Runaway 2009 Lexus ES fiery crash kills family of 4
in [Toyota]
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From: ben91932 on 21 Sep 2009 13:59 Another fatal crash @ same intersection last night... Talked to a Lexus tech and: Pushing the ignition button on the Lexus does not lock the steering, and the car can be shifted to neutral while driving. Something was up with that guy...
From: Harry on 23 Sep 2009 19:38 This is a 3.5L making 272 horse power, it would do 150mph no problem. On Sep 17, 7:14 am, "Mike" <mikehu...(a)lycos.com> wrote: > I'm no Toyota fanatic but that story sounds fishy to me. > > I the first place what Toyota can reach 120 MPH, except while going down a > mountain? > > In the second place EVERY vehicle has more brake HP than engine HP. If you > doubt that floor the throttle on YOUR vehicle and apply the foot brake with > you left foot and take note of what happens. ;) > > "john" <johngd...(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message > > news:1d58c26c-4867-4f04-bad0-9d40b1fbf606(a)b25g2000prb.googlegroups.com... > > > So watch those mats! > > > "Toyota said Tuesday it will order all dealers to inspect their cars > > for mismatched floor mats after a mat was suspected of snagging a gas > > pedal on a runaway Lexus, ending with a fiery crash that killed four > > family members in San Diego County. > > > Toyota Motor Sales, USA Inc. planned to issue an order Wednesday to > > about 1,400 Toyota and Lexus dealers nationwide to make sure each of > > their new, used and loaner vehicles had the proper floor mats and that > > the mats were properly secured, said Brian Lyons, a spokesman for the > > Torrance-based company. > > > Customers who are concerned should also make sure they have the proper > > mats. > > > "If there's any doubt in their mind about the security and shape of > > their mat, go ahead and visit the dealer" to have them checked, Lyons > > said. > > > California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, 45, and three others > > were killed Aug. 28 on State Route 125 in Santee, a town near San > > Diego. The runaway car was doing more than 120 mph when it hit a sport > > utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and > > burst into flames. > > > The SUV driver was treated for moderate injuries. > > > In addition to Saylor, who was a 19-year CHP veteran, the crash killed > > his wife, Cleofe, 45; their daughter, Mahala, 13; and Saylor's brother- > > in-law, Chris Lastrella, 38. > > > Lastrella made a 911 call about a minute before the crash to say the > > vehicle had no brakes and the accelerator was stuck. > > > The call ends with someone telling people in the car to hold on and > > pray, followed by a woman's scream. > > > The family was in a 2009 Lexus ES 350 that was loaned by a dealer > > while their own vehicle was being serviced. > > > Investigators with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have > > determined that a rubber all-weather floor mat found in the wreckage > > was a couple of inches longer than the mat that belonged in the > > vehicle. > > > That could have snared or covered the accelerator pedal. > > > "We don't know if the all-weather floor mat was properly secured or > > not," he said. "We do know that it was a floor mat from a different > > Lexus." > > > Lyons said most Toyotas come with carpeted floor mats, but all-weather > > mats are sold as accessories. > > > The driver could have put the car in neutral to disengage the engine > > from the automatic transmission, Lyons said. > > > The driver also could have turned off the electronically keyed car by > > holding down the start switch for three seconds, but that could have > > locked the steering wheel, turned off the headlights and cut power- > > assist to the brakes, Lyons said. > > > Lyons said the company had not had any complaints about mismatched > > floor mats. > > > In 2007, the company did recall all-weather mats from some of its > > Lexus ES 350s and Toyota Camrys after complaints that they could slip > > and trap the accelerator. > > > However, this crash was unrelated to the mats that were pulled from > > the market during the recall, Lyons said. " > > >http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20090916/AUTO01/909160398/1148/aut...
From: ACAR on 23 Sep 2009 23:34 On Sep 17, 2:41 am, john <johngd...(a)hotmail.com> wrote: reminds me of the runaway Audi stories... in the Audi case the gas/brake pedals were too close together and not aligned with the seat like other cars so drivers were simply stomping on the gas when they thought they were on the brake. (Manual shift Audi drivers loved the pedal placement, of course.) in this case the fault is said to lie with improper floor matts; not with a driver too dumb to recognize the problem and place his foot under the gas pedal and pull it up to free it from the matt. I had this happen to me years ago in some borrowed car. My Toyota car has a nice hook to hold it's driver's side floor matt in place. That's more than I can say for my Honda or GM products.
From: MasterBlaster on 24 Sep 2009 00:49 "ACAR" wrote: > reminds me of the runaway Audi stories... > in this case the fault is said to lie with improper floor matts; not > with a driver too dumb to recognize the problem and place his foot > under the gas pedal and pull it up to free it from the matt. I had > this happen to me years ago in some borrowed car. No throttle cable. It's "drive-by-wire". Pulling up would do nothing. Anybody post this link? The boss was reading through it today. Seems there's been a lot of complaints about the same thing. http://autocoverup.com/2009/04/06/lexus-sudden-acceleration/ (Lots of other sites with similar content). I also don't buy the floormat excuse, since the boss also found a post with the same symptoms, with NO floormats in the car. Let's see... Cruise control -- computer decides how fast you want to go. Drive-by-wire -- computer decides how far to open the throttle. ABS -- computer decides if / when to allow the brakes to work, based on whether it "thinks" 1 (or 4) wheels are locked up and sliding. Some kind of random massive computer glitch that affects all these systems, and the car takes off, disables the brakes, and you pray.
From: E. Meyer on 24 Sep 2009 09:24
On 9/23/09 11:49 PM, in article kTCum.46347$PH1.8530(a)edtnps82, "MasterBlaster" <Nobodys.Home(a)My.Place> wrote: > > "ACAR" wrote: > >> reminds me of the runaway Audi stories... > >> in this case the fault is said to lie with improper floor matts; not >> with a driver too dumb to recognize the problem and place his foot >> under the gas pedal and pull it up to free it from the matt. I had >> this happen to me years ago in some borrowed car. > > No throttle cable. It's "drive-by-wire". Pulling up would do nothing. > > Anybody post this link? The boss was reading through it today. > Seems there's been a lot of complaints about the same thing. > http://autocoverup.com/2009/04/06/lexus-sudden-acceleration/ > (Lots of other sites with similar content). > > I also don't buy the floormat excuse, since the boss also found > a post with the same symptoms, with NO floormats in the car. > > Let's see... > Cruise control -- computer decides how fast you want to go. > Drive-by-wire -- computer decides how far to open the throttle. > ABS -- computer decides if / when to allow the brakes to work, based > on whether it "thinks" 1 (or 4) wheels are locked up and sliding. > > Some kind of random massive computer glitch that affects all these > systems, and the car takes off, disables the brakes, and you pray. > > So what's really going on is the terminator story. Only its not robot clones of Arnold S., its self-aware car computers selectively killing us off :) |