

My guess is that a big apology for slander is in order followed by a refund of the fines.
Also wasn't this said months ago on this very forum from a article describing how all the tested units (so far in those times) showed drover error??

Refund? Admit error and apologize? Government? These things don't go together...

[70NYD]

Yeah I know it sucks, but I hope at least something will be done

[NESW20]

Originally Posted by Snaps

I've been saying this from a while ago

Could someone keep this in mind and get back to me on it please: Take a look to see if this is shown anywhere on the news (not online news), I want to see if the news stations will bother to correct thier earlier 'articles' (I guess you could call them?). My guess is no....

exactly my thoughts. unfortunately, this is less sensational so i'm not expecting it to be widespread front page news. i wish it was, but the media doesn't care that it wrongly damaged toyota's reputation.

[Midship Runabout]

Originally Posted by Dimman

Refund? Admit error and apologize? Government? These things don't go together...

even if they did "apologize" the damage has been done. Everyone has already traded in the japanese death traps and got a chevy.

[jay4prez]

well it made it to the ny times website.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/bu...auto.html?_r=1

and also this line in the same article.

"Shares of Toyota rose 4 percent to close at $88.57, gaining momentum as news of the report leaked out ahead of the announcement on Tuesday afternoon"

go buy some stock y'all Toyota's makin a comeback.

[Toyota4Life]

Originally Posted by RRnold

So that's saying that the CHP officer doesn't know how to drive! What an insult!

The accident happened in a Lexus yet they only investigated on the Toyotas? If anybody has seen the floor mats on Lexus and on Toyota, they are very different.

Uhh..they investigated the Drive By Wire systems in Toyota's vehicles, which are basically the same from the xD to LS460. The problems with floormats were due to thick all-weather rubber mats getting stacked on top of the carpet mats and jamming the gas, which is what happend in the ES the CHP officer was driving. Infact, to make matters worse, it was an RX AWM in the ES and the dealer received complaints about it from the man who it was previously loaned to just TWO days prior to the Saylor crash.

[Ryuu0u]

Never lost faith in toyota's reliability, only in the sports/performance department. lol