Toyota plans 3.8 million vehicle recal due to driver error

[JustinG]

Throw into Neutral.....Pull Ebrake.....car stops? Am I wrong in my assumption?

[CaptainHenreh]

Throw into Neutral.....Pull Ebrake.....car stops? Am I wrong in my assumption?

The 19-year-old driver, Amy D. Guevara of Harrisonburg, Va., was not injured,

I'm gonna go with "critical failure of the nut behind the steering wheel".

[JPolen01]

STATE POLICE UPDATE/CORRECTION SENT April 10, 2013:

The Mazda ran into the median and slowed to approximately 30 mph – 40 mph when the male passenger jumped from the front seat of the car. He was dragged a slight distance before finally being able to break free from the car. Moments later, as the car continued south through the grassy median, the female driver jumped from the car. The car then continued – driverless and gaining speed – through the median headed for the northbound traffic on I-81… at which time Sgt. Aikens was able to catch up with the car. The sergeant rammed the car back into the median and then into the southbound lanes. Sgt. Aikens continued to ram the driverless car towards a guardrail off the right side of the road to finally trap and stop it.

[JustinG]

Your only idea was to jump from the car......some people....i just....i dunno

[Jake]

Some days, I don't know if I want to live on this planet anymore.

THE KEY! TURN IT AND THE CAR WILL SHUT OFF!

[Maengelito]

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"The car was eventually going to have to crash into something. I had a full tank of gas. The emergency brake wasn't doing anything - it was all the way up. I was alternating between driving, changing it between drive and neutral, and it just kept gaining speed," Guevara said.

My guess is that she put it in neutral which probably zinged the engine rpms making her think the car was speeding up. I can't really think of why she'd put it back in drive.

[BLINGMW]

So are these people charged, at least with "failure to maintain control" or reckless driving when this sort of thing happens?

1) It doesn't make sense to me that I could get a "failure to maintain control" for *intentionally* doing a burnout, while this person clearly FAILED TO MAINTAIN CONTROL. Every time I've crashed a car, I'm charged with something! :o

2) If I'm walking around downtown and fire a gun, but the safety was on (or so I thought), that safety failed, I would certainly be charged, probably spend a night in jail. Not much sympathy for the failure of a gun. A car must be treated the same way. Yes, it failed. But YOU failed to act rationally, showing what I think is clear evidence that you aren't capable of operating the weapon/car. License suspension. Seems clear. If nothing else start sending a message to others that they need to start taking this a little more seriously. WE will have to pay for the damage and cleanup instead of the driver. WTF.

*edit* holy crap, this guy was drunk, killed someone, and just gets probation? And his claim that it happened before... IS HIS DEFENSE?>#!!#@
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I could not find one article where a driver was even charged when alcohol wasn't also involved. I guess, next time I'm pulled over for speeding, I'll just claim the accelerator was stuck, and then the officer will just let me go. :dunno: :vomit:

[BLINGMW]

Throttle stuck open on my Miata on the way home this eve and I managed to kill zero people. A MAZ ING. I might even look into lubing the throttle cable tomorrow!

[Beej]

6 years. :applause:

[HAULN-SS]

Actually, did you use the strategy to stop the car as described on page 1 ten years ago?

[ScottyB]

Throttle stuck open on my Miata on the way home this eve and I managed to kill zero people. 

at full throttle did it even feel like you were accelerating?

[BLINGMW]

at full throttle did it even feel like you were accelerating?

Well, the reason it was stuck at full throttle was because that is typical operation. I think I let up to go from 2nd to 3rd, and the engine decided to visit the rev limiter instead.

Actually, did you use the strategy to stop the car as described on page 1 ten years ago?

I am happy to report that even at 1AM I was able to quickly put my years of mental training to good use! Of course, I didn't actually bother stopping (it's a momentum car!), just turned it off and popped the pedal off the floor, restarted and carried on my way. I thought about calling 911 just to talk about my feelings but given my expired tags I didn't want to attract further attention.

[ScottyB]

LOL. congrats on staying cool and collected in such a moment of chaos. we're here for you if you start having nightmares.