On Wed, 3 Feb 2010, eric@megageek.com wrote:
> David, that is what happens in the 1000s of cases where people aren't
> dying. If you notice, most of the fatalities left no time for that. (they
> guy that was in a parking lot and his car launched over the cliff.)
This'll be my last post on the topic, I think, but does anyone have any
real good information about these other crashes? I can't find much, if
anything. Just anecdotal quotes, such as from a woman who claims her
Prius "suddenly" accelerated to 90mph. So apparently, Toyota accidentally
installed a jet engine in her Prius. I'm sorry, I just don't consider
that a credible story.
And in the Officer Saylor case, I find it sad, but not surprising to
note that the previous driver of the same loaner had no problem stopping
the car, and even continued to drive it.
"Bernard pressed long and hard on the brakes and was able to pull over and
slow down. He put the car into neutral, but the engine continued to race
at full speed. After several failed attempts at turning off the engine, he
realized the floor mat had jammed the gas pedal.
He slid his foot under the accelerator, dislodged it and had no further
problems, the report says."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/dec/04/report-loaner-car-in-fatal-crash-had-earlier/
Or this comical story...
"* Nancy Bernstein, a vice president for a Long Beach community garden and
former science teacher, said she was taken on an 8-mile high-speed ride by
her 2007 Prius while she was following her husband in a group bicycle tour
in Wisconsin. She said her Prius accelerated from 45 mph to 75 mph on a
winding, two-lane highway crowded with 100 cyclists.
"I was sure I was going to kill someone on a bicycle or myself," she
recalled. "I stood on the brakes with both feet. All of a sudden, I see
fire. I thought, sure, my brakes are on fire. I thought about maybe trying
to sideswipe a tree to slow down."
Eventually she was able to stop at the bottom of a hill, using her brakes
and emergency brake. A local resident rushed out with a fire
extinguisher."
So the brakes didn't work for 8 miles... but then they did, at the
bottom of a hill. <BillCosby>RIIIGHT</BillCosby>.
And it was a high-speed ride in which she didn't pass a group of
bicyclists?
I've owned a bunch of Toyotas, but the two I have now are 20+
year-old racecar projects. I wouldn't touch any of their more recent
over-priced crap, though. Maybe I have an unconscious bias, but I'm
not seeing much credible evidence to support anything other than typically
idiotic driving. I haven't seen anyone propose a reasonable mechanism,
other than terminally awful maintenance, by which the brakes on these
model cars can be over-powered by these engines. I'm more than willing
to believe that people are driving around with no brake fluid and backing
plates where pads used to be... but that's a totally separate deal from a
throttle issue, and we'd see them going off cliffs at slower speeds
anyway.
drive wreckless,
--
David Hillman
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