OT: Lexus – Unsafe at any speed?

[equalizer]

If the tragic Lexus accident last week was not caused by operator error (loose floormat, etc), then are the computers in the Lexus cars causing this sudden accelerations??

“A fiery crash that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and three family members continues to raise questions as investigators try to determine whether their loaner car’s accelerator stuck and what – if anything – could have prevented Friday’s tragedy.”

There are many reports of similar incidents in Lexus vehicles that can be found with simple search such as this autospies story from 2007!!

“The vehicles in question have an engine control button instead of a traditional ignition key, the agency noted. “Some drivers reported that their attempts to turn the engine off by pressing the control button were unsuccessful,” NHTSA said. “In these cases, it appears the drivers were unaware that the button’s functionality changes when the vehicle is in motion requiring that it be depressed for 3 seconds (instead of momentarily) to stop the engine,” it said. Toyota has sent a mailing to owners of the 2007 Lexus ES 350 warning of the dangers of improper mat installation. ”

“Unlike most of its rivals, which haven’t experienced substantial sudden-acceleration complaints, the Tacoma relies on an electronic drive-by-wire system pedal system that uses computer controls instead of a direct physical connection between the accelerator pedal and the throttle.”

Really dumb question – why not take out the Nazi(reqd in every post now?) floor mats from all these damn cars in 2007? It appears that Toyota has more complaints than other makes. Is it due to deficient mat hook design and/or the drive by wire that most other makes don’t use??

The Audi 5000 cars from 80’s had the same complaints about sudden acceleration but problem could never be duplicated so they blamed floor mats, objects trapped under pedals or simple driver error.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/aug/31/bn31chp-lexus-crash/?metro&zIndex=158181

http://www.autospies.com/news/NHTSA-Probes-Lexus-ES-350-Unintended-Acceleration-Issues-19952/

http://www.motorauthority.com/blog/1023879_toyota-denies-unintended-acceleration-issues-on-tacoma

[svelte]

great post equalizer!

And good info you found…I hadn’t read about the 3-second requirement yet.

Back in the Audi problem days, I could never decide if it was driver error or not. Now that we have the victim being an experienced police officer who specialized in vehicle safety inspections, I leaned towards blaming Toyota and Lexus. Officer Saylor would surely know all the tricks in getting a runaway vehicle to stop, and I have no doubt he tried them all.

After reading about the floor mat recall and the 3-second button, I think Toyota clearly has another defective product.

My heart goes out to the Saylor family.

[svelte]

great post equalizer!

And good info you found…I hadn’t read about the 3-second requirement yet.

Back in the Audi problem days, I could never decide if it was driver error or not. Now that we have the victim being an experienced police officer who specialized in vehicle safety inspections, I leaned towards blaming Toyota and Lexus. Officer Saylor would surely know all the tricks in getting a runaway vehicle to stop, and I have no doubt he tried them all.

After reading about the floor mat recall and the 3-second button, I think Toyota clearly has another defective product.

My heart goes out to the Saylor family.

[svelte]

great post equalizer!

And good info you found…I hadn’t read about the 3-second requirement yet.

Back in the Audi problem days, I could never decide if it was driver error or not. Now that we have the victim being an experienced police officer who specialized in vehicle safety inspections, I leaned towards blaming Toyota and Lexus. Officer Saylor would surely know all the tricks in getting a runaway vehicle to stop, and I have no doubt he tried them all.

After reading about the floor mat recall and the 3-second button, I think Toyota clearly has another defective product.

My heart goes out to the Saylor family.

[svelte]

great post equalizer!

And good info you found…I hadn’t read about the 3-second requirement yet.

Back in the Audi problem days, I could never decide if it was driver error or not. Now that we have the victim being an experienced police officer who specialized in vehicle safety inspections, I leaned towards blaming Toyota and Lexus. Officer Saylor would surely know all the tricks in getting a runaway vehicle to stop, and I have no doubt he tried them all.

After reading about the floor mat recall and the 3-second button, I think Toyota clearly has another defective product.

My heart goes out to the Saylor family.

[svelte]

great post equalizer!

And good info you found…I hadn’t read about the 3-second requirement yet.

Back in the Audi problem days, I could never decide if it was driver error or not. Now that we have the victim being an experienced police officer who specialized in vehicle safety inspections, I leaned towards blaming Toyota and Lexus. Officer Saylor would surely know all the tricks in getting a runaway vehicle to stop, and I have no doubt he tried them all.

After reading about the floor mat recall and the 3-second button, I think Toyota clearly has another defective product.

My heart goes out to the Saylor family.

[Zeitgeist]

Flu and other auto experts-
Would shifting it into neutral and braking have stopped the engine? Just thinking out loud.

[Zeitgeist]

Flu and other auto experts-
Would shifting it into neutral and braking have stopped the engine? Just thinking out loud.

[Zeitgeist]

Flu and other auto experts-
Would shifting it into neutral and braking have stopped the engine? Just thinking out loud.

[Zeitgeist]

Flu and other auto experts-
Would shifting it into neutral and braking have stopped the engine? Just thinking out loud.

[Zeitgeist]

Flu and other auto experts-
Would shifting it into neutral and braking have stopped the engine? Just thinking out loud.

[ucodegen]

Flu and other auto experts-
Would shifting it into neutral and braking have stopped the engine? Just thinking out loud.

Generally yes. Depends upon how much ‘drive/fly by wire’ the car is. If the same system controls the auto transmission, it may not work if it is ‘confused’. See my earlier comment, method #3. Turning off the engine and then turning back on but not going to ‘start’ (and not touching start/stop button) will cause ECU to restart, possibly clearing problem. If you turn engine off, move autotrans to neutral and then go back to on (but not start or hitting start/stop) it should reset ECU and the engine won’t restart.

[ucodegen]

Flu and other auto experts-
Would shifting it into neutral and braking have stopped the engine? Just thinking out loud.

Generally yes. Depends upon how much ‘drive/fly by wire’ the car is. If the same system controls the auto transmission, it may not work if it is ‘confused’. See my earlier comment, method #3. Turning off the engine and then turning back on but not going to ‘start’ (and not touching start/stop button) will cause ECU to restart, possibly clearing problem. If you turn engine off, move autotrans to neutral and then go back to on (but not start or hitting start/stop) it should reset ECU and the engine won’t restart.

[ucodegen]

Flu and other auto experts-
Would shifting it into neutral and braking have stopped the engine? Just thinking out loud.

Generally yes. Depends upon how much ‘drive/fly by wire’ the car is. If the same system controls the auto transmission, it may not work if it is ‘confused’. See my earlier comment, method #3. Turning off the engine and then turning back on but not going to ‘start’ (and not touching start/stop button) will cause ECU to restart, possibly clearing problem. If you turn engine off, move autotrans to neutral and then go back to on (but not start or hitting start/stop) it should reset ECU and the engine won’t restart.

[ucodegen]

Flu and other auto experts-
Would shifting it into neutral and braking have stopped the engine? Just thinking out loud.

Generally yes. Depends upon how much ‘drive/fly by wire’ the car is. If the same system controls the auto transmission, it may not work if it is ‘confused’. See my earlier comment, method #3. Turning off the engine and then turning back on but not going to ‘start’ (and not touching start/stop button) will cause ECU to restart, possibly clearing problem. If you turn engine off, move autotrans to neutral and then go back to on (but not start or hitting start/stop) it should reset ECU and the engine won’t restart.

[Author]

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