toyota unintended acceleration cases

[Mission9]

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.

Your first sentence brings up an interesting point which I would love to add to if I may... One of the the most foolish thing I have seen in my life are people who drive automatics with two feet. When they do switch to a manual, I have seen where it took a couple of extra seconds longer for them to brake since they instinctively went to brake with their left foot and depressed the clutch... oops. Folks, if you drive an auto, you left foot should not be used. The left foot is only for the clutch and parking brake (if it is located down there).

[Gismo]

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.

Your first sentence brings up an interesting point which I would love to add to if I may... One of the the most foolish thing I have seen in my life are people who drive automatics with two feet. When they do switch to a manual, I have seen where it took a couple of extra seconds longer for them to brake since they instinctively went to brake with their left foot and depressed the clutch... oops. Folks, if you drive an auto, you left foot should not be used. The left foot is only for the clutch and parking brake (if it is located down there).

A family friend drives this way, she has for years, but she drove a standard before she drove automatic. Idk why she drives an automatic like this. I'm confident 100% of the reports are from automatic vehicles. Were these standard vehicles no way the drivers would be blaming the manufacturer if they press the wrong pedal.

[Who'sYourData?]

The cars were clearly defective. The drivers were also likely defective, but that doesn't let the auto makers off the hook. Millions of cars have been manufactured without this defect, so clearly it isn't a difficult problem (relatively speaking).

The real question in my mind is whether Toyota knew there was a problem. If there was a problem that wasn't uncovered after reasonable testing, then Toyota isn't necessarily responsible until the problem is reported and they are aware of it. It is my understanding that Toyota was aware of the defects for nearly ten years before taking corrective measures. That is where the negligence comes in, not the fact that there was/is a problem

[Who'sYourData?]

All that said, I would like to see more stringent methods of measuring driver effectiveness and training.

Edited August 19, 2012 by DataBull

[smazza]

case will settle between 1.2 -1.5 billion soon

nice pay day for the firm

[GaUSFBull]

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.

case will settle between 1.2 -1.5 billion soon

nice pay day for the firm

Yep - I'm fairly certain that getting this problem solved isn't a concern for the lawyers.

[Rizman]

Big shock this thread was started by Steve.

[ZeroBullChip]

From what I read and heard, this is for the owners of cars between certain years for the depreciation this incident caused them. To me this is even worse.

[Apis Bull]

case will settle between 1.2 -1.5 billion soon

nice pay day for the firm

Yep, and each plaintiff will get $1.35.

[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

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.

i know very little about cars

i know about product liability laws and i have lawyers that know about class action laws

our engineers know plenty about cars

there was a serious defect and that is why toyota paid over one billion