Uh-oh Toyota Again

[Audrey]

Fatal Utah Crash Puts Toyota In Spotlight : NPR

Pretty sad and possibly really, really bad for Toyota.

[tjl]

Just in case anyone has such a situation (in a Toyota or otherwise), here is what I was taught in driving school many years ago:

For a stuck accelerator, shift to neutral and use the brakes to stop the car in a safe place. If there is no immediate danger of crashing, you can try lifting the stuck accelerator with your foot.

For brake failure, you can downshift and/or carefully use the parking brake to slow and stop the car, although it will not slow and stop as quickly. You can also pump the service brakes to try to get at least some braking out of them.

Back then, they taught stuff like this in driving school because mechanical failures like these were much more common than today (corroded stuck throttle cables, leaks in single circuit brake systems, etc.).

[Audrey]

The driver was 66, so he probably had some knowledge of that nature if it is something that is a matter of age. There was evidence that he tried to stop the car.

[Bobby]

Sure, there might be logical ways to control an otherwise out of control car, but is it the driver's responsibility to compensate for poor engineering? It's always a good idea to be able to respond in a crisis, but the crisis is Toyota's: They were perfectly positioned to become the Worlds Largest Automobile Company, and yet ironically they were also positioned to not be able to hold onto that title....

i...t's a loooooong drop from the top, it's easy to think you're flying..until that sudden stop there at the end.

Viva la Fiesta!

[tjl]

Originally Posted by Bobby

Sure, there might be logical ways to control an otherwise out of control car, but is it the driver's responsibility to compensate for poor engineering?

Knowing how to deal with a stuck accelerator or brake failure was taught in driving school because such failures were not that unusual (e.g. sticky corroded throttle cables, leaks in the single circuit brake hydraulics). Based on most threads in various forums about this type of thing, it seems that such things are no longer taught in driving schools.

[Audrey]

Originally Posted by tjl

Knowing how to deal with a stuck accelerator or brake failure was taught in driving school because such failures were not that unusual (e.g. sticky corroded throttle cables, leaks in the single circuit brake hydraulics). Based on most threads in various forums about this type of thing, it seems that such things are no longer taught in driving schools.

Possibly. I mentioned the driver's age as a means of saying that if this information is no longer taught or not is moot because he'd likely have been in driver's school when it was still taught (unless you meant the change in teaching happened more than 50 years ago).

[tjl]

Originally Posted by Audrey

Possibly. I mentioned the driver's age as a means of saying that if this information is no longer taught or not is moot because he'd likely have been in driver's school when it was still taught (unless you meant the change in teaching happened more than 50 years ago).

True, an older driver should have learned this stuff in driving school. Even in the 1980s, there were enough unreliable cars around that it was prudent to know what to do in the event of a stuck accelerator, complete service brake failure, hood flying up, etc.. I do remember one incident in the 1980s where, after jump starting a car, it was difficult to get the hood of one of the cars closed due to poor body panel alignment (no apparent crash damage on the car in question) and/or corrosion.

Such events are now much less common these days due to much better car reliability (including better corrosion resistance).