[Shop-talk] Toyota Pedal Brouhaha

[Mark Andy]

Howdy,

On Tue, 2 Feb 2010, Michael Porter wrote:
> Lots of variables, but, still there's one constant--accidents _have_ 
> happened because of a mechanical or drive-by-wire failure that caused 
> power input when it shouldn't have happened....

The other constant is inappropriate response by the drivers in question.

I'm not saying Toyota isn't screwing the pooch here... I think they are. 
But even with brakes that are completely disfunctional, a driver has 
options before reaching 100mph or whatever it was in the case of the car 
the cop was driving.  And I've not seen anything yet that shows 
definitively that the brakes weren't functional.

Btw, another issue is the "push button control" stuff for ignition power. 
If there's anything thats coming out of this whole deal, its that changing 
a user interface that's very well known, accepted, and understood, should 
be done with a little caution.

Mark