why dont they just put it in Nuetral?

[jwstewar]

I never could understand why so many people hit deer on the roads. If you watch where you are going, pay attention and look out I don't see how you can hit a deer. Must be just stupid, untrained drivers that just don't know how to control a car when they see a deer. They must just panic because they have never been trained on how to drive around deer. Just watch out, steer your car, use the brakes and pay attention and theres no way in heck that all these deer-car collisions should be happening.

I used to think that too - till I hit one. I was leaving for work. It was dark and just starting to rain/snow. Then all of sudden he came up out of the creek/ditch beside the road and was at the edge of the road. I knew exactly what was going to happen. I put the brakes on as hard as I could while holding the wheel straight. I know what happens if you try to "drive" around them. Ended up hitting him square. Took out the whole center of the car. One of those things that happen. Trooper told me I actually did a good job because I didn't try to steer around it and lose control. Had I done that, I would've been cited for failure to control. As it was, just a report taken and a damaged car. Never saw the deer after I hit it. Must have punted it pretty good. Someone asked me if it was buck or doe, I don't know. Didn't see it long enough.

 

[two_bit_score]

Don't forget the Moose. They are bigger too and should be easier to see!

They should just do better at teaching 'driving around moose in school these days.

 

[jeffinsgf]

After watching the interview on the Today show this morning, I am thoroughly convinced that the idiot in California is either fishing for a law suit or looking for the media attention. If that is not the case, the CHP should have moved out of the way and let the guy drive into a tree, 'cause he's too dumb to breathe. I just cannot believe that someone who has been on the planet as long as that guy would think that a car would "flip" if you put it in neutral. How could he have the presence of mind to make a phone call, but not the presence of mind to follow the advice he was being given? Plain and simple, he wanted his 15 minutes.

I don't doubt that there are issues with the accelerator design, but it is going to be a shame if a bunch of idiots, lunatics, and ambulance chasers end up putting a quality auto maker out of business.

 

[kevinj]

So can mine. But if you are moving at 40 MPH when you do so, the tranny does not go to neutral from drive and the engine keeps turning over. Turn the switch back on at 25 MPH and it acts like nothing ever happened and you don't need to hit the starter.

So if you kill the engine and the tranny is still coupled you would have a poor mans jake brake

 

[mlauk]

I'm reading a lot of these comments and can't believe all these Toyota lovers can't accept the fact that the cars have problems and are trying to blame it on the drivers. There is obviously some sort of electrical or computer glitch that is causing the car to accelerate out of control and Toyota should belly up to the bar and admit their cars have more problems than they are admitting to. I'll take my Dodge with analog gauges, manual transmission, mechanical steering, and a keyed ignition any day over all the electronic cr@p they are putting out today.

 

[two_bit_score]

I used to think that too - till I hit one. I was leaving for work. It was dark and just starting to rain/snow. Then all of sudden he came up out of the creek/ditch beside the road and was at the edge of the road. I knew exactly what was going to happen. I put the brakes on as hard as I could while holding the wheel straight. I know what happens if you try to "drive" around them. Ended up hitting him square. Took out the whole center of the car. One of those things that happen. Trooper told me I actually did a good job because I didn't try to steer around it and lose control. Had I done that, I would've been cited for failure to control. As it was, just a report taken and a damaged car. Never saw the deer after I hit it. Must have punted it pretty good. Someone asked me if it was buck or doe, I don't know. Didn't see it long enough.

You make my point exactly!!!! :thumbsup:


All these posters who think it would be just so easy to resolve a 'sudden acceleration' situation would probably react the same way everyone else has if it happened to them. Sudden acceleration happens and it happens unexpectedly and people react in seconds in an instinctive manner. It's, evidently, not predictable how someone might react at the time and particular circumstance.

BTW, I really could not understand why so many people hit so many deer until it almost happened to me and then I could understand it a lot better.

 

[Baucom]

Most deer collisions occur much quicker than anyone could speed dial 911 on their cell phone, but unintended acceleration appears to allow plenty of time to make a phone call in many cases. If I had time to call 911 before I hit a deer, then I deserve to hit that deer. If the people who drive one of these affected vehicles would either a) put the effort into thinking that they put into making a phone call or b) practice the recommended procedures to stop the vehicle during unintended acceleration so that they know what to do, then fewer people would have likely been injured/killed.

 

[two_bit_score]

Most deer collisions occur much quicker than anyone could speed dial 911 on their cell phone, but unintended acceleration appears to allow plenty of time to make a phone call in many cases. If I had time to call 911 before I hit a deer, then I deserve to hit that deer. If the people who drive one of these affected vehicles would either a) put the effort into thinking that they put into making a phone call or b) practice the recommended procedures to stop the vehicle during unintended acceleration so that they know what to do, then fewer people would have likely been injured/killed.

Well, there we have it folks. It's as simple as that.

 

[Toyboy]

Got this from one of my Engineering friends T
The turkey in CA was afraid to turn off the engine because he'd lose his power steering. At 94 MPH one does not need power steering.

Also, people do not read the instructions, apparently. I believe the CA guy said he didn't really know how to turn the engine off. You would think with all the publicity ANYONE with a Toyota would be reading their owners manual as tho' their life depended on it. IT DOES!

An electronic genius friend of mine thinks this is a software glitch, just like when an MS program "freezes". It could also be caused by a voltage spike or some such thing. I've never understood the "carpet" thing, and been only slightly less skeptical about the accelerator pedal idea. If it were the latter and one had their wits about them, they could snag their foot under the pedal and pull it up. I've had an accelerator pedal stick on very rare occasions over the years, and that's what I did.

The problem is that people are seldom thinking about "driving" when behind the wheel. They're engaged in more important things, like the radio, phone calls, and what's for dinner. Of course, I learned to drive when there weren't so many distractions, and even heaters where "options".

 

[dodge man]

This happened to a friend several years ago. He had a 70 Cuda with a 440 six pack. Its three two barrel carbs with the end carbs vaccum operated. It normally operates on the center carb unless you floor it. He was tuning it and left the linkage off that pulls the end carbs shut. He took it out on the street and was just going to floor it for a second and it pulled the end carbs open and when he let off the gas the end carbs stayed open. He was going 90mph before he knew it. He shut the key off to finally stop it. It was down a fairly busy street, but it had a center turn lane that he used. Lucky no one turned in front of him.

This car had manual drum brakes and wouldn't hardly slow the car down at full power. There are a lot of cars that just won't slow down using the brake against an engine at full throttle. Maybe if you are going 30, but by the time most people know what is going on they are going to fast. The brakes get hot and that is the end of the story on the brakes.