West Hollywood, California (November 2, 2009) - Toyota's recall of 3.8 million vehicles, as far back as the 2004 model year, has made front page headlines around the country. The problem is sudden or uncontrolled acceleration that drivers have been unable to overcome.
Todd “Evan” Bianco has written about cars and Los Angeles on his website acarisnotarefrigerator.com from his West Hollywood base for many years. |
Toyota says the problem is caused by improperly-installed floor mats. The mats can slide forward and jam the accelerator pedal.
Really? That's it? I've dealt with crumpled and mashed floor mats since I bought my first car. The sensible thing to do is kick the mat back into place with your heel or tug it back by hand.
Most new cars have anchors that keep the mats in place either by floor fasteners or seat frame tethers.
The Toyota/Lexus vehicles in question have floor fastening systems; but the mats may not be affixed properly. If you take your car in for the recall, the dealer will tether the floor mat to the seat frame with a plastic zip tie. Yes, a self-locking plastic zip tie! It's not very high tech, but it will work.
Toyota recommends that drivers simply remove the floor mats from the car until it comes up with a more permanent fix. If you don't want to do that, you should make sure the mats are properly anchored to the floor with the factory fasteners or do the zip tie thing yourself.
WeHo News. |
The accident that prompted the recall was very scary and bizarre. On August 28, 2009, a family of four were driving a 2009 Lexus ES 350 (a gussied-up Toyota Camry) down a San Diego-area freeway when the car suddenly experienced full-throttle, 120 mph, acceleration.
The driver, an experienced CHP officer, told the 911 operator that there were no brakes and he couldn't stop the car.
A few seconds later, panicked screams of the family were recorded when the car slammed into another car and flipped into a dirt embankment killing all four passengers.
The crash is still under investigation; however, the Los Angeles Times reported that the car was a loaner car while the family's Lexus was in service and that the floor mats in the car were not the floor mats for that model. The dealer didn't return calls for comment.
It's also hard to believe that an experienced CHP officer couldn't shift the car into neutral or get the car to shut off by pressing the start/stop button. It smells of an electronic gremlin to me.
Vehicles Recalled:
WeHo News. |
2007 - 2010 Camry
2005 - 2010 Avalon
2004 - 2009 Prius
2005 - 2010 Tacoma
2007 - 2010 Tundra
2007 - 2010 Lexus ES 350
2006 - 2010 Lexus IS 250 and 350
We should put the Toyota recall in perspective. The LA Times reported that since 2000, Toyota vehicles have been investigated nine times by the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission (NHTSC) for unintended acceleration.
Five cases were dismissed with no finding of equipment defects. Two were determined to be improperly positioned floor mats, one was a loose part on a Sienna minivan and another investigation remains open.
Given the millions of Toyota/Scion/Lexus vehicles sold since 2000, two floor mat problems is not evidence of a major safety defect.
The real fix is something more complex and it may be something that all manufacturers will adopt.
WeHo News. |
Let's step back for a moment and talk about modern cars. Two decades ago, carburetors went extinct, replaced by much more accurate, fuel-efficient and cleaner-burning electronically fuel-injected systems.
The same thing is happening now with conventional throttle systems. Instead of relying on a mechanical cable that winds from the back of the accelerator pedal, through the firewall and onto the throttle body, a “drive-by-wire” system ditches all that in favor of a sophisticated pedal that contains sensors and a pressure mechanisms that mimics the “feel” of a cable-connected pedal.
Acceleration information is transmitted to the fuel injection system by an electronic control unit (ECU) - a mini computer - with embedded software code.
Drive-by-wire dramatically reduces the number of moving parts and connection points allowing for greater accuracy, reduced weight and little or no service requirements. These kinds of systems were originally developed for military use in ultra-sophisticated fighter jets, and have been thoroughly tested, including in commercial aircraft.
Manufacturers currently using these systems include Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, General Motors, etc. It is safe technology; but it's not, in itself, the answer to or the cause of unintended acceleration.
In November 1986, CBS News/60 Minutes broadcast a report on sudden acceleration problems with the Audi 5000. Several owners had sued Audi (a unit of Volkswagen) over “unintended acceleration” when the brake pedal was pushed.
WeHo News. |
The hit piece used footage showing how the car accelerated itself; but it was later revealed that the car had been rigged to get the results.
In the end, Audi was vindicated; driver error was to blame. Unfortunately, the damage was done, and it took Audi at least 15 years to recover from the 60 Minutes report.
The “Audi scare” led to a safety advance and federal law to requiring a transmission/brake interlock mechanism on all vehicles. Today, you have to depress the brake pedal before you can start your car and shift it into gear.
Toyota is working on a long-term fix to the unintended acceleration problem that will involve reprogramming the engine's computer to automatically cut power when a driver brakes while the gas pedal is depressed.
This “component” change to Toyota's vehicles will likely include advanced braking software as well as some mechanical changes.
So far, there is no indication of a design flaw in any specific mechanical or electrical component and a crumpled or loose floor mat can happen in any vehicle.
I wouldn't be surprised if Toyota's resolution, an advanced marriage of software, silicon chips and mechanical systems, becomes a mandated safety component on all new vehicles sometime in the near future.
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For many years, Todd “Evan” Bianco has written about cars and Los Angeles on his website acarisnotarefrigerator.com from his West Hollywood base.
Mr. Bianco’s focuses on the car biz and cars as they exist with us here in WeHo and Los Angeles, not in Detroit. He covers subjects as diverse as hybrid hype, the influence of the Asians in So Cal, trends, etc.
Mr. Bianco had a weekly radio show on Sirius Out-Q for a year, and returned to the air with The John McMullen Show on KNEWS AM 870 * 1140 * 1250 knewsradio.com on March 3, 2008.
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