Sudden acceleration: Bad floormats may be only 1 cause of deadly ...
On Nov. 3, I reported on an ABC-TV news investigation of sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles. Seemingly without cause, hundreds of motorists (many, but by no means all, driving Toyotas) have reported their cars taking off on their own, in some cases reaching speeds of 90 mph. There have many fatal accidents as a result and, not surprising, a bevy of lawsuits. In any case, if this has happened to you, you’re not alone. After interviewing the veteran campaigner Clarence Ditlow of the Center for Auto Safety (co-author of a book on sudden acceleration), I heard from Tom Murray of the law firm Murray & Murray in Ohio. Murray said that he’s handling some 20 cases of sudden acceleration, involving many makes of cars, including Toyota, Subaru, Kia, Ford and Volkswagen of America. He claims there have been as many as 100,000 cases of runaway cars — “at minimum; that’s a conservative figure,” he said. "This is a 30-year cover-up by the entire industry,” Murray charges. “We have hundreds of smoking guns, and they know exactly what the problem is.” According to Murray, the problem is related to electromagnetic interference with the electronic controls that are in virtually every modern car and truck. Today’s “throttle by wire” systems are part of a single control system that presents opportunities for interference with not only the throttle, but also braking, steering and airbags, he said. “Everybody who drives a modern car is now at risk because the industry hasn’t done its homework,” Murray said. NHTSA doesn’t necessarily agree with Murray. It does think that floormats are the cause in many of these cases. Its most recent denial of a defect petition (involving a 2007 Lexus ES350 that allegedly ran away with Jeffrey Pepski of Plymouth, Minn.,) failed to corroborate electronic throttle problems as a cause. NHTSA has investigated sudden acceleration in Toyota and Lexus cars...
on the frames of older Toyota Tundra pickups and, more seriously, complaints about sudden acceleration in many models, possibly caused by floor mats. and more »
New York TimesToyota at a crossroads, and in competition's crosshairsToyota, in both the US and Canada, is urging owners to remove their floor mats while it seeks a remedy for reports of sudden, unintended acceleration. Toyotas Getting Minds of Their Own, Killing DriversCar Wars: Toyota Locked In Litigation Over HybridsToyota's Lexus Expands Lead Among US Luxury Modelsall 426 news articles »
The New Beetle 'BlackOrange'The love for style is primarily in the details: Both the textile floor mats and the gear shift boot are furnished with decorative seams in Burt Orange.
