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Comments
pushing the car forward. i.e. close that throttle plate to idle position. I will have maximum vacuum assist for the brakes. If a brake override system ensures this functionality, then I want it in my car.
Also I expect the brake override system to be monitored and will have CEL codes
when it fails. This will address the problem of future false claims of 'my brake override system failed'.
Sikes was not the humble innocent he tried to make us believe. You have probably read how he did it by now so I won't waste time repeating.
Okay, thanks. I travel 52 miles a day on the highway so there are many places I can test it. Was hoping to test it at the dealer before leaving but I guess that would be difficult.
Well, based on the fact that hitting the brakes in an emergency, or just stopping normally, is a tried and true reflex action, it should be easier. All drive-by-wire cars should have BO and I hope the NHTSA follows through on this. Couldn't care less what the "heel and toe" guys have to say.
I am just giving you the trend line and that is that the motor vehicle fatality rate has been falling for almost 5 years. It would be nice to know whether vehicle miles driven is also down, which I don't know. If we knew that VMD was down as well we also would not be sure why, High gas prices could also lower VMD as well as other issues, including unemployment. So the death rate is down and the use of high technology in cars is trending up. I do not know for a fact that there is a causal relationship at all. It was just an observation. Does this clear it up for you?
None of those 38 million unemployed ever drive? You have data on that? I would think the unemployed would be driving around going to job interviews and searching out a new job.
to me they seem like most vehicles, the people that treated them well, had good luck with them the ones that didn't had problems.
my guess is it takes a long time to wear out the pads.
also, if the regen brakes can be disabled, how much hydraulic braking power is available?
You need to see the pictures of the ES350's brake rotor and pads.
The regen is often disabled, anytime the ABS activates for instance.
Very few hydraulic/frictional braking systems can quickly bring a car to a stop from highway speeds with the engine still DRIVING. With FWD, primary braking wheels being driven by a WOT runaway engine, maybe never.
the prius brakes are different than the es350.
from what i have read, the hydraulic brakes are designed to pick up the lower speed 'slack' from the regen brakes.
if the regen brakes are not working, how much hydraulic stopping power is there at high speed?
in regards to the es350, a 'pursuit of perfection' product, the fact the one extra floor mat can cause a fatal outcome leaves me skeptical of their design and testing protocols.
shaving off half the gas pedal is going to work as a fix, but why does that have to happen?
To be fair to Lexus' designers and engineers, it took at least 2 dozen serious driver errors and poor choices to make a floor mat cause a fatal outcome.
Or one dumb designer err engineer.
http://a.abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/ht_chp_toyota_100317.pdf
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/hed-runaway-toyota-prius-driver-thought-die-dek/st- ory?id=10114198&page=3
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/17/chp-report-backs-driver-of-runawa- y-prius/
Once stopped CHP officer Neibert asked if he had any known medical conditions.
Mr. Sikes related:
High Blood Pressue - daily rx
Hx Cardiac Bypass Surgery - 5 way - 5 yrs ago
C/O - chest tightness
CHP Officer Neibert - dispatched for ambulance reponse to scene to evaluate patient condition - c/o chest tightness - medical conditions - high pressure & hx bypass surgery
AMR - American Medical Response Ambulance w Paramedic/EMT- responded - arrived at scene
Neibert report Paramedic/EMT medical evaluation - BP & pulse quite elevated - continued monitoring BP & pulse & symtoms, verbal questions - vital signs eventually & gradually dropped to acceptable level - patient not transported
We are not driving 1990s technology where everything had a positive mechanical linkage, or off-on switch. Maybe we should be!
Yes, maybe we should be. If Toyota cannot build fail safe DBW electronics, software, firmware and hardware, they should go back to the tried and proven reliable systems of the 1990s.
I don't know what Toyota expects when they buy their parts made in 3rd world hell holes using slave labor.
Time for the NHTSA to step up to the plate and do their job. Stop looking the other way when they have 1000s of complaints of legitimate UA that are never investigated.
That would be like lightning striking your head, your chest, your pelvis, and your feet all at the same time from 4 different directions in 4 separate strikes all in one second. It is so highly improbable that it is impossible to believe that all separate systems fail at the same time (ignition system, transmission system, steering system, acceleration system, braking system, E-Brake system). It's just too much to believe.
Also, in reports of people having UA, there have been some that said they shifted into neutral or turned the ignition off and there was no issue or hassle. Guess what, it works! UA really isn't a big deal.
In the Sikes Prius case the HSD system controller/computer "failed"(***) in a manner in which it either would not communicate, or sent the wrong information, to the skid control computer. That resulted in the loss of a portion, or all, hydraulic braking.
*** Stuck in a tight loop executing only the "set/accel" function.
I find it "reporting the facts."
If ANYONE thinks that Toyota is not doing their HONEST BEST to get to the bottom of these problems AT THIS JUNCTURE, then you are completely so far off base as to not be in the stadium.
After the beating 'Yota has JUSTIFIABLY taken in the press and in the eyes of the public, no one should doubt that they are doing their level best to get to the bottom of these issues and get them solved so EVERYONE can move on, and so they can start rebuilding their rightful reputation.
They might have been "hiding" things in the beginning, to save face, but at this point, they have no face left to save, so why would they CONTINUE to try and hide anything?
Preposterous to think they are hiding things at this point. Totally ridiculous.
Meanwhile the "smoke screen" PR "machine" grinds on.
They concluded that the gas pedal and brake pedal had been cycled 256 times because the information that the computer stored for that those variables was ZERO and since that was a practicle impossibility the counter MUST have rolled over to ZERO.
256 cycles over WHAT time period. The computer counted a MAXIMUM of 256 and then stopped counting least the counter overflow.
I could see the Sikes making multiple efforts to get the brakes to work, pumping the brake pedal again and again, or even jabbing at the gas pedal to get it to "release". But 250 times in the time period of the runaway...NOT..!!
I will guarantee you thing, if my Avalon goes into UA unexpectedly, it will be getting to dangerous speeds VERY QUICKLY, and that is a big deal to me!
Thanks for the good laugh larsb.
I don't believe Toyota is any more honest today than they were 10 years ago. It is a culture of secrecy and deception that runs to the very core of the company. They are not going to change because they are on the carpet in Congress. That should have been more than clear from the hearings. "I DON'T KNOW" was their stock answer for most of the questions.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Ridiculous.
'Nuff Said.
There are NO jobs in my state of California. The only jobs that still exist are the ones at "BAILOUT" worthy companies as deemed by our crooked government. For people at non bailout companies, they probably got laid off.
Golden arches... all depends how many Big Macs your gonna buy in the next few years.
It doesn't take long to do these things.
The cost of those lawsuits would severely hurt Toyota, and it certainly would do their image no good to be in court all around the country for years.
Because of our legal system, you will never see a company admit guilt about products that cause injury and death.
The best post ever!
After the press conference, however, a Toyota representative confirmed to ABC News that the electronic data did not show how hard the brake was being pressed. "The level of brake application is not recorded," said Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons, "only that the brakes were completely released and applied."
Lyons also clarified Michels statement about the number of times Sikes must have hit the brakes and the accelerator. He said that the data showed that Sikes pressed and released the brakes 254 times, and did not show Sikes pressing on the accelerator, only that the throttle remained open throughout the incident.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/hed-runaway-toyota-prius-driver-thought-die-dek/st- ory?id=10114198&page=2
Sounds like wrongdoing to me.
I disagree!
only that the throttle remained open throughout the incident.
This is new information for me at least but now his pressing/releasing of the brakes makes even more sense if BO kicked in everytime he pressed the brakes with his left foot while keeping his right foot on the accelerator. I'm assuming that releasing the brakes during BO effectively allows the car to resume where it left off.
All indications are that while throttle position is monitored, the actual accelerator pedal position is not. Hence Lyons' clarification. In other words, they cannot prove that Sikes used his foot to hold the throttle open. Nevertheless, no doubt that is their belief.
Actually that's not the purpose at all. It will raise costs for most working tax payers and it will mean more of them will not have insurance through the employer.
It's a takeover, not a bailout.
If the government had been as determined to effect auto safety through its agencies as it has been to push healthcare bills, we wouldn't be having this topic about toyota-lexus.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
These investigations are questionable, though, The corporation being investigated is conducting the engineering investigation with sole proprietary legal rights to the information. And only they can do at present it seems. NHTSA engineers are present, but am not sure they can actually do/did the EDR readouts & vehicle system analysis. Toyota had stated they were providing readers to NHTSA at hearings the end of February. Training must have been done. Am not sure training was done.
Laws have not been passed/ or implemented to date - where it would be NHTSA conducting test, and with Toyota or the other auto manufacturer being investigated observing and being present to protect their own interests. Corporation has every right to legally protect their own interests.
Now we wait for the final determination from NHTSA to come out. So far I haven't heard anything.
Toyota's past actions, problems, use of Exponent, corporate strategies, current laws create some obstacles for me at present. Still waiting for this all to unfold.
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