Feds Recall Lexus, Toyota Floor Mats Due To Potential For Fiery Death - Floor Mats - Jalopnik
Floor mat suspected in fatal car crash - SignOnSanDiego.com
Apparently a CHP officer loaned a 2008 Lexus ES350 and the accelerator pedal got stuck due to improperly installed floor mats. There were 4 people in the car and it ended up in a fatal 120mph crash into a Ford Explorer at an intersection. They had a couple of minutes from discovering the problem before crashing; they had time to call 911.
Here is the 911 call:
LiveLeak.com - 911 Tape of Fatal Crash as it Happen's
Attempts to apply the brake was unsuccessful; they caught on fire from excessive use. Apparently because of the inertia of a moving car, even the brakes cannot stop the vehicle (many people comment that no matter how powerful an engine, it can't overpower the brakes, but I think they are probably just thinking about from a stop when the engine hadn't gotten into it's powerband).
What he tried next was to turn off the ignition, but the car had keyless ignition and a push button stop that requires the button to be pressed for 3 seconds to turn off the engine. Obviously with the car being a loaner, the officer didn't know this. Many owners of the car claim they didn't know this either until they were told.
The other option was to put the car into neutral, but it is unclear if this was every attempted. I'm not sure if the car was automatic or manual, but for the automatic cars the neutral corresponds to an upshift in manual mode, so that may cause a problem.
There is now a recall for floormats in Toyota and Lexus vehicles. My heart goes out to the family, but I guess this is also a good reminder of what to do in this kind of situation.
This got me kind of thinking about if the accelerator pedal got stuck in a Tesla Roadster what would a driver do? I don't remember clearly what the neutral actually does in the Roadster, but it isn't mechanical if I remember correctly (no clutch). Does it just turn off the motor? Also can you turn off the motor while moving just by turning the key like a normal car? Does it turn off the brake vacuum pump? (There is no power steering the Roadster so I guess I don't have to ask that).
Floor mat suspected in fatal car crash - SignOnSanDiego.com
Apparently a CHP officer loaned a 2008 Lexus ES350 and the accelerator pedal got stuck due to improperly installed floor mats. There were 4 people in the car and it ended up in a fatal 120mph crash into a Ford Explorer at an intersection. They had a couple of minutes from discovering the problem before crashing; they had time to call 911.
Here is the 911 call:
LiveLeak.com - 911 Tape of Fatal Crash as it Happen's
Attempts to apply the brake was unsuccessful; they caught on fire from excessive use. Apparently because of the inertia of a moving car, even the brakes cannot stop the vehicle (many people comment that no matter how powerful an engine, it can't overpower the brakes, but I think they are probably just thinking about from a stop when the engine hadn't gotten into it's powerband).
What he tried next was to turn off the ignition, but the car had keyless ignition and a push button stop that requires the button to be pressed for 3 seconds to turn off the engine. Obviously with the car being a loaner, the officer didn't know this. Many owners of the car claim they didn't know this either until they were told.
The other option was to put the car into neutral, but it is unclear if this was every attempted. I'm not sure if the car was automatic or manual, but for the automatic cars the neutral corresponds to an upshift in manual mode, so that may cause a problem.
There is now a recall for floormats in Toyota and Lexus vehicles. My heart goes out to the family, but I guess this is also a good reminder of what to do in this kind of situation.
This got me kind of thinking about if the accelerator pedal got stuck in a Tesla Roadster what would a driver do? I don't remember clearly what the neutral actually does in the Roadster, but it isn't mechanical if I remember correctly (no clutch). Does it just turn off the motor? Also can you turn off the motor while moving just by turning the key like a normal car? Does it turn off the brake vacuum pump? (There is no power steering the Roadster so I guess I don't have to ask that).