[Bjorn]

What I and several others tried to say a good while back....
Driver errors!

The Department of Transportation has analyzed dozens of black boxes in Toyota vehicles involved in accidents blamed on unintended acceleration, finding the throttles were open and the brakes were not engaged, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

That suggests that drivers of the speeding cars were stepping on the accelerator rather than hitting the brakes.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...s/7107235.html

[wheelspin]

Same final analysis on similar problems w/ Audi's over 20 yrs. ago .

Les

[Bjorn]

Originally Posted by wheelspin

Same final analysis on similar problems w/ Audi's over 20 yrs. ago .

Les

I know, what I was saying back then too! I even witnessed oneof those so called "runaways" back then....brake lights never came on as it accelerated away and afterwards the brake lights worked when tested...

[SRR]

Uh, the one here that killed those three people DID have a stuck accelerator.

[sleepy]

But WHY did the accelerator stick?
Salt air corrosion make the butterfly stick at wide open? LACK of maintenance? Foreign material jammed in the flap? Broken return spring?
I've had cars STICK at full throttle But NEVER go to full throttle by themselves.

AND what about putting the car in Neutral??????? Driver error, Panic.

[Bjorn]

Originally Posted by SRR

Uh, the one here that killed those three people DID have a stuck accelerator.

yup, thats ONE.....not a few hundred....
why did it stick?
I`ve had two in my life , figured both out...one a rusted off hinge, pedal slid in under carpet (58 Simca Vedette)...the other a bent idle screw that got adjusted so it interfered (63 Mini Cooper)...

so WHY did the pedal stick?

I`ve seen 3 "claims" of sudden acceleration in the 80s , none were the cars fault, all 3 were the drivers fault

[NoMoCEO]

That's the one with the 4Runner floor mats installed in the Lexus rental car.

[Nickv]

Ah, if you can't tell the difference between and accelerator pedal and brake pedal, maybe you shouldn't drive.

[Region Warrior]

After some reports, later ones where probly think bout get'n rich...

[johnta1]

How about the one in our town, where the driver tried to stop the car at a light, it kept going , she jumps out, car keeps going for 3 blocks(accelerating) , hits a pedestrian, (killed her), keeps going hits a brick church.

The police arrive and the car is still running with the wheels spinning in the dirt.
(car didn't have enough HP to move the church I guess)

[foxwolf321]

Originally Posted by johnta1

How about the one in our town, where the driver tried to stop the car at a light, it kept going , she jumps out, car keeps going for 3 blocks(accelerating) , hits a pedestrian, (killed her), keeps going hits a brick church.

The police arrive and the car is still running with the wheels spinning in the dirt.
(car didn't have enough HP to move the church I guess)

I have to hope that the driver was charged with murder, why would you ever abandon a moving vehicle while you still have some control over it?!

[sleepy]

Originally Posted by johnta1

How about the one in our town, where the driver tried to stop the car at a light, it kept going , she jumps out, car keeps going for 3 blocks(accelerating) , hits a pedestrian, (killed her), keeps going hits a brick church.

The police arrive and the car is still running with the wheels spinning in the dirt.
(car didn't have enough HP to move the church I guess)

Got to call BS on that. tried to stop at a light and jumped out when it "kept going"? try to jump out of a car going 30mph let alone open the door. 3 blocks accelerating by itself? front drive and drove strait with nobody holding the wheel. Ever hear of torquesteer? hit a woman and kept accelerating until it hit the church. still running and digging dirt when the cops showed? AGAIN front drive and smashed into a brick wall after accelerating for 3+ blocks? it would NOT be running. the driveline would be smashed.

[Stu Norman]

Originally Posted by wheelspin

Same final analysis on similar problems w/ Audi's over 20 yrs. ago .

Les

My thoughts exactly.

[goatless]

Originally Posted by Stu Norman

My thoughts exactly.

Me 3.

It always made me chuckle hearing those Audi owners saying how that super high horsepower motor of a mid-80's 5000 completely overpowered the the 4 wheel disc brakes and shot them through the garage wall with the tires smoking the whole way.

[Andre]

I would like to see an analysis of the database of the reported cross checked against the driver's health. I would not be surprised to find that a very big percentage of those drivers involved are diabetics, and have reduced sense of touch in their right leg.

[johnta1]

Sleepy, it didn't go straight.

It went to the left, crossed over a curb, probably hit some shrubs also.

Not sure what they did to the driver, sure they got arrested.

[johnta1]

Whoops, she didn't die.
(at least then, maybe it was later?)

I found part of an article on this, but no article on the actual accident when it happened.


(cover-up?)

Here is part of the article:

On the night of Oct. 19 (2009), Maggie was apparently walking north on the west side of 19th Street near Richmond Avenue.
About four blocks south, a teenage driver jumped out of her moving car when the accelerator apparently became stuck.
Her car continued north on 19th Street and through a couple intersections before veering left.
The car struck a fire hydrant, a crosswalk pole, a sign, a corner of the Immaculate Conception Church Parish Center, and hit Maggie shortly after 8:30 p.m.

Maggie has head trauma, has had four operations thus far and faces more major surgery, he said.

Maggie is under heavy sedation and cannot talk.
But sometime before the string of operations, between being taken to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center, then to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana and finally to Loyola Medical Center, Maggie was conscious for awhile. Brian said she remembers nothing about the incident.

[sleepy]

The rest of the story. Teenage girl texting while driving hits pedestrian, freaked, tried to drive away, smashed up the car, tells the cops she jumped out of the car when the car accelerated out of control and wasn't even IN the car when it hit the pedestrian or any of the other stuff.

[ta6point6]

Sounds to simple of a explanation IMO. It like when ford claimed tires were under inflated and blamed it on people rather than the tires.

[Cobrabill]

Originally Posted by ta6point6

Sounds to simple of a explanation IMO. It like when ford claimed tires were under inflated and blamed it on people rather than the tires.

I guess you like the truth then.