Toyota, Flying Saucers and Bigfoot

Columnist Jerry Flint Criticizes the Media for Uncritical Look at Complaints About Toyotas
Under the headline "Toyota, Flying Saucers and Bigfoot" Tuesday, Forbes columnist Jerry Flint took members of the media to task Tuesday for accepting as real the claims of runaway Toyotas "without serious questioning."

"Toyota has had a bit of good news in recent days. One of the claims of unintended acceleration has begun to look like a phony."

"Then The New York Times ran an op-ed piece by a UCLA psychology professor (emeritus) questioning all such claims. The writer, who had worked on the issue years ago, wrote that they were usually driver error--stepping on the accelerator pedal instead of the brakes--and noting that older drivers tend to make these mistakes more often."

Flint also shared a few of his thoughts about why so many new complaints are being filed and what the long-term impact may be on Toyota. In addition to drivers putting their foot on the wrong pedal and "dreams of the big payoff" from a lawsuit, Flint suggested that people’s feet may simply be getting bigger. "Maybe these bigger feet overlap" the brake and gas pedals, he said. As for how all this will impact Toyota, Flint said the company "might spend more money on lawyers over the next few years than on developing fuel-stingy engines."

To read the entire column, click on

http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/23/toyota-autos-brakes-business-backseat-safety.html

WSJ: Harrison Prius accident, DRIVER ERROR

Prius Probe in Harrison, N.Y., Suggests Driver Error

In an article by Kate Linebaugh, Toyota and NHSTA investigators found that the driver never touched the brake and was standing on the accelerator full throttle. This is information is seemingly starting to come out in more of these incidents that the press is reporting.

Here is a quote:

An investigation of a Toyota Prius accident in Harrison, N.Y., suggests driver error may have been involved after federal safety regulators said the brakes hadn't been applied and the throttle was "wide open."

Based on information retrieved from the onboard computer systems of the Prius in Harrison, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokeswoman said: "There was no application of the brakes and the throttle was fully open."

The driver said she believed she had applied full force to the brakes

Edmunds: How Hard is it to Stop a Prius? Pretty Easy Actually

How Hard Is It To Stop a Prius?
Edmunds.com simulates a Toyota Prius Stuck Throttle in a Video

A staffer from Edmunds.com shows on video how to stop a Prius during a possible stuck throttle situation by brake application, shifting to neutral and also debunks the possibility of the car breaking by accidentally being shifted into reverse.

Wide open throttle, speeds picking up and I am going to step on the brake after a second the engine disengages and the brakes just take over.

Throttle to the floor, speeds coming up and I am going to just slip it into neutral engines disconnected and I can just use the brakes no problem at all. Its important to note that the Prius lever requires you to hold the lever just for a moment or two to make sure you didnt bump it accidentally.

We were able to get out of the situation with brakes, with neutral and even when we accidentally put it in reverse the car just beeped at us.

The Runaway Prius...Hoax of the Year?

Writer Michael Fumento uses evidence from media interview with James Sikes and investigations performed by Jalopnik.com and Gawker.com in an attempt to prove that the incident of a runaway Prius claim by Mr. Sikes is a publicity stunt and a means for this individual, who is currently in financial ruin, to make a quick buck.

Quotes from the story:

Virtually every aspect of Sikes's story as told to reporters makes no sense. His claim that he'd tried to yank up the accelerator could be falsified, with his help, in half a minute. And now we even have an explanation for why he'd pull such a stunt, beyond the all-American desire to have 15 minutes of fame (recall the "Balloon Boy Hoax" from October) and the aching need to be perceived as a victim.

Sikes said during the incident he "was laying on the brakes. It was not slowing down." Others have made similar claims, so Car & Driver magazine recently put them to the test. They found a V-6 Camry at full throttle could be stopped at 435 feet. But to really test the claim, they used a powerful 540-horsepower supercharged Roush Stage 3 Mustang. It took 903 feet, but stop it did. By comparison the Prius can only muster 110 anemic ponies. Further, as Newton's Second Law reminds us, weight is inherently a factor in slowing a moving object. The Prius weighs about two-thirds of what the Roush does.


http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/12/toyota-autos-hoax-media-opinions-contributors-michael-fumento_print.html

NY Times: Braking Bad

This is an article from the New York Times relating that most unintended accleration issues are unfortunately due to driver error, not mechanical. Panic reactions are hard to over come.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/opinion/11schmidt.html?ref=opinion

In this opinion article by Richard A. Schmidt, who served as an expert for Audi and testified in court on many occasions regarding the unintended acceleration cases in the 1980s, explains that his research of more than 150 cases for Audi showed that in most cases the driver who intended to push the brake pushed the accelerator instead. He further goes on to explain how the current Toyota situation is very similar to that of the cases against Audi in the 1980s and that ultimately, the US governments suggested fix of smart pedals will ultimately provide clearer evidence of driver error.

Quotes from the story:

Smart pedals might help prevent more such accidents if the cause of unintended acceleration turns out to be some vehicle defect. The trouble, unbelievable as it may seem, is that sudden acceleration is very often caused by drivers who press the gas pedal when they intend to press the brake.

In 1989, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration concluded that the incidents of unintended acceleration by the Audi 5000 were mostly caused by this kind of pedal error not some electro-mechanical defect in the vehicle.