Toyota to recall 3.8M vehicles over floor mats - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Pavka007 · #1 09-29-2009, 11:55 PM

Now this is news

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1134/toyota-to-recall-38m-vehicles-over-floor-mats/

GregoryV022 · #2 09-30-2009, 12:12 AM

all i have to say is, WOW

JordaanDMC-12 · #3 09-30-2009, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregoryV022

all i have to say is, WOW

x2

owned to Toyota

TylerH860 · #4 09-30-2009, 12:43 AM

So they're installing floor mats with more grip?

Medmech · #5 09-30-2009, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TylerH860

So they're installing floor mats with more grip?

Hooks, IIRC my 2005 had the same recall.

compu_85 · #6 09-30-2009, 07:08 AM

So, is this an actual design issue, or is it just people not taking care of their cars and letting the matts get up under the pedals?

-Jason

Pavka007 · #7 09-30-2009, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by compu_85

So, is this an actual design issue, or is it just people not taking care of their cars and letting the matts get up under the pedals?

-Jason

This is OFFICIAL recall so I would say design issue. In whole honesty...they are afraid from legal nightmare, after the horrible dead of the state policeman and his family in CA. Suddenly Toyota have received huge publicity regarding this on the wrong side. I think that they are trying to pre-empty the flood of legal trouble.

MS Fowler · #8 09-30-2009, 08:59 AM

Is there no longer any such thing as personal responsibility? Is it ALWAYS the car makers fault when someone dies in thier vehicle?

Kuan · #9 09-30-2009, 09:08 AM

Sure, yeah, it's the floormats. Forgive my distrust but the last few years have left me jaded.

Pavka007 · #10 09-30-2009, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MS Fowler

Is there no longer any such thing as personal responsibility? Is it ALWAYS the car makers fault when someone dies in thier vehicle?

Perhaps you missed the story:

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 SUV, 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 called police 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 2099 Lexus ES350 that was loaned by a dealer, Bob Baker Lexus El Cajon, 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 slightly 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."

Kuan · #11 09-30-2009, 09:20 AM

What do you do in this case? Can you turn off the engine?

LaughingGravy · #12 09-30-2009, 09:44 AM

Oh, how about pop the car into Neutral or a lower gear? I do this with the wife's Matrix, and it's an automatic. Slows down the car really quickly.

A passenger had time to decide to and actually make a cell phone call a minute before the crash but no one in the car, especially the driver, had the presence of mind to pop the gear down?
The driver appears to have been a veteran CHP officer who you'd like to think would have some driver training.

Sad, but avoidable. There's also the mention that the floor mat belonged to a different Lexus and was too long.
If the dealer/Lexus supplied the wrong mat, that's one thing. If it was done by the owner, I can't see how Toyota should be responsible.

Medmech · #13 09-30-2009, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kuan

What do you do in this case? Can you turn off the engine?

Or turn the engine off, apparently he had a free hand.

Quote:

Lastrella called police about a minute before the crash to say the vehicle had no brakes and the accelerator was stuck.

Idiot.

MS Fowler · #14 09-30-2009, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pavka007

Perhaps you missed the story:

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 SUV, 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 called police 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 2099 Lexus ES350 that was loaned by a dealer, Bob Baker Lexus El Cajon, 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 slightly 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."

Yes, its a very emotional story.
That doesn't change the facts that the driver did not think of any of the several actions that could have been taken to prevent this tragedy.
I still say personal responsibility.

pawoSD · #15 09-30-2009, 09:57 AM

I don't get it either, the brakes on any car can well over-power the engine, and there is a KEY to turn it off. Then again, most people don't have a hand free to turn off the car, since they are already texting and eating.......

Stuff like this is crazy. Are people really that incompetent nowadays that they can't even make sure their floor mats aren't bunched up against the throttle? It also has to do with the bad design of the throttle, the down-hanging pedal assemblies so many cars have is a poor design. The MB design makes it pretty much impossible for the throttle to be jammed by the mat.