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Toyota Tacoma under bit of fire for sudden acceleration
Ever since the CBS 60 Minutes debacle involving the Audi 5000, the terms "sudden acceleration" and "unintended acceleration" have been indelibly beaten into the minds of most Americans. In recent times, vehicles such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee have been labeled with the unintended acceleration tag and have all been summarily dismissed as driver error. In every case so far, demonstrations have shown that standing on the brake pedal, even with the gas pedal to the floor, will always stop the vehicle.
The latest vehicle under unintended acceleration fire is the 2006-2007 Toyota Tacoma, with 33 documented cases on file at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). So far, no proof of mechanical failure has been found, and the most likely scenario, according to the NHTSA and Toyota, is a misapplication of pedals by the driver. Possible culprits remain bunched-up floor mats, debris under the brake pedal or gas and brake pedals closer together than drivers are accustomed to. Still, this case in under investigation by the NHTSA and Toyota is said to be cooperating.
[Source: Detroit Free Press]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tom Gabriele 3:08PM (4/09/2008)
since when was sudden acceleration a bad thing?
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Derek 10:41PM (4/09/2008)
When it isn't commanded by your right foot.
dubai 3:11PM (4/09/2008)
What we may have is unintended stupidity. I encounter it every day as I drive around our great country.
Even I make the occasional contribution. Like this morning, I cut off some yahoo in a Corvette twice as he / she (it was dark so I could not tell what was driving the 'Vette) attempted to get by me in a manner that was less than polite. It was not my intention to cut off the 'Vette. I was just using my turn signal and making the lane changes necessary to get to where I was going within the posted speed limit - not 20 mph over it.
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Iso 8:15AM (4/10/2008)
If they were not using their signal, fark them!
Todd 3:11PM (4/09/2008)
Oh noes, not teh "sudden acceleration" thing again. Didn't that all prove to be B.S. when there was that fury around the 1980s Audis? It was just three old ladies who stepped on the gas, but swore they stepped on the brake - but the media got a hold of it and it was "Run away acceleration!"
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why not the LS2/LS7? 11:01PM (4/09/2008)
Systems have changed now. What was hardly possible then is pretty easy now. Both the throttle plate and the fuel injectors are run by the ECU.
As a software engineer I'd like to think it's impossible for the computer to get crossed wires and make the car accelerate when the gas isn't pressed. But I know better.
Until proven otherwise I'm taking Toyota's side here though. It's likely user error.
Tricky dicky 3:16PM (4/09/2008)
the infamous floor mat fall guy which Toyota has used at least twice before... lmao..
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Franz 3:56PM (4/09/2008)
I've actually had a rubber floor mat jam the accelerator in an L200 I used to own... on more than one occasion but it was no biggie. I just put the clutch in and jiggled it free. Took about 2 seconds.
TwinTurbo3000GT 3:25PM (4/09/2008)
...that's like what happened to the senile old lady down the road from me. Hit the gas instead of the break by accident and drove right through her garage door and right into the back of her husband's '69 corvette :o(
damned elderly driver's are dangerous!
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Nacon 3:26PM (4/09/2008)
just pull the e-brake a little bit if they were such a big deal... pfft, I swear it's bunch of grandparents complaining about it.
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Duders 3:34PM (4/09/2008)
Oddly enough this actually just happened at a local auto auction. After being started the Tacoma kept revving high and then going back to idling. And as stupid as it may sound the employee decided to put it into drive even as the car did this. The truck was in a garage and went out of control and actually hit another nearby employee and pinned him up against the wall between the truck. He died and it's supposedly under investigation.
Granted this auto auction is also near an old folks trailer camping spot so a lot of the help are elderly people and in this case the driver of the truck was an elderly woman. If I hadn't just read this story I would've thought it was just a freak accident. Unfortunate way to die.
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why not the LS2LS7? 11:20PM (4/09/2008)
That's a special brand of stupid.
spw 7:43AM (4/10/2008)
wait, so she put it in drive, without holding brake while she was in garage? :-).
Idling issue is probably engine trying to warm itself, so it goes up to 1,500 rpm by itself until it is warmer....
John Johnson 3:34PM (4/09/2008)
Throttle cables and hydraulic brake lines often get confused with each other. The little gremlins that work the car will occasionally get confused as to which is which.
Or, more likely, the driver is retarded. Accelerating when you hit the brake is the same is accelerating when you turn the wheel left. The two functions are mechanically separate, the only link being a foot.
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roar 3:36PM (4/09/2008)
Recall alert:
Toyota Recalls 539,500 Corollas and Matrix for window issues, they could shatter.
Toyota Recalls 628,239 mini vans in Japan for possible cracks in the fuel tank.
roar
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Frylock350 3:51PM (4/09/2008)
Tacoma is a far cry from the tough Hilux they sell overseas. Ford's not the only one guilty of not giving the USA its best small truck.
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Jason 4:45PM (4/09/2008)
Toyota no longer gives the US a small truck period.
tankd0g 3:54PM (4/09/2008)
Check the NHTSA site for yourself, just about every car in existance has complaints of this nature. There's even a few in there like this one: "I PUSHED THE BRAKE AND GAS PEDAL DOWN AT THE SAME TIME AND CRASHED MY TRUCK INTO THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME" At least he's honest, is a little not right in the head for reporting his stupidity to the NHTSA. But it still counts as a complaint. After a story was done on some idiot who crashed his Tacoma in Tennesee last fall and not being able to get Toyota to buy back ever Tacoma sold since 2005, people flocked to the NHTSA site to add their "rememberings" of the same thing happeneing to them in a Tacoma at some point.
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tankd0g 4:09PM (4/09/2008)
On the up side, if this latest scandle puts an end to drive-by-wire systems, then it was all worth it. DBW sucks, even when it's working fine.
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John Johnson 4:12PM (4/09/2008)
^+1 for that.