ABC News Questions Toyota's Floormat Recall

Citing reports of drivers who have experienced unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles, ABC News will air a segment tonight calling into question Toyota’s claim that improperly sized floormats are the only culprit.

Safety analysts claim to have found roughly 2,000 cases of Toyota owners reporting their vehicles surged to speeds of 100 mph while they applied the brakes, according to ABC News. This includes reports of 16 deaths and more than 200 accidents.

In August, Toyota issued a recall of 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles due to floormats that could pin the accelerator pedal. This was supposed to be the end of the controversy as Toyota said it would develop a permanent fix as soon as one was available working with the NHTSA. But Toyota owners have called the automaker’s findings into question. Some think a glitch in the electronic computer system, which controls the throttle, is to blame. Several owners have come forward to swear that their runaway vehicles had no floormat issues whatsoever.

For its part, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has conducted six investigations of the acceleration issues since 2003 and found no problems with Toyota’s electronics.The NHTSA now says it is still investigating the issue, and it is not resolved.

Owners of Toyota Cars in Rebellion Over Series of Accidents Caused by Sudden Acceleration (ABC News)

Comments

some say that the pedal could be an issue.

They probably just wanted to collect their insurance money. People they interviewed this morning said they were just driving down the road and the car accelerated by itself; shift to nuetral!

DaveInLBC,

unfortunately, many people who drive autmoatics don't even know what the "N" is there for.

This could explain why Toyota wanted to reprogram the accelerator software to fix the floormat problem. I always thought that was an overly complicated solution, but now I guess it makes sense. Sneaky, I like it.

Face it,Toyota is no different than any other carmaker when it comes to stonewalling on any more serious issues like unintended acceleration,no brake pedal override...etc.Now that Toyota is the 10,000 lb gorilla,it can now dodge responsibility just like GM and Ford always did.
Toyota is not the end all to beat all,Honda is not,none of them are.They all have issues and they are not immune from them.This whole saga will prove that.

The "N" for most people stands for "No". It's the area you don't wanna go between going forward and going backwards.

In their initial memo investigating the recent quadruple-fatality crash, NHTSA cited the design of the pivot on the accelerator pedal as being defective.

This is what happens when you become the largest car maker in the world - you're responsible for every possible scenario. This is like Ralph Nader blaming the Corvair's rear suspension as unsafe, when VW used the same design. In fact, the Corvair's rear suspension was safer than the VW in the later years of its run.

I have been in the auto repair business for 37 years. I have 3 statements to make.

1- no car company is perfect, but toyota is closer to perfect than the others.

2- In my 37 years in the business, I have had quite a few customers have sudden acceleration problems. EVERY TIME, it turned out to be a human error, not a mechanical problem.

3- We need to focus on educating the public on what to do if the accelerator sticks, instead of trying to blame others. If this happens to you, either turn the key off- you will lose power steering & power brakes, but will be better off than having a stuck throttle or shift your car into N - you may blow your engine, but you won't kill anyone.

I bought some cheapie floor mats from my local parts store. They slide around the floorboard frequently.

Sounds like a repeat of the Audi 5000 scare back in '86. Floormat clamps solved that problem as well. A cars brakes will always override the accelerator.

Maybe it would be wise to include in one's morning routine to check the car mats before driving off. If it is not properly seated, fix it. It will not take more than 30 seconds to do that. If mats have floor anchors, make sure they are hooked. These are some easy to do safety routines that we can include in our daily activity.

I had a new 2005 Avalon for 6 months. The main reason I got rid of it was because it had a very erratic throttle. Sometimes it would hesitate for a few seconds and at other times it would surge into traffic. On one occasion I kicked-down to pass a car and the transmission upshifted, surged forward but then refused to downshift again while engine speed increased. I kicked the throttle a few times before it returned to normal operation. It gave me quite a scare because the car was essentially driving itself for a few seconds. Another time the transmission switched into neutral itself while driving.
I moved the transmission from drive to neutral and back to drive but the transmission would not re-engage. It reset after pulling to the side of the road turning off the ignition and restarting.
The last straw was when I hit the gas to make a quick right turn into traffic, but nothing happened - until about 4 seconds later when it lunged forward and I was almost broadsided from a car coming from the left. That was on a Thursday and I traded it on the Saturday. I've been driving for over 30 years and never had a problem like that with a car, and have not since. Toyota were of no help and I would not let my wife drive the Avalon because I felt it was unpredictable and unsafe.
There are definite problems with Toyota's drive by wire/transmission systems which is why we now have a Maxima and Pilot.

In a modern car, sticking it in neutral with a stuck open throttle should not blow the engine: it'll hit the rev limiter and stay there. For the length of time it will then take to stop the car and turn the engine off, there should be minimal effect on the engine.

the above comment is inappropriate and should be removed!

Elizabeth, grow up!

It's time for Toyota to fess-up that there's indeed some type of electric/throttle body glitch. According to some here this can’t be, but I digress. Honestly, there are way too many reports now of this problem to be just written off by Toyota fans that it’s simply "driver error". Besides, is Toyota trying to say that no one but Toyota drivers have floor mats in their cars? If they do, which of course people do, how come other manufacturer's cars/trucks do not exhibit this same issue? You know, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Continuing to ignore issues will not make them go away, anyone recall the Toyota oil sludge fiasco which again the big “T” denied for so long years ago?

To all of you with the solution of turning the car off: part of the issue is that it appears that a disproportionate number of the affected vehicles are of the new, fob key style you stick in the dash as a module, and are difficult to turn off. You only have to consult "Car and Driver" and read their rantings about cars that refused to behave as promised with these systems, in many ways. It may be that this is a teething style problem with this new driver interface/security method.

Plus, how many highway patrol officers would have their wives call 911 because the car would not stop, if it was as simple as putting it in "N" or turning the car off? That was the quadruple homicide mentioned in California. If you think that's not a big deal, you don't know any patrol officers.

There is an issue. Period.

How dummy-proof do products need to be? #1 Put the floormat in right. #2 If the accelerator sticks (probably because you failed to follow instruction #1), shift to neutral. #3 Don't know what or where neutral is? Shift to park (I think everyone knows how to do that since we do it every time we park). You'll break the transmission, but who cares. You'll live.

The best engineers at NHTSA have found this to be a human error or floormat issue in all investigations undertaken. The rumored electronic problem has never, never, never been duplicated in the lab under any and all conditions. Maybe the electronic glitch can't be found because it doesn't exist.

Lack of personal responsibility permeates our society. When kids don't learn, it's the school's fault (not the parents' or the kid's). When you burn yourself with coffee, McDonalds is to blame (not the dummy who spilled the coffee).

It's a wonder anybody can afford to build or sell anything in this country. Just think how cheap stuff would be if we didn't have lawyers running around telling everyone that there is always someone else to blame (and pay) for their problems and misfortunes. Unfortunately, lawyers control Washington, so it will likely never change.

I am 77 yrs. old, I have a Toyota Prius. I frequently have sudden acceleration, but to date it has not been something I could not handle. However, in view of these other accidents people are having, it apparently is something that is wrong with the computer & needs to be addressed before there are more deaths.

It's amazing how people are so misinformed about this subject. Stop panicking, remove your floormats and think, if it was a safety concern Toyota would have recall this vehicles to be repaired by now.....

Carol, It's amazing how far people will go to make up excuses to cover for the short comings of their favorite import auto manufacturer! There IS a problem and YES the almighty Toyota has serious electronic glitch/es. By the way, how do you explain the cars that do not even have floor mats? Oh, that's right, they just make it up according to people like you. Get real.

It's not an excuse. It's common sense. I'm sorry but there are people out there that just can't drive. I know Toyota's and plus if it's a bigger problem than the floor mats, then it will be recalled. So you need get real Scott... and stop accusing until the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or Toyota finds solid proof....

Yeah it's a bigger problem than just the floormats. That's why Toyota said that removing the floormats or zip-tieing them is a stopgap solution. They have yet to identify a permanent fix. The problem is that neither you nor I nor anyone else really knows the real problem and Toyota and NHTSA certainly aren't divulging anything at this time. If it were truly just a floormat issue then the recall would have ended all this yet it hasn't. There is more to this whether you want to believe it or not.

Gosh so many people have NO IDEA what thier talking about. Blow up the engine, lol, put it in park will break the trans, lol, its called a fully electronic transmission it wont go into park just nuetral. Toyotas retarded pushbutton turn off is disabled in motion. The shifters are completly confusing. They set these cars up for people to die in if somthing like this happends, and it is.

Carol you need to get real, if you havent noticed 3/4 of the recalls out there are toyota products. They are just like any automaker, when your number one in making cars, you start sending them out so fast theres GOT to be problems eventually. What a chincy ass fix, zip ties on the floor mats of your 60 thousand dollar lexus, lol, what a joke.

This is soon going to get very interesting for Toyota and it's followers I think. Stay tuned...

"NHTSA says Toyota floor mat statement is “inaccurate and misleading”

I have a 2008 Toyota Tacoma (purchased new in April of 2008). On March 9, 2009 while travelling on the Parkway near Pittsburgh International Airport, Penna. I accellerated to pass a slow moving vehicle in the right lane. The throttle stuck wide open, I didn't check the speedometer, I was trying to avoid hitting anyone. I had both feet on the brakes and was literally standing on them, the Tacoma would not slow down. This was the scariest experience I have ever had. I don't have a push button ignition, I have a key ignition. I put the truck in neutral and the engine screamed as if it would come through the hood, I was still careening down the highway, when I felt it safe, I got onto the berm of the road and shut the ignition off. I have the All Weather Floor Mats - clearly marked "Toyota Tacoma" clipped to the floor. I checked to see if the mat was anywhere near the gas pedal, it wasn't. The smell of burnt brakes filled the air. I started the Tacoma after this event and it started normally. IF THE MAT WAS STUCK - IT WOULD HAVE STILL BEEN STUCK! I had no clue that there was a problem prior to this. When I got home, I went on line and saw so many reports...live reports - one from Frank Visconi who flipped his Tacoma. I have reported this to Toyota, NHTSA, Lemon Law and I won't stop until they are honest with those of us who have bought their product. I notified the police dept where I work and my insurance company - of the problem - in case - I am one of the fatalities. You should not be afraid to drive a new vehicle because of a flaw in the design which I believe is the "Drive By Wire System!" which controls the throttle via computer.

How could Toyota/Lexus not include this simple safety override into their "drive-by-wire" system (when the Germans certainly did.....?!)

And how could any such system be officially approved and certified without it by any manufacturer.....?

Smart Gas Pedals May Solve Floor-Mat Problem

By Christopher Jensen October 7, 2000

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/smart-gas-pedals-may-solve-floor-mat-problem/

(excerpts): Some automakers – primarily European — are using an unusual method to reduce the chances of unintended acceleration from something like a floor mat getting tangled up with the accelerator: smart gas pedals.

If the vehicle is moving and both the gas and brake pedal are being pushed at the same time the computer tells the engine to ignore the gas pedal.

“It is an additional safety feature,” said Thomas Plucinsky, a BMW spokesman. “The brake takes precedence.”