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Re: [Shop-talk] Toyota Pedal Brouhaha

To: Team shop-talk <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Toyota Pedal Brouhaha
From: Brian Kennedy <kennedybc@comcast.net>
Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:47:23 -0800
Why didn't she turn the ignition off? I heard the advice for the Toyota
problem was to stomp on the brakes, shift to neutral and turn the ignition
off. It seems to me I could grab the key more quickly than I can find
neutral.
Brian K


On 2/1/10 10:09 PM, "eric@megageek.com" <eric@megageek.com> wrote:

> Steve writes...
> 
>> What was interesting to me is that this is a media event.  My Eagle Talon
>> was recalled in 1996 for a sticking throttle and nothing was said.  Guess
>> it isn't any fun scaring anyone if it's a small segment of the popul
> 
> 
> Steve, the problem is with the shear amount of cars affected.  The entire
> Eagle marquee, didn't SELL as many vehicles that is affected by this
> single recall. (It is the largest single recall ever in US history.)
> 
> It is a serious problem.  Most "normal" people could figure out to hit the
> brakes, and shift into neutral. But most drivers aren't "normal!"
> Remember, we are NOT representative of the average car driving public.
> 
> When I was a cop, back in the early nineties, we had a driver of a VW
> (Golf I believe) who's linkage broke and forced the car into full
> throttle.  She called 911 as she was speeding down a major highway (Rt 78)
>  She covered most of the state as the Troopers and local PD's tried to
> clear a path for her.  The hope was that she would be able to shift it
> into neutral (for some reason it was jammed.)  The brakes lasted about 10
> minutes and were completely gone (but were only able to slow the car down
> for that time.  As she approached the NYC border, things were tense.  She
> had a half tank of gas left, and there was nothing left to try.
> 
> She swerved into the grassy median at over 100 MPH. The car was totally
> ripped apart.  Due to all the safety features of the car's body, she
> survived but with injuries.  The car was unrecognizable after the
> accident.
> 
> Three things saved her that night.  The cell phone, the fact that it was
> late (and almost no traffic on the road), and the safety design of that
> car.
> 
> The investigation showed it was a problem with the linkage that forced the
> car in full throttle and prevented the A/T from being shifted in neutral.
> 
> One thing that I remember during the AAR, was that if we would have let
> her intentionally hit a police car from behind, and the lead car try to
> stop, it might have worked.  BUT, the police department would have been
> liable for ALL injuries she sustained.  By letting her run off the road,
> the police departments weren't liable.  Now you know why I hate the fact
> that Americans are so litigious.  This wasn't a decision that was made
> that night, but it was investigated and became policy for situations like
> this.
> 
> Moose
> "Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational
> being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory." Ralph
> Waldo Emerson
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