Harrison NY Police Chief: Prius crash looks like human error

Typical crappy post article.

All that happened is that the police chief has allowed for the possibility of driver error.

No conclusions have been reached, and Toyota has said nothing aside from the standard talking points about the brake override.

 

The new Tundra in his driveway

 

I'd guess I'm speaking for many of us.
It's tiring and frustrating to see yet another attempt to not take responsibility for an accident. Now a knee-jerk reflex for some to blame SUA - I know this is nothing new, going back to the Audi days. But here we go again....
BTW, how could the Chief 'rule out' driver error initially? From her account?
Please...
Wen wil Amercans tak charg off there responsibblitys?
Whoops - darn keyboard failed yet again.....

 

From my recollection of the initial articles, the police chief ruled out driver error based on the fact that the floor mat was secured to the seat using zip ties.

It appears he didn't consider the possibility of pedal error.

 

LOL, good one!

 

Technically, the data is saying that the throttle was open and that the brakes were not applied. The nit here, similar to what they said about Sikes, is that the data doesn't appear to record accelerator position, just throttle (which raises a question, what if you're in EV?).

 

I believe she believes he stomped on the brakes. She isn't lying, she's just wrong.

 

Now the police chief is saying that it wasn't human error as determined by NHTSA...

 

From what little I have heard, this does sound to be the case.
This would concern me, as that information alone may help in many of these investigations.

 

If the problem is driver error, there are some things which can be done.

Cars can be equipped with hand controls like I just did with my Prius.

People over a certain age can be required to take a driving test.

Cars can be equipped with real emergency hand brakes.

People can be expected to know how to drive their cars.

I am sure that smart people can think of other possibilities.

Why should Toyota work on these things when it would be greeted as a distraction from the "real problem"?

 

Yet another one. First the Prius driver in San Diego was discovered to have quite a fraudulent background yet neither the CHP and Tow Truck drivers on the scene saw anything wrong, and then Toyota looked at the vehicle and found nothing wrong. Now, with this lady, the vehicle data recorder indicates she never actually stomped on the brakes (contradictory to what she told police and the media).

Looks like Toyota's negative publicity is slowly going away - and being carried by the media to the public. Interesting.

I don't think this eliminates the initial reports/incidents; it just removes the "copycats." ..But it does open up uncertainty amongst the original incidents.

 

Several times I have tried to start thinking here on PC about the way this discussion is diverting attention from what I think is the real problem, Driver Error.

I find it interesting that this has been ignored.

I wonder why. Perhaps it is because that is not widely considered to be the cause. Perhaps that is because the implications of that possibility are not popular. Perhaps it is because most consider that the time to embrace this possibility has not yet arrived. Perhaps I should start a new thread.

I wonder.

 

I think many of us believe it's largely driver error. When this story was first posted, I said it had all the hallmarks of pedal error, but refrained from accusing the driver of anything.

At the same time, most (hopefully all) of us believe in evidence-based investigations. So with each incident, while there might be signs that point strongly to driver error, we await data.

 

Well, for Prius, the EDR and Black Box will help clarifying the situation upon a crash or incident. But what about the other Toyota cars? There is no EDR/BB to prevent the copycat or hoax. So it would be harder to refute the claims of unintentional accelerations.

So the EDR/BB is like a DNA test now.
But what if the lawyer says the computer is wrong? Or is wired to show wrong results? Just a guess since I will never have the creative thinking of a lawyer and do not know what will happen to Toyota next.

 

those people picked wrong car to report ;-).

Lawyer can say whatever he wants, however they can not prove it. Car was impounded by police, Toyota personal can not delete the evidence, heh... thats crazy. Police said that they installed their software on toyota computers to record any action being taken.

It is not like DNA test... it is like any black box used in aviatics.