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Comments
That sounds like an excuse.
People have been talking on cell phones while driving for years, too.
I will acknowledge that is it very, very hard to regulate stupid behavior.
The National Transportation Safety Board requested the cell phone records of engineer Robert Sanchez after a CBS News report that two teenage train buffs had exchanged text messages with him shortly before the train collided head-on Friday with a Union Pacific freight train in suburban Chatsworth. The wreck killed 25 people, including Sanchez, and injured more than 130.
If the bus driver is texting get off the bus. Especially if you see his floor mat bunched up against the accelerator pedal.
Good one!
to me it's like (hate that word, my kids say it too much), having an engine that would sieze up as soon as the oil level went below full on the dipstick.
technically, nothing wrong with that, but in the real world there has to be more leeway.
BIG assumption. I've said before that it DID cause my accelerators in a Ford and a Mazda to stick down - that's a problem. I was using one mat, no hooks. When I bought aftermarket hooks, no more problem. See the similarity?
how long has it been since you owned a ford or mazda?
My 2007 Sequoia is the first vehicle I can remember having a hook for the floor mats. And I am forever tripping on it getting out of the vehicle. I am more likely to get hurt stumbling out of the vehicle than a floor mat getting tangled up in the accelerator of the SUV. Plenty of room for any kind of floor mat. Why did Toyota change to that goofy tight to the floor design? No hooks needed for this.
Hazard created with hook in middle of the floor.
How do you trip over a 3/8 inch tall hook that is flush with the top of the floor mat?
Those hooks started showing up in Japanese cars in the mid 90's. My mom's 1995 Maxima had one on the driver's side just like that. European cars probably had them earlier.
Obviously a full sized BOF SUV don't share the same floorplan of a unibody car.
Thanks in advance for your help!
For all your experience you do not seem to be in tune with what Toyota puts out. That hook sticks up more than 3/8" above the floor mat. It is way too far forward and is just a "P" Poor design. Looks like an add-on last minute after thought. It is NOT needed. Just gets in the way. The style of body should have nothing to do with a poorly designed accelerator. Toyota has had complaints of SUA for at least 8 years and have done nothing to correct it. At least VW/Audi got their act together and made their electronic throttle failsafe.
It is obvious your allegiance is to the automakers. Mine is to the consumers. The consumer usually gets screwed by the automakers. So they need every break they get.
To my untrained eye, it doesn't look like those stick up. You would know though.
I do agree that they are pretty far forward. I haven't been in a lot of cars but the ones I've seen (and own) are almost to the back edge.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
In my previous generation Camrys, the hooks are much farther back, and on my '98 Nissan Frontier, the single hook is under the front edge of the seat (at least where I position the seat).
So then I experience SUA and have an accident.The NHTSA finds the fault in a removed floor mat hook. Problem solved for Toyota, just not me the victim of runaway acceleration. Toyota needs to learn how to design their vehicles. Not just slap them together. What were they thinking putting the hook 8" in front of the seat? They could have moved it back 6" and still had a good hold on the floor mat. I just went and looked at our 1990 Lexus LS400. It has two similar hooks. They are so far back I did not realize they were there. Proving that at one time they had decent engineering. Probably the reason Toyota has dropped so far in the last few years. Lexus does not build them as well as they did 20 years ago.
We certainly don't want that to happen, so just leave that immense hook right where it is and just watch your step as you enter and leave the vehicle. I have heard though that if you rotate the hook a few degrees to the left it allows you to play your own CDs in your CD player.
I'll have to try that when my replacement NAV/Audio system gets here from New Delhi. Meanwhile I am stuck with talk radio on AM 600. What happened to "have it your way" with Toyota?
Has Toyota lost its way?
Since surpassing GM last year to become the world’s best-selling automaker, Toyota has been plagued by setbacks, including its first loss since 1938.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/has-toyota-lost-its-way.asp- x
So the floor matt causes the accelerator to stick and you can't shut the car off or put it in neutral...what do you do? The lexus that crashed with the people calling 911 might have had the setup.
He had to lift the car to crawl under it to (pull a cable?) release it to neutral. The dealer replaced a failed shifter lock module, under warranty luckily.
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I wonder if that really works under hard acceleration or would the transmission program prevent it? Anyone with a Prius want to try? I would think the driver of the Lexus who had time to call 911 while his car was racing down the highway would have tried that. Then again who knows what you would do under an emergency like that.
I tried it. It works. I wanted to know so that I could brief my wife on what to do if it ever happened to her. We still have our rubber mats installed, instead of the carpet mats and with the hooks attached. That mat isn't going anywhere.
So, does anyone have any stats of of unintended acceleration cases in the US vs Germany, where they apparently really teach driver's ed?
Here's a case in France involving a Renault.
"According to press reports, he had set his speed control at 130 km/hr and had covered a distance of about 30 km and was near Vierzon when he accelerated to overtake a lorry. The vehicle continued to accelerate to about 190 km/hr. He found himself unable to brake or cut off the engine. He alerted the police at Vierzon by mobile telephone who in turn warned their colleagues at Allier. After covering 150 km, Draa finally managed to remove the smart card (used instead of a key) from the dashboard and switch off the engine: bringing the vehicle to a halt about 20 km from the toll barrier at Combronde." (antony-anderson.com)
Lots of other UI reports at that site.
I tried it. It works. I wanted to know so that I could brief my wife on what to do if it ever happened to her. We still have our rubber mats installed, instead of the carpet mats and with the hooks attached. That mat isn't going anywhere.
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That is good to know & it should be part of driver's training classes. I can see the resistance to pressing the "park" button while going fast, you would think that it would lock the transmission like a mechanical transmission. Maybe Toyota should label the button "park or neutral".
How often do you buy new cars? My 1998 Subaru Forester had one. They've been around for a long time.
Toyota just announced a profit, that's already outdated.
And which automaker didn't lose money when demand dropped by half?
That they are making profits so soon proves they are not "plagued".
Has Toyota lost its way? Guess not!
A failed brake light switch will also cause the same problem (not being able to shift from park).
The Lexus under discussion has a conventional, gated gearshift lever. It would be a lot simpler just to move the lever into neutral from drive.
This very post is indicative of why there are so many alleged complaints. Sorry sir but you're incorrect about not being able to put the vehicle into Neutral. I've done it. It takes less then a second. Also shifting into Park at 90 mph or shifting into Reverse at 100 mph also sends the vehicle into Neutral.
Your post shows that there is much misunderstanding about how the next generation of vehicles works. Putting the Prius into Neutral is the easiest function possible.
Now powering the vehicle down is not as intuitive. Knowing to hold the button in for 3+ seconds does require one to RTFM. But the procedure should be more intuitive.
You'll probably get an answer more quickly by posting in the Chevy Malibu Forum.
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All I can say is I have family and friends that work for GM, Ford, AND Toyota, and I hope they all do well.
Not if you have the time to drive 120 km while using a cell phone to call police.
Well in any case, there is plenty of time to hold a button down for 3 seconds.
And I was referring to the incident in Europe.