[DC2006]

I may be totally wrong and out of line about the Toyota recent problem,
But I keep thinking how well Toyota was able to get through the turn
down in the U.S. economy, While at least 2 of the 3 big auto makes in
the U.S. Almost went out of business, There are most likely some hard
feelings coming out of Detroit, We all know that Chevy has Onstare
which when needed can open car doors, Slow cars down when requested
by Police, And control about everything in a car that is equipped with the
device. I also understand that anyone that has the knowledge could build
a device to send a signal that could over ride the electronics in your vehicle.
All one nut case would need is to build a remote control that could
over ride the speed control. But what bothers me about that is I have heard
even putting an Automatic Transmission in reverse does not effect the out
of control vehicle, That means that something is over riding the valve body
I have always owned a Toyota since 1980 and most of my family own one.
I’m not giving up on you or your product. But I think if I was you I would
look into the Tylenol thing that happened years ago, It wasn’t Tylenol it was
some nut case.
Good Luck

 

[ASE_Master-Tech]

well your right about one thing,
it does sound crazy... :crazy3d:

have you been watching too many x-files reruns?

 

[the.phantom]

i personally think a lot of the reports are for other reasons !
like the 0ne in la we see every night, now on the 911 s the dispatcher asked him several times to turn the engine off and put it it in reverse.
he was too busy wining and never did either !!!!
and i see tv ads for " have you had a stuck throttle on a toyota, call us for a lawsuit.
suspect several are phony reports myself, there could be a problem i won;t argue, but with a ignition key, brake peddle and emergency brake,reverse gear/neutral i find a lot hard to believe.

maybe people just want large $ with a "follow the leader" or maybe putting a bug in their hamburger didn't give them a big lawsuit? from the tv news tonight just got some more info about the LA speed problem guy ! yep a money grab shakey finances, almost bankrupt, behind in car payments, and all he wants is a new car and a few $ from the tv news tonight

 

[Jason.MZW20]

Let's face it our licensing requirements are a joke here in the U.S.

When it rains, accidents increase.
When it snows, accidents increase.
When there's fog, pile-ups happen.

The majority of people overcorrect when a car/truck is upset by standing water, which leads to a nasty accident when the car goes out of control. There's also the fact that there are many drivers out there with tires at or past the minimum tread depth, which leads to hydroplaning and accidents as well.

Electronic nannies may improve safety by intervening on the driver's behalf, but it's lulling us into a false sense of complacency and is creating drivers without any real skill because the computers handle everything for them. My Tacoma does not have VSC/TRAC, and I prefer it that way because I actually have to drive and I can practice my vehicle control skills (I do that regularly on dirt roads by throttle oversteering and by driving in the mountains on snow/ice). There are many aspects of vehicle control that people don't understand and don't care to understand. So, we'll always have this problem.

What am I getting at? We have terribly unskilled drivers and share the roads with them. Look at the licensing requirements for Finland, a country where snow/ice are common, and you'll see why some of the best drivers in the racing world come from that country (hint: they learn vehicle driving dynamics and control at a young age).

As for reverse, all modern cars have a reverse lockout while in motion, manual or automatic. I'm not sure why you'd want to put it in reverse anyway when neutral is the proper course of action. Unless you'd like your transmission to grenade?

You'll notice that there are virtually no cases of unintended acceleration with manual transmissions. Ever wonder why?

 

[SuperBusa]

Let's face it our licensing requirements are a joke here in the U.S.

What am I getting at? We have terribly unskilled drivers and share the roads with them.

+1000 ... I don't think 1/2 the drivers on the road could even cut a real driving test. If it was up to me, 1/2 the idiots on the road would be taking mass transportation every where.

Hard to say how many run-away vehicle cases are real or not ... but I'm betting some are not real.

 

[zero8tundra]

You all have some very good points, The one about the problem not happening with a standard transmission is very good,
speaking about transmission I had a problem once that I could not stop my car before I would run into the back of a truck stopped around a blind curve So I slammed the car in reverse and floored the gas the tires started spinning back ward and I was able to stop in time, If I didn't put it in reverse I would not be here. It did not hurt the transmission at all.
Cops do it and so do Security drivers, Haven't you ever watched the high speed safety training schools, They put the cars in reverse and back to drive all the time, Besides who cares about the transmission if it saves your life?
P.S. The gas pedal control is Verchual ( I hope I spelled that correctly )
That means there is not a cable connected to your fuel control on the
engine, An electronic sensor see where the peddle is and allows a certain
amount of gas for that position , They would be better off installing a fuel
shut off switch With most fuel injection you shut off the fuel and the engine
stops running.

 

[Marky_Mark]

Let's face it our licensing requirements are a joke here in the U.S.

^^I too agree with this statement 110%!

 

[Jason.MZW20]

You all have some very good points, The one about the problem not happening with a standard transmission is very good,
speaking about transmission I had a problem once that I could not stop my car before I would run into the back of a truck stopped around a blind curve So I slammed the car in reverse and floored the gas the tires started spinning back ward and I was able to stop in time, If I didn't put it in reverse I would not be here. It did not hurt the transmission at all.
Cops do it and so do Security drivers, Haven't you ever watched the high speed safety training schools, They put the cars in reverse and back to drive all the time, Besides who cares about the transmission if it saves your life?
P.S. The gas pedal control is Verchual ( I hope I spelled that correctly )
That means there is not a cable connected to your fuel control on the
engine, An electronic sensor see where the peddle is and allows a certain
amount of gas for that position , They would be better off installing a fuel
shut off switch With most fuel injection you shut off the fuel and the engine
stops running.

Well, putting it in neutral and using a lot of pressure on the brakes is the best way to stop. When you put the transmission in reverse (when it was possible) you only get two tires spinning in the opposite direction of the vehicle. At least with the brakes, you have all 4 tires, which leads to increased friction and traction to bring you to a stop sooner. If there were no chance of stopping, you just set the e-brake and yank the wheel in the direction you want to spin to avoid hitting something head-on.

I was in my MR2 in the mountains when I came around a blind corner at 60mph and traffic was suddenly backed up. Oops. I threshold braked (no ABS) and I stopped in time. My M/T has a reverse lockout and is unsynchronized.

I'm very well versed in the drive-by-wire system, and I don't believe a fuel cutoff switch is the way to go (we never had them for sticking mechanical throttles, so why now?). Fuel cutoff switches are used in modern cars when the airbags deploy, not when a throttle sticks. And during normal operation, with your foot off the gas and the vehicle in motion, the ECU automatically cuts or reduces fuel injection for a short period of time.

I'm not buying the whole when I brake, I go faster thing. That usually means your foot is on both the brake pedal and partially on the gas pedal, so the harder you push the brake, the more you push the gas as well. Toyota's brake override system won't correct for that (it only does gas then brake, not brake then gas) because people out there do have manual transmissions. So, I think people need to stop being lazy and move their damn foot over more to avoid interference.