Toyota Recall

[sheepdog 10]

What I heard on the news this morning has me pretty flabbergasted. Toyota is recalling millions of cars, due to the floor mats catching on the gas peddle causing it to get stuck down. Ok, that happens. It's happened to me in just about every car I have ever owned, that had a drivers side floor mat. But that's not what has me so shocked. The accident that was a big cause of all this uproar was a highway patrol officer and his family that were killed in such an accident. This was a HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICER!!! What most would consider a profesional driver. It absolutly floors me that someone who is a profesional driver was too stupid to either one, move the mat back, or two, shut the key back off to the accesory position, therefore assuring the steering colum did not lock, or three, for crying out loud, put the dam car in neutral!!!!! Even if the engine continuted to race, in neutral he could of stopped the car with the brakes and then shut off the ignition, or safely bailed out of the car before the engine blew up. And yet the stupid fool had time to call 911!!! What in gods name did he think a dispatcher in an office could do for him??? He was on the line for over a minute before the crash. God grief people, if his wife could reach for the damn cell phone, why in the hell could she not reach down and move the frigging floor mat? Hard to believe someone could be that dumb, really. I could vaugly understand it if it was some very young inexperienced driver, but a Highway patrol officer??? How dumb is that?????

[inverse_bloom 0]

Some people can really surprise you sometimes. He was obviously in a state of panic, which affected his ability to think. But who knows maybe there is some detail that wasn't mentioned about the incident, maybe he wasn't getting sufficient sleep.Maybe some sort of drug? Or maybe he "was" a bit of a lack wit, who knows.

Edited November 27, 2009 by inverse_bloom (see edit history)

[anwiii 17]

yea, old news. i believe this was in my old state of california where that happened. if so, this guy had a lot of time to try and figure something out. like turning off the ignition or putting the car in nuetral. the car reached in excess of 100mph. beofre the crash, i believe one of the kids or the wife had called 911 right before the fatal accident. there was also some talk that it wasn't just the floormats, but i don't know what came about the investigation.

funny thing is, there have been stories that it's not just toyota's floomats that have done this before. it's just that this story made huge headlines where all the eyes of the public was looking at toyota. likewise, there were a few more instances of a toyota floormat causing a sticky gas peddle and i guess this was the tip of the iceburg for toyota.

let this be a lesson to all drivers when you get behind the wheel. it doesn't have to be the other driver that kills you. it doesn't even have to be yourself that kills you if you make a mistake while driving. it can be something as simple as a floormat. anything can happen and when you're traveling at 65mph on a freeway or highway, just because you are inside a box of reinforced steel, you are still not safe.

What I heard on the news this morning has me pretty flabbergasted. Toyota is recalling millions of cars, due to the floor mats catching on the gas peddle causing it to get stuck down. Ok, that happens. It's happened to me in just about every car I have ever owned, that had a drivers side floor mat.
But that's not what has me so shocked. The accident that was a big cause of all this uproar was a highway patrol officer and his family that were killed in such an accident. This was a HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICER!!! What most would consider a profesional driver. It absolutly floors me that someone who is a profesional driver was too stupid to either one, move the mat back, or two, shut the key back off to the accesory position, therefore assuring the steering colum did not lock, or three, for crying out loud, put the dam car in neutral!!!!! Even if the engine continuted to race, in neutral he could of stopped the car with the brakes and then shut off the ignition, or safely bailed out of the car before the engine blew up. And yet the stupid fool had time to call 911!!! What in gods name did he think a dispatcher in an office could do for him??? He was on the line for over a minute before the crash. God grief people, if his wife could reach for the damn cell phone, why in the hell could she not reach down and move the frigging floor mat? Hard to believe someone could be that dumb, really. I could vaugly understand it if it was some very young inexperienced driver, but a Highway patrol officer??? How dumb is that?????

[rvalkass 5]

I could vaugly understand it if it was some very young inexperienced driver, but a Highway patrol officer??? How dumb is that?????

From what I have read about the incident, it wasn't his fault. The cars at fault were Toyota Priuses (is that how you pluralise it?) which accelerated totally of their own accord. The problem is that they are 'fly-by'wire' cars - there is no physical connection between the accelerator pedal and the engine (due to the hybrid electric motor) and it seems that occasionally the computer goes a bit haywire and makes the car accelerate for no reason. From other people who have had this happen, they say the brakes have no effect, and putting the car in neutral is pointless - neutral on a Prius is not actually neutral, and it's controlled by the computer. It has also happened to people who claim not to even have floor mats in their car. It seems Toyota is using this excuse to cover up something far worse with their cars. Allegedly.

[anwiii 17]

yea....that was the other thing i was the other thing that i was talking about(the computer) but i didn't want to indulge a scenario that may be false. you should quote from a source if it is in fact the computer

From what I have read about the incident, it wasn't his fault. The cars at fault were Toyota Priuses (is that how you pluralise it?) which accelerated totally of their own accord. The problem is that they are 'fly-by'wire' cars - there is no physical connection between the accelerator pedal and the engine (due to the hybrid electric motor) and it seems that occasionally the computer goes a bit haywire and makes the car accelerate for no reason. From other people who have had this happen, they say the brakes have no effect, and putting the car in neutral is pointless - neutral on a Prius is not actually neutral, and it's controlled by the computer. It has also happened to people who claim not to even have floor mats in their car. It seems Toyota is using this excuse to cover up something far worse with their cars. Allegedly.

[sheepdog 10]

From what I have read about the incident, it wasn't his fault. The cars at fault were Toyota Priuses (is that how you pluralise it?) which accelerated totally of their own accord. The problem is that they are 'fly-by'wire' cars - there is no physical connection between the accelerator pedal and the engine (due to the hybrid electric motor) and it seems that occasionally the computer goes a bit haywire and makes the car accelerate for no reason. From other people who have had this happen, they say the brakes have no effect, and putting the car in neutral is pointless - neutral on a Prius is not actually neutral, and it's controlled by the computer. It has also happened to people who claim not to even have floor mats in their car. It seems Toyota is using this excuse to cover up something far worse with their cars. Allegedly.

Interesting.
So here's my take on that.
Cars need engines, transmissions, rear ends, drive trains, tires, wheels, gas peddles, brakes, a clutch, and a long list of other minor components. They DO NOT need computers. Think about how often your personal PC crashes! Why add the great likelyhood of computer failure to the allready long list of highway dangers, like cell phone users, drunks, idiots, wild animals running out in frount of you, (it's deer season here, seeing a lot of that this week) and the few million other things that can go wrong when driving a car?
Sometime I think we have gotten in to way more technoligy than we really need or can handle.

[k_nitin_r 8]

Hi!@sheepdogI think one of the problems with computers is that they are susceptible to electromagnetic interference. To continue to use cheap copper cabling, firms use shielding over the copper cables that does help to quite a large extent but there still remains the possibility of a high magnitude electromagnetic interference distorting the data travelling over the copper cables. For situations where a high reliability is required, firms use at least two fiberoptic connections in place of copper cabling.Although this use of fiber optic cabling helps in regulating problems caused when carrying electrical signals for connecting different electronic components, the components themselves still run on electronic components with soldered metal ends onto the circuit boards.However, there is a level of acceptable risk when compared to the cost savings incurred and although some may argue that cost savings at the expense of human life should not count, there are automobiles that were popular simply because of the low cost despite being labelled death traps. For example, the Chery QQ, and the Chevrolet Spark are vehicles that provide great fuel economy and a very low price at the expense of performance and safety but you still see very high sales of the two vehicles.

[sheepdog 10]

LOL, I never would of thought I'd hear someone describe copper at being cheap! Around here they are breaking into old houses and stealing the stuff right out of the walls to sell to recyclers. It's really pretty high dollar. But you got me to thinking, just what are fiber optic cables made out of? Had never really even thought about that. Could they withstand the high engine tempratures under the hood of a car? I know they use them alot underground for the telephone companies, but they would not be exposed to excessive heat in those circumstances. I am not familiar with the Chery QQ, or the Chevrolet Spark. I do think it's rather pathetic that car makers can't come up with a decent car that is safe and gets good fuel milage. Not to mention one that has enough room in it you can haul puppies or your children or a week or two's worth of groceries in the back. I wonder the the general American public would even be interested in a fuel efficient, ulitarian type car, one that you didn't have to go into hock for 5 years and struggle with car payments. So many have that keeping up with the Jone'es thing going on mentally, that they would consider driving a cheap car an embarrasmnt. They think they wouldn't look cool that way. Personally, there are a lot of other things I would prefer to spend money on, a fancy car is not real high on the list, but that's just me.

[anwiii 17]

funny, i know that all too well after my home burnt down in warsaw. i couldn't believe how many theives there are. they went for the copper first.

anyway, we DONT need computers in automobiles and we certainly don't want to pay 2 grand when the computer fails and needs replacing!

LOL, I never would of thought I'd hear someone describe copper at being cheap! Around here they are breaking into old houses and stealing the stuff right out of the walls to sell to recyclers. It's really pretty high dollar.

[k_nitin_r 8]

Hi!@anwiiThat's pretty interesting to hear. In India, burglars steal drain/manhole covers for the metal. There's this gang that struck an entire neighborhood and made away with their loot. They aren't too keen on stealing copper wires from homes because of the noise involved in breaking through the walls - since most people leave their windows open all day and all night, the sound would be a give-away for the burglars.

[k_nitin_r 8]

Hi!@sheepdogIf you are looking for something that you can haul people, puppies, and groceries, you could look at the Toyota Prius. It's safe and fuel-efficient. If you'd like to get something smaller, something even smaller than the Chery QQ or the Chevrolet Spark, you ought to look at the Smart car. Sure, they're tiny, but they can get you and another passenger around without taking up too much fuel and without giving you a frustratingly underpowered engine.There are some cars that are embarassing to drive but also offer poor safety. A Toyota Corolla or a Honda Civic offer you a good mix of low price, mileage, safety, and reliability and ought to be what people ought to look for in an economical car. Both the Corolla and the Civic offer luxury upgrades that match many of the offerings of larger cars, such as leather seats and partronic sensors, but don't expect electric seats and sat nav in them. My best bet would be on something that offers fuel economy while still being able to get onto the highway, and both the Corolla and the Civic can manage that.

[deadmad7 4]

funny, i know that all too well after my home burnt down in warsaw. i couldn't believe how many theives there are. they went for the copper first.
anyway, we DONT need computers in automobiles and we certainly don't want to pay 2 grand when the computer fails and needs replacing!

Hmmm... you have a house in Russia? I thought your house burned down somewhere in the US. And i don't think there are that much thieves there... they just go to where the copper is first

YOU don't need computers in your car but I would really like one, especially to drive for me when i'm tried and not letting me drive when i'm drunk!


EDIT: ok... just realized that there is a warsaw in indiana... LOL
Edited July 7, 2010 by deadmad7 (see edit history)

[sheepdog 10]

Hi back at ya K_niten_rSome years back we bought a Ford Aspire. 40 mpg and with the back seat completely removed I can fit in 7-9 small to medium pet taxi's, or believe it or not, 20 bags of dog food. (that's the 40 or 50lb bags, or half a ton.) I have to say, it was a fantastic car. We put almost 300,000 miles on it, and it is still running, but needs a new clutch. We just bought another one we liked it so well. And since Ford didn't take any government bail out money, I am even happier with our choise. I still haven't seen a Chevy Spark. Guess I need to include that one on my next research trip to AutoTrader.com

[k_nitin_r 8]

Hello, sheepdog!It's good to have a post from you again; I haven't seen you on the forums for a while.The Ford Aspire has the looks to make it as a 'young' car. I wonder if taking out the back seats voids the warranty as many warranty policies prohibit modification of the vehicle. After 300,000 miles, I wouldn't worry about the warranty because it probably expired but for a new car I wouldn't spend on modifications unless I know that the warranty permits it. I have had a warranty repair just once within the three days of getting a Suzuki because the engine was emitting more smoke than it should be and the dealer sent the mechanic all the way over to where I live to take a look at it. It was just a couple of loose nuts and bolts, or something of the sort, so it was a minor fix.In the past, my dad has always had a vehicle replaced for getting too old and it never really got past 80,000km but lately we've been reducing our spending due to the crisis, so we've had a Toyota Avalon 2000 that ran for over 110,000km and a Maruti-Suzuki Esteem 2005 that shows 91,000km but it has only got 5 digits on the odometer. The Suzuki is usually borrowed by neighbours, friends, and family when they go on trips so I'm not sure of whether to read the odometer as 91,000km or 191,000km, as the counter would probably go back to zero after going past 99,999km. I'm sure it's the former because going over 150,000km within a five year period is quite uncommon with regular usage. Hanging onto a vehicle after a period of five years does mean you would have to live with occasional failure. The battery is one of the first things that would need replacement and you would want to have a jumper cable in the boot just in case, so you can ask for help. Do make sure that you aren't hooking up your car battery to anything prehistoric or futuristic - really old cars use batteries of different voltages and hybrid cars won't be able to get you a jump start either. There's always a spare tyre in the boot if you get a flat tyre, though you ought to check the tyre pressure and treading on all of the tyres at least once a month. The engine oil, air filters, and fuel filters need to be changed regularly to ensure that you don't experience any engine breakdowns. Keep an eye out for any indication of engine overheating when driving in hot weather - that's one thing sure to kill an engine.When looking for a Chevrolet Spark, you might also want to look for the old Daewoo Matiz, because that's the ancestor of the Spark - when Chevrolet acquired Daewoo's automobile business, they renamed the Matiz to a Spark although they kept the look that most automobile magazines describe as 'cute'. I'm not sure where they get their idea of cute... the modern-day Volkswagen Beetle is cute, an Audi TT is cute, a Mini Cooper is cute, but a Daewoo Matiz? I wouldn't really call that cute. Sure, it's economical and can take you from point A to point B without guzzling fuel, but the exterior definitely isn't cute.Carrying twenty bags of dog food is amazing for a Ford Aspire. Did you use the front passenger seat too, or was it all in the back? When going on a long trip, packing all the stuff I need into the Suzuki is tricky - I don't toss out the spare tyre and jack because I never know when I'm going to need it, but the boot space is limited since it's a mid-size sedan and putting stuff between the front seats, in the dashboard compartments, and the compartments in the door is what I'm left with. The Toyota Avalon is great for travel though - it's got an engine built for the highway, has lots of boot space, and the air conditioning is great if you live where the summer mercury peaks at 48C. Every geographical region seems to have a different automobile maker that has a good service network and is economical to drive, so I can't tell you if a particular car is a good choice for you without knowing the geographical location where you live (I don't mean to say that I would have to know where you live; I would need to know about the place where you live to be able to recommend a car). A car workshop down the street would probably be able to advise you on your next purchase based on their experience with repairing and servicing cars.