We’ve all seen the news stories. Many of Toyota’s models had what I guess one could refer to as defective carpeting. When drivers were holding the throttle wide open, it would stay that way when they took their foot off. 4.2 million vehicles were recalled to have the floor mats replaced, and another 2.4 million cars were recalled to have a shim installed behind the gas pedal.
What I’m finding annoying with this whole story is how people and the media are reacting. The issue is know as Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA) and is nothing new in the automotive industry. Audi faced similar problems with the ‘82-’87 models of the Audi 5000. In the last decade, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received 24 000 customer complaints regarding SUA involving almost every manufacturer. Very few of these cases were actual mechanical or electronic issues. It seems stupid, but many cases were most likely caused by driver error. To put it in other terms, confused individuals pressing the gas when they wanted to press the brake.
The other thing that gets on my nerves in this whole story is people wanting to make some money out of Toyota’s unfortunate situation. You might have heard of Jim Sikes by now, the guy who allegedly experienced SUA in his 2008 Toyota Prius on an interstate in San Diego, California. Obviously, the media made a huge circus of this, immediately pointing fingers at Toyota. We now know that Mr. Sikes has a history of suspicious behavior. For example, he recently filed for bankruptcy and gave the house to the bank, but his entire kitchen just happened to have been stolen. He attempted to defraud his own insurance company of $60 000, tiwce.
Toyota and the NHTSA investigated and could not explain the events. The Prius has a double redundant accelerator system, and if any irregularities pop up, they register in the onboard computer and the check engine light will come on. Yet in Toyota’s investigation report, they state “There were no diagnostic trouble codes found in the power management computer, nor was the dashboard malfunction indicator light activated.” When Sikes was on the phone with the 911 operator, she instructed him many times to put the car in neutral and apply the brakes, or to push the engine on button and hold it for three seconds to automatically cut the engine. All of these systems worked on Sikes’ Prius when tested, and as seen in the video below, applying the brakes should stop the car. It’s now been declared a hoax by just about every party involved, except Mr. Sikes himself, who still stands by his story and says he’s not after a lawsuit. Yeah…
Source: jalopnik.com
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