toyota unintended acceleration cases

[smazza]

we will be one the trial lawyers

trial in november

good for us

[ZeroBullChip]

Too bad people that don't know how to drive need to blame the car maker. Result being cars more expensive. Thanks!

A lesson for folks, if your accelerator get stuck or the car does not behave the way you expect it to, pop it in nuetral and pull to the side of the road.

[smazza]

Too bad people that don't know how to drive need to blame the car maker. Result being cars more expensive. Thanks!

A lesson for folks, if your accelerator get stuck or the car does not behave the way you expect it to, pop it in nuetral and pull to the side of the road.

i see you dont understand the issues

the is a defect in the car

[ZeroBullChip]

Too bad people that don't know how to drive need to blame the car maker. Result being cars more expensive. Thanks!

A lesson for folks, if your accelerator get stuck or the car does not behave the way you expect it to, pop it in nuetral and pull to the side of the road.

i see you dont understand the issues

the is a defect in the car

Sure it was, it was sitting in the drivers seat.

[Gismo]

Too bad people that don't know how to drive need to blame the car maker. Result being cars more expensive. Thanks!

A lesson for folks, if your accelerator get stuck or the car does not behave the way you expect it to, pop it in nuetral and pull to the side of the road.

i see you dont understand the issues

the is a defect in the car

I thought that this had yet to be proven. Isn't that what you are attempting to do with your case?

What was the defect? Mechanical or electronic?

[Gismo]

Simply pounding the brakes would have stopped or nearly stopped these vehicles. If you were to do the mathematical calculations you would realize that the brakes are a lot more powerful than a vehicles engine, but car and driver went a step further and did the testing to prove it.

Simply using the brakes is enough to stop a 100 mph vehicle with the throttle held open, and the 120 mph test slowed to vehicle to a constant 10 mph. My conclusion is that these drivers never appropriately used their brakes.

Certainly the most natural reaction to a stuck-throttle emergency is to stomp on the brake pedal, possibly with both feet. And despite dramatic horsepower increases since C/D’s 1987 unintended-acceleration test of an Audi 5000, brakes by and large can still overpower and rein in an engine roaring under full throttle. With the Camry’s throttle pinned while going 70 mph, the brakes easily overcame all 268 horsepower straining against them and stopped the car in 190 feet—that’s a foot shorter than the performance of a Ford Taurus without any gas-pedal problems and just 16 feet longer than with the Camry’s throttle closed. From 100 mph, the stopping-distance differential was 88 feet—noticeable to be sure, but the car still slowed enthusiastically enough to impart a feeling of confidence. We also tried one go-for-broke run at 120 mph, and, even then, the car quickly decelerated to about 10 mph before the brakes got excessively hot and the car refused to decelerate any further. So even in the most extreme case, it should be possible to get a car’s speed down to a point where a resulting accident should be a low-speed and relatively minor event.

Could you please explain what the defect was and why the brakes were ineffective?

[ZeroBullChip]

You just take the car out of gear. The hybrids use electrical resistance to brake up until the point that it can no longer supply load, then it uses hydraulic brakes like every other car. I am not sure if the friction brake system is full strength, but I can't imagine it not be for fail safe. If a software glitch caused the car to not stop than usually there are fail safe modes. Most new cars these days are drive by wire. If the throttle mechanism detects any fault, the car will run in a fail safe mode only going a couple miles per hour.

It is still the duty/responsibility of the car operator to understand the mechanical and operating aspects of the vehicle and how to handle it in an emergency situation. Without knowing the specifics I obviously can't say for sure, but knowing the lack of morals in the legal profession, I'm sure money is the motivator, let's assign punitive blame one a business when more than likely the driver did not know how to react in an emergency situation.

The only way I can see this being a valid lawsuit is if the manufacturer did not provide a manual that explains how to operate the vehicle. Or there is such a blatant defect in the vehicle that it did not perform as intended with any consistency and the manufacturer was aware of it and did nothing but cover it up. But the level of testing for a new car model these days is so involved that the odds of this getting past an engineer is slim to none IMO. They don't do it like they did in the 70's anymore.

[Apis Bull]

I hate to say this, but if the car accelerates unexpectedly, then it is, in fact, a defect. Cars are not supposed to do that. Additionally, some people panic when this happens. You and I may know what to do if this happens, but it doesn't mean everyone else does.

[Mission9]

Too bad people that don't know how to drive need to blame the car maker. Result being cars more expensive. Thanks!

A lesson for folks, if your accelerator get stuck or the car does not behave the way you expect it to, pop it in nuetral and pull to the side of the road.

i see you dont understand the issues

the is a defect in the car

I thought that this had yet to be proven. Isn't that what you are attempting to do with your case?

What was the defect? Mechanical or electronic?

Yes Steve, please share your answer with us. I would love to hear how much you know about cars, car performance, and engineering. I have been working in the industry for years (never for Toyota) and find that it is usually driver error or lack of following scheduled maintenance which causes failure of components.

It would certainly help my clients if Toyota has troubles (and I really do not care for their cars) but I have yet to see proof that they have failed.

[ZeroBullChip]

I hate to say this, but if the car accelerates unexpectedly, then it is, in fact, a defect. Cars are not supposed to do that. Additionally, some people panic when this happens. You and I may know what to do if this happens, but it doesn't mean everyone else does.

Did the person put a foot on the accelerator vs the brake? Has the throttle system been altered? How do you pin it on the manufacturer? I'm not saying that they can be without blame, but that they go beyond reason to test these things and include fail safes. Even still there can be failures.