Regarding the Toyota recall and 'faulty' gas pedal mechanism, from AP.
"That was not enough for Dennis Dukes of Stony Point, N.C., and his wife, who said they wouldn't drive their 2010 Camry again, even with the repair. His wife ran into the back of a truck in August in their first Camry, a crash Dukes said happened after she hit the brakes and the car kept going."
This statement so bogus that I have to respond. As we learned from the infamous Audi 100 incident, this statement cannot possibly be true. The Audi 100 problems were first blasted over the airwaves by CBS' 60 Minutes. Unintended acceleration was the exclamation. Audi's sales dropped 95% in the USA and has never really quite recovered. As it turned out CBS was completely wrong with their assertions, claims and conclusions. The damage was done. As it turned out, every accident with the Audi were women drivers who had traded UP from a GM vehicle. There should have been red flags all over the place from the video 'evidence' alone. I saw the 60 Minutes report and one thing was missing and was so obvious to me and no one it seems paid any attention to it. In every case the drivers claimed 2 things, one that they had their foot on the brake, not the gas pedal and they also claimed they looked to be sure, more on this later. Now, the one thing missing from ALL the video and photographic evidence was the lack of skid marks. The Audi 100 was a front wheel drive car and the rear brakes would have locked and skid marks evident. There were none. The second issue of actually looking to verify the foot being on the brakes is an out and out lie. A few years later I bought an Audi 100, they were quite cheap for some reason. One thing that stood out to me, remembering the claim; I chose to see if I could tell if my foot was on the brake or gas. Seemingly a simple exercise, right. Not with the Audi 100. You see, the Audi 100 came equipped with a parcel shelf/knee bolster under the dash. You would have to be at eye level with the seat bottom to see where your foot was. Oh, did I mention that brake systems on cars will ALWAYS override the engine? Kinda the way they are designed.
Well, if all I said was true, then what happened? The accidents were real enough.
The answer is simple. Remember what I said about women and GM cars? Well, that was what was the problem. You see, the pedal placement on GM cars is wider than the Audi. It's like anything, you do something long enough, it becomes second nature. When something changes, well you keep doing as you always have until something happens to make you change. This was not a design defect. It was the lack of standards between manufacturers. The solution was to install an interlock system so that you cannot engage a gear now without putting your foot on the brakes first.
Ok, you don't believe this as being plausible or truthful? Let me give you some light with an experience of mine. On day my wife came home from work and told me how she darted into an intersection with her foot on the brakes. The VERY first thing she said to me was, "don't you dare try to blame me". Knowing she had just traded up to a Dodge Raider (Montero) from a GM car and me knowing that the pedal placement on the Raider was indeed narrower than the Calais was not enough evidence for me to say anything to her but this. If it happens the next time, just look at your foot. The Raider is wide open and easy to see. Sure enough a couple of weeks later it happened again. She came to me and apologized, she was now convinced it was driver error. She said she looked down and while her foot was on the brake pedal, the right side of her foot was dead on the gas pedal.
Anyway, I suspect we have a driver there who is looking for a lawsuit and deep pockets to sue.
But of course that is silly, we are Americans, we would not sue just to make a buck.
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