Did Toyota recall 3.8M vehicles over floor mats because of dumb drivers?
By
“This is an urgent matter,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “For everyone’s sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090929/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_floor_mats
How does a floor mat cause acceleration? Don’t they have pins that hold them in place?
I can see that it could affect breaking if it is piled up under the break paddle but not over the gas paddle.
“In almost all the incidents we covered, none of the drivers believed the floor mat was the cause of the problem. But some Pruis fans claim that unintended acceleration is not physically possible without driver error.”
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/09/prius_unintended_acceleration.php
Do you think the recall was an attempt to prevent law suits from dumb people or is this an “urgent matter”?
@Technicolor – how does a floor mat go over the pedal? Throw that damn thing away and buy a good one from wal-mart or something.
Don’t misunderstood me. I’m not against their decision to do the recall. If they decide to do something about a minor issue in my eyes, I’m all for it. But still, people should have common sense over matters like this?
Should I blame the bottling companies if my pop rolls over cause me to have an accident? No because I’m responsible for my lack of vision.
9 Comments
November 8th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
I agree the United States have a lot of dumb drivers. Our standards to obtain a driver license isn’t nearly as high as in Europe. But there is a flaw in the design if the floor mats can cause a mechanical malfunction.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:21 am
No, the floor mats can go over the pedal. My Lexus floor mat is just on the floor, not attached to anything. I gotta take my vehicle by… sigh. But what’s going to happen when I get there? Are they just going to look at my floor mat? lol.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:57 am
The recall had more to do with the loss of life.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:32 am
although toyota may be being hasty, according to some, i believe in “erring on the side of caution”. That said, stupid people have a right to drive just as much as dems, libertarians and independents do.
November 9th, 2009 at 2:21 am
lmao! Oh my goodness. That is the funniest thing I have heard all day. You have a point there. I agree.
November 9th, 2009 at 2:49 am
“How does a floor mat cause acceleration? Don’t they have pins that hold them in place?”
No, they don’t. In fact, mine gets under my feet all the time…
The problem is that the mats are stiff enough that when I press the brake, it hits the gas as well.
And they’re not recalling vehicles, as you claim…just the floormats.
November 9th, 2009 at 3:39 am
Manufacturers have to go to great expense to protect themselves from idiots with attorneys. We all pay extra to enrich them.
Business’s have varying degrees of liability risk. The doctors have it the worst, because each case is different
November 9th, 2009 at 4:33 am
I admire Toyota for doing that no matter how minor versus Ford that would have denied a problem existed as they did with their trucks that caught fire even when turned off. That was a few years ago.
On the flip side yes there are a lot of dumb drivers around.
I’ve lived in Dallas for the last 7 years yet as wide as the highways are not a day goes by where multiple accident don’t occur. However over the last week I was in New York City for 6 days and as narrow as those streets and highways such as the BQE and the Grand Central Expressway are not one accident occurred. Some of those cars were mere inches from each other. Amazing how in Dallas cars with plenty of room somehow manage to meet. I’m not surprised a floor mat can prove difficult. Oh Americans are also cheap. Most normal people would have spent the $10 bucks for another mat to avoid the hassle while admiring the quality and superiority of the motor and transmission. Versus a Ford or GM. Not suit happy Americans. Remember we’re the people that sue McDonalds over hot coffee when it spills while we’re driving.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
This happened to me while I was driving my Toyota the floor mats
were not near the gas pedal and wouldn’t a floor mat just maintain speed not make your car accelerate to 100 mph.I just hope you are not in front of one of us dumb drivers when this happens.