This is terrifying to say the least, and it has been prevalent enough that Toyota may have to be forced to do a massive recall some time in the near future
Back in the day I had a really old Toyota Camry and this has happened to me before. It only happened once when I was at Taco Cabana drive thru, but it caught me off guard.
Months ago I read about this problem in the Houston Press and Toyota was sticking with their "improperly installed floor mat" excuse and I thought to myself, wow, they really are putting a lot of lives at risk in the hopes that the real problem is minute. I know it happens, but it was one of those times where I really could see it, from beginning to end, a company gambling with people's lives because they thought it would be cheaper than a recall. I remember reading about the california highway patrol guy and his family that all died recently. It was in an article about the start of the recall.
The article noted: Moreover, I sincerely doubt Toyota is just crossing their fingers and hoping it really is a floormat issue...they are doing that, but I'm sure they are also devoting significant resources to being sure it is just that. As a Toyota Highlander owner, this is very very concerning to me. People need to be warned of the issue, take all appropriate steps they can at the moment to minimize the risk (including not driving certain cars, where appropriate), and Toyota and other parties need to continue working to find the problem.
I have a 2003 Corolla and a 2003 Camry LE. Thanks for the news, sir. So are you posting from that underground bunker and finalsbound is next to you? We're DOOMED?
My theory since day one has been a faulty cruise control system. There really is no other system in a vehicle that would cause the vehicle to accelerate on it's own.
...or, for that matter, after I shift the darn thing into neutral. Honestly, I think some people just don't know how to drive their cars.
Rise of the Machines is not what came to mind for me... <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JirRgojalLM&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JirRgojalLM&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> This probably says more about my age than anything else... but by the way, this entire video is awesome. Don't stop watching it.
Reminds me of the old Audi 5000's and the "unintended acceleration" back in the early 1980's. I don't know if they ever figured out why.
I have an '05 RAV4 (which I'm actually trading in today, oddly) and one time this happened to me, but it WAS the floormat. My wife was driving and started freaking out, so I had her try to pull to the side and I slowly applied the parking brake, which stopped us until I could figure out what was up. Women.
umm...why don't ppl put the car in neutral if its accelerating on its own? It'll blow up the engine but at least you'll live.
Hispanic Herbie? "¡¡Ahora, Herbie!!!! ¡¡Ahora!!!" = "now, Herbie! NOW!" "¡Cuidado! ¡HAY AGUA!" = "Be careful! THERE'S WATER!"
