[TR] Off-topic -deadly floormats?

[Mark Hooper]

I see the following on my local news site:

Torrance-based Toyota Motor Sales USA announced Monday that dealers must
make sure all Lexus and Toyota vehicles have the proper mats. California
Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, his wife, 13-year-old daughter and
an in-law died Aug. 28 when a Lexus ES 350 loaned by a local dealer
crashed.

Witnesses say the car was doing more than 120 mph when it went off an
embankment. The family's screams were heard in a 911 call. A preliminary
investigation found that their loaner car had a mat from another Lexus
model that may have caused the accelerator to get stuck.


Can somebody tell me if Lexus's are normally wired so that one cannot
simply turn off the ignition or stamp on the brakes if the engine gets
stuck on full? I mean the people in the car had the time to make a 911
call. Surely a police officer would have had the presence of mind to
just turn off the car or shift to neutral or brake. Sounds like a rather
weird situation to have such a dreadful outcome.

Mark
1972 TR6