PrintThe Toyota Problem: Is It Driver Error?
Walter Olson at National Review and Richard A. Schmidt at the New York Times surprisingly have the same opinion: They both believe it is primarily driver error. They blame the runaway car problem on older drivers. The over-60 generation is taking it on the chin this year -- first the threat of death panels and cuts in medicare, and now this.
In fact, I believe that driver error is the least likely cause of most of these accidents. I agree with both authors that the majority of unintended acceleration claims against Audi in the mid-eighties was more than likely thanks to driver error. The sensationalized "60 Minutes" story almost put Audi out of business. However, that doesn't mean that we are seeing the same situation now.
Elderly drivers stepping on the wrong pedal by mistake is just one possibility that investigators are looking into. The list of possible culprits includes sticking accelerator pedals, out-of-place floor mats, a computer glitch, and even cosmic rays. Let's examine each of these potential causes one by one.
But first, just to remind everyone of the seriousness of the issue, here is one of the more lamentable stories from channel 6 in San Diego:
Mark Saylor and his wife Cleofe, both 45, their 13-year-old daughter Mahala and 38-year-old brother-in-law Chris Lastrella were killed in the crash at 6:35 p.m. Aug. 28 at the end of state Route 125 at Mission Gorge Road.
The officer was off-duty at the time of the crash.
They were in a 2009 Lexus loaned by Bob Baker Lexus in El Cajon while their vehicle was being serviced, authorities said. One of the occupants, believed to be Cleofe Saylor, called 911 to report the accelerator in the loaner vehicle was stuck.
Witnesses said the car was going more than 100 mph shortly before the crash.
The car collided with an SUV waiting to turn left at the end of Highway125, and continued across Mission Gorge Road, crashed through a fence and ended up on fire in the bed of the San Diego River.
All four victims died at the scene.
If we blame driver error for this horrific accident, then we would have to believe that a highway patrolman with almost twenty years of experience couldn't tell the difference between the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal, and apparently he held his foot on the wrong one long enough for the car to reach over 100 mph. And this was presumably after he had already maneuvered the vehicle out of the dealership parking lot and onto the main road, enough time to become familiar with the position of the pedals. I think it unlikely that a California Highway Patrol officer who spent thousands of hours in his patrol car would make that mistake.
Toyota has admitted that there could be a problem with the floor mats and the accelerator pedal in some of their cars. The engineers at Toyota included a "friction device" on the accelerator pedal to decrease play and provide a better "feel" for the driver. The effort to perfect this simple device may have resulted in tragedy for many drivers. Here is Toyota's statement as reported in Automotive Fleet:
Separately from the recall for sticking accelerator pedals, Toyota is also in the process of recalling vehicles to address rare instances in which floor mats have trapped the accelerator pedal in certain Toyota and Lexus models (announced Nov. 25, 2009), and is already notifying customers about how it will fix this issue.
Federal regulators are even looking into the possibility that cosmic rays could interfere with the many computer systems on these cars. The Free Press reports that "an anonymous tipster whose complaint prompted regulators to look at the issue said the design of Toyota's microprocessors, memory chips and software could make them more vulnerable than those of other automakers." As you can see, driver error is just one of many possibilities.
Celebrities are not immune, either. Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, had a problem with his Prius when it "started accelerating on its own -- to as much as 97 mph." He tried to tell Toyota and NHTSA about the problem, "but he grew frustrated when no one would listen." Steve is 59 -- maybe he is one of those senior citizens who always push the wrong pedal.
Now that we've determined that there may be mechanical or computer problems with some Toyota cars, the question arises: What should you do if it happens to you? Remember, even with a sticking accelerator, the driver still has options, but he or she has to react quickly and make the right choices.
The first reaction you might have is: Why not just hit the brakes? It is true that the brakes on today's cars will "by and large" stop a vehicle even with the throttle wide open if you push down hard on the brake pedal and not release it. Car and Driver did a test to verify this: "With the Camry's throttle pinned while going 70 mph, the brakes easily overcame all 268 horsepower straining against them and stopped the car in 190 feet."
However, this test involved the expert drivers at Car and Driver. You would probably not get the same result with the average driver in a panic situation, as this technical article in Import Car explains:
A shift to neutral is your best bet, but who can say what's going through a driver's mind as he or she is weaving through traffic at high speed with both hands tightly gripping the steering wheel? More from Car and Driver:
Turning off the ignition is also problematic, especially if you have one of the newer vehicles with a push-to-start button:
And if it happens to you? The best thing to do is to grab the gear shift lever and put it into neutral or park and don't worry about the noise from the transmission and the motor, then apply the brakes, and your vehicle should come to a stop.
Danny Huddleston began his career in automotive sales and repair in 1976.
