Though it still depends on the circumstances, a throttle sticks in dense freeway traffic is going to give you a fright, or coming into a slow corner at highway speed

Interestingly enough has this happened on manual trans cars? A manual is easy hit the clutch pedal

I have a feeling that the problem will be statistically much rarer on manual transmission vehicles.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405...1383717288.html
The consensus among industry executives and federal safety regulators, embodied in a 1989 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is that most cases of sudden acceleration result from drivers hitting the gas pedal when they meant to hit the brakes..... Driver error is the auto industry's bugaboo. Even when dealers and auto makers suspect driver error, it is difficult for them to outright blame their customers for fear of alienating them or appearing insensitive, as sometimes serious injuries or fatalities are involved. In Toyota's case, some of the most high-profile incidents of sudden acceleration involve drivers who are elderly or with health issues that may never be definitively ruled out as contributing factors....

Toyota is getting a lot of attention for sudden unintended acceleration, but Ford Motor Co. has been the subject of more complaints with federal regulators in the recent past. From 2004 to 2009, based on NHTSA data, Ford had 2,806 complaints, compared with Toyota's 2,515. General Motors Co. had 1,192. A study by Edmunds.com, an independent market-research Web site, found that based on the number of vehicles on the road, Toyota ranked 17th in recalls, with Land Rover, recently acquired by India's Tata Motors Ltd., having the most.. In the 1980s, a consumer scare over mechanical defects in Volkswagen AG's Audi 5000 vehicles caused Audi sales to collapse, but the NHTSA later determined the cause of the problem was "pedal misapplication," meaning a driver was mistakenly hitting the gas instead of the brake.

Rhonda Smith, who testified before the House committee Tuesday, said her Lexus began accelerating on its own after her cruise-control light turned on by itself. She flipped the off switch for her cruise control but the car continued speeding up, and that is why she surmises the electronics may have played a role... A final report from NHTSA, dated May 2, 2007, noted an NHTSA investigator, Scott Yon, didn't check the electronics. His report listed the cause as the pedal sticking to an all-weather floor mat, which was stacked atop a carpeted floor mat. "When I got that I was pretty furious," said Ms. Smith. "I called him and I said, 'Scott, it wasn't my floor mats,' and I said it was the electronics. He said there's an ongoing investigation on that."

NHTSA says it followed up with the current owners of Ms. Smith's Lexus and was told that they have had no problems since they bought it with less than 3,000 miles on the car. It now has about 30,000 miles on it.

Check out this one:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02...?section=justin
In Australia, where we our Toyotas have accelerator pedals made by someone else. Of course.
Still no word from Toyota Australia, but they've also now been sent that news item.

My intuitive gut feeling is that the vast majority (but by no means all) of these cases will eventually be found to be due to user error but as mentioned above, in the meantime anyone in a position of authority who says anything like that will be vilified as insensitive or worse. I doubt the relative statistics of SUA incidents involving automatic/manual transmissions will be allowed to be published either for just this reason.

Did you guys watch any of the hearing? I would have apologized simply out of embarrassment over our congress. Tough questions? Tell me you didn't watch this dog and pony show, because those were insipid questions, not tough ones. Can you guaranty that the Toyota Camry Hybrid will never be recalled? No. Tough question.

Right there is simply democracy in action.

Right there is simply democracy in action. Congress does not consist of engineers and thank God for that.

That's fine, but what's the farking point? A bunch of hot air and idle talk ... pointless, IMO.

Interesting articles in the Drive section of SMH today. One of the columns was about a new Porsche Panamera locking the occupants inside the car and they had to break a window to get out! They couldn't start the car as the car would not recognise the key after letting them into the car, after a few minutes the doors locked and they were stuck in a locked car without being able to start it or open the windows or doors. They had to drag the car onto a tilt-tray with the rear wheels locked up as they could not release the electronic handbrake.

Ray, I think you should contact Toby Hagon, he may be interested in your Toyota story.

Interesting articles in the Drive section of SMH today. One of the columns was about a new Porsche Panamera locking the occupants inside the car and they had to break a window to get out! They couldn't start the car as the car would not recognise the key after letting them into the car, after a few minutes the doors locked and they were stuck in a locked car without being able to start it or open the windows or doors. They had to drag the car onto a tilt-tray with the rear wheels locked up as they could not release the electronic handbrake.

That's fine, but what's the farking point? A bunch of hot air and idle talk ... pointless, IMO.

Consists mostly of lawyers. Who the hell is your god?

It makes perfect sense to me that lawmakers should be experts in the law.

Another one of my little thread hijacks ....
A few years ago there was a 747 freighter going from A to B and down on the main deck was a late model BMW of some sort.

Anyway, it seems that the smarter cars become, the more daft they become.

My E28 does indeed have a "locked" and a "sealed" position. I don't get the reasoning behind the feature but if you turn the lock past the normal locked position, it engages a linkage that jams the electric locks. This has the effect of renderng all locking knobs and all lock cylinders aside from the driver's useless. Now that the system is aged, it's not uncommon for people to either lock themselves out of the car all together, or if the electrics aren't functioning properly, to end up with an in-useable driver's door. The only way into the locking system is through the driver's door panel...which is a tender removal process when you can't get the bloody door open.

When I was a much younger man and my second job was nightshift for RACV (breakdown calls), we were trained in various cars how to unlock them, at that time (early 80's) we were told that with BMW's you got one chance and that if you moved the lock but didn't get it into unlocked position it would 'overlock' (well thats what we used to call it) and then you were stuffed and had to call BMW. It was part BMW's anti-theft system then apparently.

We would for training to the RACV workshop where many manufacturers had supplied a new front and rear door for the RACV to work out how to open them.

I thought they'd end up doing that. I suspect it'll get rid of 50% of cases there and then.

Chances are they'll push for that to be mandatory.

Starting on a hill, holding it on the footbrake. You apply the throttle to pull away. The engine dies.

Customer sat -200%.

Greg, you may have missed the 'moving at over 30mph' bit!

I missed the '30mph' bit too...

I would think that 15mph would be more appropriate.

I missed the '30mph' bit too...

I would think that 15mph would be more appropriate.