The NHTSA, being paid off, blaming owners etc....

[HEMI6point1]

That in no way addresses her point.

In a way it does. The NHTSA blamed people mistaking the gas for the brake pedal in the Audi scandal. Funny how they called thousands of people idiots just like they did in Toyota's case.

[Hyena Dandy]

In a way it does. The NHTSA blamed people mistaking the gas for the brake pedal in the Audi scandal. Funny how they called thousands of people idiots just like they did in Toyota's case.

I suppose, in a way, it does. But in a much larger, actually relevant way, it doesn't at all.

She said "This just proves it's not the floor pads, it doesn't prove it's a computer problem."

And you replied by saying "You sound like an APOLOGIST!"

That has nothing to do with whether or not it's a computer problem.

[wolfie]

And as far as Toyota, if you're saying that the drive-by-wire software issue was "false," then you haven't heard about an incident in Cali by a mechanic who took a Tocoma on a random test drive on the freeway for a customer. He purposely left the floormats out of the truck for this. As he was driving 75mph the truck suddenly started accelerating to 95mph and wouldn't stop. He had to jam the truck in neutral and shut the engine off to get it to stop.

and leaving the floormats out proves it was the software and not a worn accelerator pedal sticking(mechanical failure, which was found as a reason for the acceleration), exactly how? It just proves it wasn't the floormats.

A sticking accelerator pedal would HOLD the throttle in the same position (slight acceleration if the road levelled out, but basically the same speed). A floormat could PRESS DOWN on the accelerator, so leaving it out of the vehicle removes the potential of a mechanical issue that would give a false "accelerate" signal. Accelerating to 95 MPH takes far more throttle than maintaining 75 MPH. An accelerator that sticks while trying to maintain 75 MPH won't do it. Either something applied pressure to the pedal (no floormats, and the mechanic would know if he had "stepped on it"), the throttle position sensor malfunctioned (short/open/whatever) to give an electrical output inconsistent with the pedal's position, or the on-board computer acted in a manner inconsistent with the signal from the TPS.

The mechanic's test ruled out acceleration due to factors under the vehicle owner's control, leaving only either a hardware or software problem as the cause for the acceleration.

[protege]

A floormat could PRESS DOWN on the accelerator, so leaving it out of the vehicle removes the potential of a mechanical issue that would give a false "accelerate" signal.

I do know that some aftermarket floor mats *can* prevent pedals from working correctly. They're a "one size fits all" type in many cases. With my car, I found that with thick, rubber aftermarket mats fitted...I couldn't put the clutch in all the way. The added thickness jammed the pedal assembly. A simple fix really--use a box cutter to notch out the top 1 inch or so of the mat, and I was back in business

Also, throttles can jam on any car. Had that happen with the MG once, before it was restored. My dad was driving, and all of a sudden, the car was red-lining its nuts off...and we were stopped He managed to keep the car in 3rd or 4th gear, until he could pull over, and shut the engine off. Found out later that the spring attached to the throttle had failed, causing it to jam open.