More research is needed on a tough problem but at least initially in the case of the rash of claims against Toyota the more likely causes seem to be....drum roll....human error. No faults found in the Toyota electronics. Research continues. Unintended Acceleration Expert Panel: Drivers Are at Least Partly Responsible - Auto Observer
This begs the obvious question....'What if there was never anything wrong with the electronics, exactly as Mr Toyoda said in front of Congress?'... 'What if the problems were were all fabrications, driver error, lack of understanding of the technology along with some isolated instances of sticky pedals...and mat interference?' Note how the reports have suddenly come to a screeching halt since April 1, ever since Toyota and the NHTSA announced that they'd be investigating every one. Hello Mr Sikes, Myrna from Milwaukee and the Housekeeper from Harrison we'd like to investigate your claim.
I have no doubt that driver error constitutes a large portion of the unintended acceleration claims. Toyota should have been investigating every one of these claims as a matter of corporate policy, rather than taking the position that all such issues are due to driver error, our products have a perfect design and there's no need to worry. The current BP Gulf crisis is sucking up all of the media attention regarding corporate screwups. That is helping Toyota to stay out of the news - except with respect to the most recent news about Lexus engine stalling issues (I don't understand how it is possible that so many models with differing engine types are involved. What is the common part that links all of those models?)
#1: +100000000 #2: Valve springs (http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...ays-270-000-vehicles-have-faulty-engines.html)
Perhaps it is time for someone to start tracking this effort: Meeting 1: Electronic Vehicle Controls and Unintended Acceleration Instead of being limited to just press stories, it might be useful to see if some of the papers and presentations will be available from their web site. I would but my plate if full. Bob Wilson
Are we talking about Toyota or Apple? Hard to believe they let the valve spring problem happen to their flagship luxury sedan.
That's because there is nothing wrong other than human error. In addition to that, there's a heck of a lot off coin involved in terms of distorting the facts. Look back to Audi's "sudden acceleration" peroid and you'll have your answer. -Brad
I like to beieve the following...thanks to Wikipedia! In 1961, Grissom was pilot of Mercury-Redstone 4, popularly known as [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Bell_7"]Liberty Bell 7[/ame], the second American (suborbital) spaceflight. After splashdown explosive bolts blew the hatch off unexpectedly and water flooded into the tiny capsule. Grissom exited through the open hatch and into the ocean but nearly drowned as water filled his flightsuit while a helicopter tried to lift and recover the spacecraft. The capsule became too heavy with water and sank. Grissom strongly asserted he had done nothing to blow the hatch and NASA officials eventually concluded that he was correct. Initiating the explosive egress system required hitting a metal trigger with the side of a closed fist. This would always leave a large, obvious bruise on the astronaut's forearm, but Grissom was found not to have any of the tell-tale bruising associated with triggering the emergency hatch release. The capsule was recovered in 1999 but no evidence was found which could conclusively explain how the explosive hatch release fired on its own. Years after, [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guenter_Wendt"]Guenter Wendt[/ame] (who was pad leader for the early American manned space launches) wrote that he believed a small cover over the external release actuator was accidentally lost sometime during the flight or splashdown and the T-handle may have been tugged by a stray parachute shroud line, or was perhaps damaged by the heat of re-entry, cooled upon splashdown, contracted and then fired. I had a 85 4000S Quattro, drove it hard for 8 years, right duing the acceleration debacle, the Quattro sure accelerated, but I never had a problem figuring which were the Gas, Brake, or Clutch pedals!!!
I haven't heard of unintended acceleration issues with vehicles that have manual transmissions. This is probably because drivers of such vehicles know that engine power can be easily removed by depressing the clutch pedal, and the drivers have to pay more attention to the driving task.
Sometimes I love the language that get's created or applied when you have situations like this. A Human Factors Researcher? A phenomenon known as "variability in skilled performance". Wow, an expert in telling us humans are imperfect. In my grunt and slobber tribe, the variablility in skilled performance phenomenon is known as " I done stepped on the wrong pedal ". I suppose it is all necessary, and important and I'm glad that Toyota is at least initially being vindicated but I have to laugh. By the way, speaking of error, it's not a NASA panel, its a congressionally mandated formed panel of independent "experts". One member of which that works for NASA as an expert in "Fault Analysis". The panel is being run by the National Academy of Sciences...but that is not NASA. No big deal. I do think it is funny that it is presented within the article that our congress:- " skeptical of NHTSA's handling of Toyota and the agency's ability to evaluate the implications of increasingly complex electronic controls, told NHTSA to form a panel of independent experts to help sort out the mess." So our congress is skeptical of our own NHTSA's ability to do one of the key things their very existence mandates they do? And then congresses answer for that is to go to that same said entity and ask them to form the panel to investigate "properly" what they are evidently skeptical they investigated properly in the first place? Only in Washington. I really hope they are getting their moneys worth. I mean I could of sat down with a cup of coffee and told congress that Humans sometimes make mistakes and when it comes to driving, it usually is the very young or the very old...and I'm not an expert. I thought the most interesting or revealing comments came in the last section where it is presented that the very tests and methods of testing need to be changed or updated. I would predict that when all is said and done, it will be testing procedure and the structure and operation of the NHTSA that get's updated and changed as opposed to any electronics component within a Toyota automobile.
NHTSA is part of the Executive Branch, DOT, so there's good reason for the Legislative to knock the performance of the the Executive thus to show it's equality and to flex its supervisory muscle. In fact the NHTSA along with almost all other agencies is comprised of career bureaucrats with a variety of backgrounds along with a few highly appointed politico's depending on who's in the WH. Having technical expertise in the subject field as I understand it is not a requirement for a highly-held position. How many auto electronics experts are there in NHTSA? I'd guess zero. In addition during the Bush Admin the guts were cut out of the agency in terms of funding and oversight was kept to a minimum. I don't think much would have changed in the Obama Admin if this Toyota fiasco hadn't surfaced. I also think that both NHTSA and Toyota will be vindicated in the end in that there wasn't much fire within all flash-bang during the winter. It really will turn out to be incorrectly-used mats and a few sticky pedals from one supplier. I don't think that the scum-sucking tort attorneys are very happy with the initial findings.
Apparantly Driving School needs to be a PIO. The id10t error is universal & commonplace. To all the "it must be the car not the driver" believers, I accept your apology.
