Driver error

[Midship Runabout]

Originally Posted by USAToday

In what could turn into a repeat of the infamous Audi 5000 case more than two decades ago, driver error, not the vehicle, appears to be the cause of a number of Toyota unintended acceleration cases.
A government analysis of vehicle data has found people were mashing the gas pedal and not the brake at the time, according to a person with knowledge of the data who did not want to be identified because the information is not yet public.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is doing the probe, had no comment.
Toyota spokesman John Hanson said the automaker hadn't seen NHTSA's data, but "certainly, pedal misapplication" is among issues the company has discovered in its own investigations of more than 3,000 reports of unintended acceleration.
It isn't yet clear how many of the thousands of incidents involve pedal misapplication because NHTSA hasn't analyzed them all. And however many, it will not clear Toyota of already known vehicle problems that created acceleration risks.
The automaker agrees it had a problem with ill-fitting floor mats that could trap poorly designed gas pedals. It also has acknowledged that gas pedals in some vehicles can stick open.
Toyota has recalled 7.7 million vehicles in the U.S. for those problems.

QUALITY CONTROL: Toyota revamps development time in wake of recalls
Electronic data recorders (EDR) on some Toyota vehicles are providing NHTSA with definitive information about driver error in some otherwise unexplained incidents. "The EDR will tell you whether the brake light was on, whether the throttle pedal was depressed, what the throttle angle was," and other details, Hanson says.
He says Toyota gave about a dozen EDR readers to NHTSA so the agency could independently recover and analyze crash data from Toyota vehicles.
Driver errors in some cases also don't rule out that other still-to-be-discovered problems caused other incidents, says Andy Chou, chief scientist with Coverity, a company that tracks down defects in software programs. "It's very hard to rule out software as a cause. I don't think by looking at a little bit of data you can rule out a software defect."
NHTSA and government scientists also are analyzing whether software could be causing runaway vehicles. No report is expected soon.
Pedal misapplication ultimately was found to be the cause for acceleration complaints that plagued the 1978-86 Audi 5000 sedan and nearly drove Audi out of the U.S. A NHTSA report in 1989 blamed driver error, though it said better pedal design would help avert it. Canadian officials had blamed driver error in a 1988 Audi report.
Most frustrating to Toyota, Hanson says, is that despite all the recall publicity, not all drivers are doing what they should to prevent known risks, such as not using more than one floor mat, "We still go out and find stacked floor mats. Still. It's ongoing."

hmmmmmmmmmm

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...ota14_ST_N.htm

[Midship Runabout]

Why does this not make the front page news?

[70NYD]

it doesnt have the same inpact as the blame on toyota... toyota is a AWESOME manufacturer.. half of my engeneering managment classes were based on toyotas principles and codes of conduct cus they are so damn good. slander looks so much better than praize in this situation. and besides, all of those unintended acceleration problems, weather they were driver or computer error could have been solved by turning the car off.. people are just stupid
there was a guy here in oz whit a ford suv (forget which one) who CALLED THE POLICE WHILE SPEEDING ON THE OPOSITE SIDE OF THE HWY cus he couldnt (rather didnt know how to) slow the vehicle down... the brake pedal wasnt working.. but HELLO HAND BREAK, push it in to the barrier or turn the damn thing of.. jamn it in to P or R... WTF is wrong with ppl..

[R_E_L]

Originally Posted by 70NYD

it doesnt have the same inpact as the blame on toyota... toyota is a AWESOME manufacturer.. half of my engeneering managment classes were based on toyotas principles and codes of conduct cus they are so damn good. slander looks so much better than praize in this situation. and besides, all of those unintended acceleration problems, weather they were driver or computer error could have been solved by turning the car off.. people are just stupid
there was a guy here in oz whit a ford suv (forget which one) who CALLED THE POLICE WHILE SPEEDING ON THE OPOSITE SIDE OF THE HWY cus he couldnt (rather didnt know how to) slow the vehicle down... the brake pedal wasnt working.. but HELLO HAND BREAK, push it in to the barrier or turn the damn thing of.. jamn it in to P or R... WTF is wrong with ppl..

or really neutral, kinda helps avoiding steering wheel lock and wont trash your transmission.

[Abflug]

this is driver error (sponsored by toyota )

[Dimman]

Originally Posted by TomGT

this is driver error (sponsored by toyota )

Wow...