Exam Shows Brakes Often Not Used in Toyota UA Incidents
By Bill Visnic August 11, 2010In another development that partially exonerates Toyota Motor Corp. in reported incidents of unintended acceleration, the results of an early study of data from onboard data recorders shows that in the majority of cases, the driver was not applying the brakes while the vehicle purportedly was accelerating of its own accord.
The findings, reached in the initial phase of a study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, showed that in 58 accidents attributed to unintended acceleration, in more than half, 35, the brakes were not applied.
The finding lends more credence to the widely believed explanation that many drivers were mistakenly pressing the accelerator pedal when they were convinced their vehicle was accelerating of its own accord.
The safety agency researchers said in reporting the findings that they had discovered no evidence of electrical malfunctions, including in the electronically controlled throttle, that could be possible causes for unintended acceleration.
At the peak of the recent furor surrounding Toyota and a rash of complaints regarding unintended acceleration, a Toyota recall of millions of accelerator-pedal assemblies that had the potential for the pedal to stick in a full-open or partially-open position led some to believe the pedal and/or electronic throttle system could be causing the problem.
Toyota recalled millions of vehicles and the company and NHTSA launched wide-ranging technical investigations to determine if the electronic throttles could be causing unintended acceleration, but the new NHTSA report seems to support the theory that many incidents were caused by the driver pressing the wrong pedal.
During the crisis, Toyota recalled millions of vehicles either to repair the accelerator-pedal assembly or to be certain customers were not stacking supplemental floor mats on top of the car's supplied floor mats, another factor identified as a way in which accelerator pedals could become stuck after being depressed.
And after Toyota executives testified before Congress regarding the issue, the company's own investigation of some subsequent unintended-acceleration accidents - including a highly publicized incident near San Diego, CA, generated data-recorder evidence that the drivers were pressing the accelerator pedal as they claimed their vehicles were in runaway mode.
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If these findings prove to be correct, then we have a real problem that no amount of technology can solve: incompetent drivers. Even in an emergency situation, anyone who cannot remember which is the go pedal and which is the stop pedal should not have driver's license. Perhaps our efforts would be put to better use if we concentrated on weeding out less capable drivers, starting with all those who claim to have been victims of unintended acceleration. Any Toyota or Lexus made in the last 20 years requires almost no brain power to operate safely. I would also bet money that a lot of trial lawyers are cursing heaven and earth that Toyota had the foresight to install data recorders that can tell exactly what happened in those accidents.
Licensing requirements in this country are ridiculously easy. The same goes for written and behind-the-wheel exams. If you can fog a mirror, you're in. As a semi truck driver I drive about 150,000 miles a year. I see a lot of good people making horrendously bad decisions on the road every day.
That the NHTSA findings show the majority were cases of applying the wrong pedal isn't surprising to me; it confirms my earlier suspicion that the problem lies in the active moron chip of the driver.
If this is true it only confirms one thing. Toyota drivers are the most clueless drivers on the road today, hence the reason they buy the most dull bland and tasteless appliance-vehicles on the road today. MORONS! I wanna know how many of these Toyotas involved were in Beige with gray plastic wheel covers....im betting at least 60%
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