Toyota Runaway Cause: Electronic Throttle/Cruise Control?
in [Toyota Prius]
|
Prev: ABC News Video: What to do if your car runs out of control
Next: U.S. criticizes Toyota for 'misleading' public in recall
From: john on 4 Nov 2009 22:26 A Prius owner tried to resume her cruise control, and then the car accelerated out of control. http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=8982147 http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/RunawayToyotas/
From: C. E. White on 5 Nov 2009 07:54 "ransley" <Mark_Ransley(a)Yahoo.com> wrote in message news:0b6605b2-aac9-44d2-8710-5ddd3f4f2b27(a)j24g2000yqa.googlegroups.com... > > The guy was supposedly a highway patrol officer....I just find it > > hard > > to believe they had time to make a 911 call and not time to put > > the > > car in neutral. I can understand the confusion with the start/stop > > button if it was a rental, but not the shift level. > > > > Ed >Or turn off the key and put on the parking brake Supposedly the car was a Lexus with the Start/Stop button. With the car in gear just pushing this button does nothing - you have to press and hold it for three seconds for it to kill the engine if the car is in gear. Since it was reportedly a rental, I can understand the driver not knowing this fact. However, I still cannot imagine him not putting the car into neutral. And why call 911? Did they figure Scotty was going to beam them out of the car? Ed
From: hls on 5 Nov 2009 08:48 "C. E. White" <cewhite3remove(a)mindspring.com> wrote in message news:C8idnW5A- > Now when I was young, we had a car that had true intentional unintended > acceleration. My Father bought it used and it had been wrecked and abused. > The motor mounts were weak and it had the old style throttle rod setup > (not a cable, but hard rods and bellcranks) If you backed out of the > garage and yanked it from reverse to drive without stopping, the motor > would flex on the mounts enough to open the throttle and the car would > peel out. The efffect didn't last past a short distance but as a sixteen > year old I thought it was very cool. > > Ed > I had a similar problem with a 57 Ford Thunderbird. Even at a dead stop, if you turned the steering wheel to the left it would accelerate wildly on its own. It was a broken motor mount.
From: Al Falfa on 5 Nov 2009 11:12 "C. E. White" <cewhite3(a)mindspring.com> wrote in message news:hcui2i$94p$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > > "ransley" <Mark_Ransley(a)Yahoo.com> wrote in message > news:0b6605b2-aac9-44d2-8710-5ddd3f4f2b27(a)j24g2000yqa.googlegroups.com... > >> > The guy was supposedly a highway patrol officer....I just find it hard >> > to believe they had time to make a 911 call and not time to put the >> > car in neutral. I can understand the confusion with the start/stop >> > button if it was a rental, but not the shift level. >> > >> > Ed > >>Or turn off the key and put on the parking brake > > Supposedly the car was a Lexus with the Start/Stop button. With the car in > gear just pushing this button does nothing - you have to press and hold it > for three seconds for it to kill the engine if the car is in gear. Since > it was reportedly a rental, I can understand the driver not knowing this > fact. However, I still cannot imagine him not putting the car into > neutral. > > And why call 911? Did they figure Scotty was going to beam them out of the > car? > > Ed Under the circumstances, panic was very likely a factor. Putting one's car in neutral under such unusual circumstances is not a conditioned response. The 911 call from the back seat was a futile attempt to clear traffic.
From: Hachiroku ハチロク on 5 Nov 2009 18:06
On Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:12:20 -0600, Al Falfa wrote: >> And why call 911? Did they figure Scotty was going to beam them out of >> the car? >> >> Ed > Under the circumstances, panic was very likely a factor. Putting one's > car in neutral under such unusual circumstances is not a conditioned > response. Last time something like this happened to me, I was 19. I also am not a CHiP. I knew enough to put the car in neutral and kill the motor. |