11-04-2009, 10:16 AM
so I haven't had the need for a rental car yet, but I found this interesting:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/RunawayToyotas">http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/RunawayToyotas</a><!-- m -->
"WATCH: What to do if your car accelerates out of control"
At least with this Toyota Vensa the tester is driving, the power braking system fails before he can get it to come to a stop. I hadn't even thought of that and am a bit surprised. So the brakes are probably "fine", but now you have to be a pretty big guy to get them to work.
Apparently people are claiming it isn't floormats, and a maybe software glitch. Still no excuse for not learning to operate your car and know how to turn off the engine or get it into nuetral IMHO, but it does complicate things. And if someone learned to drive 10+ years ago, they really need some re-education, because cars just aren't the same anymore.
Interesting links I stole from /.
F-22 raptor - 1.7 million lines of code
F-35 joint strike fighter - 5.7 million
Boeing 787 - 6.5 million
Premium class automobile - ~ 100 million
IEEE Spectrum: "How hard should it be to stop a runaway luxury car?" <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/blog/computing/it/riskfactor/how-hard-should-it-be-to-stop-a-runaway-car">http://spectrum.ieee.org/blog/computing/it/riskfactor/how-hard-should-it-be-to-stop-a-runaway-car</a><!-- m -->
IEEE Spectrum: "This car runs on code" <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/advanced-cars/this-car-runs-on-code">http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/advanced-cars/this-car-runs-on-code</a><!-- m -->
Manual transmission and throttle cable for me please. :thumbup:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/RunawayToyotas">http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/RunawayToyotas</a><!-- m -->
"WATCH: What to do if your car accelerates out of control"
At least with this Toyota Vensa the tester is driving, the power braking system fails before he can get it to come to a stop. I hadn't even thought of that and am a bit surprised. So the brakes are probably "fine", but now you have to be a pretty big guy to get them to work.
Apparently people are claiming it isn't floormats, and a maybe software glitch. Still no excuse for not learning to operate your car and know how to turn off the engine or get it into nuetral IMHO, but it does complicate things. And if someone learned to drive 10+ years ago, they really need some re-education, because cars just aren't the same anymore.
Interesting links I stole from /.
F-22 raptor - 1.7 million lines of code
F-35 joint strike fighter - 5.7 million
Boeing 787 - 6.5 million
Premium class automobile - ~ 100 million
IEEE Spectrum: "How hard should it be to stop a runaway luxury car?" <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/blog/computing/it/riskfactor/how-hard-should-it-be-to-stop-a-runaway-car">http://spectrum.ieee.org/blog/computing/it/riskfactor/how-hard-should-it-be-to-stop-a-runaway-car</a><!-- m -->
IEEE Spectrum: "This car runs on code" <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/advanced-cars/this-car-runs-on-code">http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/advanced-cars/this-car-runs-on-code</a><!-- m -->
Manual transmission and throttle cable for me please. :thumbup:
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a van is a good guy with a van