Chase Weir's guide to Toyota 'gas pedal' recall

[Troutman]

G'day all,

As some of you may be aware, Toyota is in the midst of a huge recall involving faulty accelerator pedals which can get stuck causing unintended acceleration. Several US-made models including the top-selling Camry have been affected, and the Obama administration has ordered that new car factories be shut down to avoid building dangerous cars. Some fatalities have been reported, and some European Toyotas may be affected. Millions will be recalled, but it will take quite some time for the replacement part to be produced in the massive quantities suddenly required, leaving an inevitable downgrading of Toyota's once great reputation and likely further accidents in the meantime. What I do not know is if any Australian-made or locally delivered models are affected. Apparently Japanese models are OK at this time.

Just in case anyone here drives an affected late model Toyota and does experience symptoms of unintended acceleration, I thought I would put together a guide on how to deal with the situation.

1) Stay calm
2) DO NOT put the transmission shifter into neutral, turn off the engine, slam on the brakes or de-jam the accelerator pedal by pulling it backwards
3) Get out your phone
4) Call Toyota Customer Service and scream, "OMG I'm gonna die" repeatedly.
5) Drive around for half an hour like this
6) Apply brakes firmly to bring car to a standstill

Hopefully no one will face such a situation, but in the event of such a drama, this proven procedure will help you to keep out of trouble.

Cheers!

Jack

[BBQBurner]

Does this affect the manual Toyota corolla my girlfriend drives

[Malakai]

Fucking idiots dying or crashing because their cruise control/accelerator is stuck on. If you can't think of a way to stop a car (any car) safely in such a situation then you don't know enough about vehicle operation to be driving anyway.

[Troutman]

Pardon the bump, but I told you this would happen. Chase Weir pt. II.

That problem on Monday led to an alarming close-call on the southern part of California's interstate highway, Interstate 8. Driving just outside San Diego, Jim Sikes, tried to pass a slow-moving vehicle in his 2008 Toyota Prius. To his shock, when he let off the gas the vehicle didn't slow down -- it instead sped up.

The car then proceeded to take him on a wild ride down the sunny highways of the Golden State. He recalls, "I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car, and it just did something kind of funny ... and it just stuck there. As I was going, I was trying the brakes ... and it just kept speeding up."

He called 911 and the operator tried to give him directions to stop the vehicle. He even tried to pull the accelerator physically upwards, but it "stayed right where it was" (it is unclear whether Mr. Sikes or the operator tried the logical approach of shifting the car into Neutral, which should disengage the engine).

Unable to figure out a way to stop or slow down the car, the Californian Highway Patrol was enlisted to help the speeding motorist. They caught up to him as his Prius hurdled down twisting mountain roads at 90 mph. They communicated with Sikes to attempt to brake and apply the emergency brake and the same time. That combination apparently worked, bringing the perilous ride to its conclusion.


http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=17856

[Jake]

Pretty sure I heard of a story of one of these Toyota's that couldn't stop on the radio the other day. The brakes burned out and a cop car had to sit in front of it then use its brakes, let the toyota hit it up the back and slow it down that way.. It happen'd to a prius IIRC. So Australian Toyota's would be affected as well... unless it was news from America for some reason?

[LTDHO]

1) Try to stay calm for less than a second
2) DO NOT put the transmission shifter into neutral, turn off the engine, slam on the brakes or de-jam the accelerator pedal by pulling it backwards
3) Get out your phone
4) Call Toyota Customer Service and scream, "OMG I'm gonna die" repeatedly.
5) Drive around for half an hour like this
6) Apply brakes firmly to bring car to a standstill

Jack, this now applies to Territory owners!

[[Sterling]]

I don't think you can put a pruis into nutrel, they have a fucked up little knob thing as a gearstick

[vegabass]

Sucked in for buying one in the first place.
They should build a Toyota lane in the US where if its doing 90mph they can just drive in that and everyone can laugh.

True Story
I was test driving a Fairmont Ghia a few years ago and I gave it full throttle, once I realised the throttle was jammed open I briefly looked at the owner and said "Houston we have a problem"

Since the car was going down a suburban st which happen to be DOWNHILL I jammed on the brakes which were typically crap and it slowed down but was getting hot very quickly to the point where the car was getting faster again so I aimed for a driveway opening onto the footpath, slipped into netral and turned the engine off and had both feet on the brake with the hand ready on the handbrake. Pulled up fine with no damage to the car

Opened the bonnet to find a screwdriver holding the throttle cable/linkages open. Since the owner is indian I swear he skidded curry in his undies so I promptly drove him home and said id give this car a miss.

[Steady]

is the aiming for the "driveway opening onto the footpath" of some particular relevance to the story because it's kind of confusing me.
why did you have to go there to stop it?
is it just a red herring?