Deadly Floormats?

[nated05]

Just saw this article anyone else heard of this problem?

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Owner says this car's floor mats nearly killed her daughter
By Michael D. Sorkin
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/08/2007


Lexus, famous for its safety features, boasts that its top luxury sedan (the $61,000 LS 460) can park itself in parallel almost automatically.

Donna Bernard wants to know why a company that can do all that didn't pay more attention to its floor mats.

She says her floor mat caused her Lexus to accelerate at ever higher speeds as the driver desperately tried to stop it.

Bernard isn't alone. Government safety officials have opened an investigation into the floor mats on the Lexus ES 350. Some 20 owners have filed complaints that their 350s suddenly accelerated.
Bernard manages her husband Harry's podiatry practice in Centralia. Here's her story:

On May 18, the couple's daughter, Allyson, and five girlfriends set out for the Galleria mall in Richmond Heights to celebrate Allyson's 17th birthday.

Donna Bernard insisted that they take her Lexus for the 60-mile drive. "It'll be safer for you," Bernard told them.

She had researched her car purchase for four months and test driven nine cars. The tungsten silver Lexus she selected came with seven air bags and a sterling reputation for safety.

The Bernards don't allow their daughter to drive in the big city yet, so her friend Danielle was behind the wheel. About 7 miles out of Centralia, approaching the small town of Hoffman, Danielle noticed the cruise control light come on even though the cruise was off. She tried unsuccessfully to turn it off.

She tapped the brakes but the car accelerated. The more she braked, the more it accelerated, Bernard recounted.

Danielle tried to shift the car into neutral but the car was still accelerating.

She tried to turn off the car but it wouldn't stop. Danielle stood on the brake with both feet. The car kept going.

"I am sure you can imagine how terrified the kids were at this point

 

[Even Steven]

When they put the car in neutral, it did not stop accelerating? Sorry, but I should raise the BS flag on that one.

Also, they could not shut the ignition off?

Both of these were mentioned in the article, but the writer failed to offer any reasonable explanation.

If it were me, I would have popped it into neutral and applied the emergency brake slowly to bring the car to a stop.

 

[pickerdd]

Am I correct in guessing since the car was still accelerating that the ECU didn't allow the transmission to change to neutral?

 

[Mark86]

I heard about this from my friends at Lexus. It was extremely hard to find the all-weather mats for the GX. This is caused from people who leave the all-weather mat on top of the carpet mat.

 

[blindside]

Am I correct in guessing since the car was still accelerating that the ECU didn't allow the transmission to change to neutral?

I'm not so sure on this but with all the electronic stuff these days it could be possible, or maybe the driver never really had the chance to put it into neutral for she was already in panic mode at the time... turning off the ignition was also a solution

 

[blindside]

I heard about this from my friends at Lexus. It was extremely hard to find the all-weather mats for the GX. This is caused from people who leave the all-weather mat on top of the carpet mat.

That is one thing i don't understand, how can you fit an all weather mat with your existing one still in place cause i sure won't be able to, unless i was just using one of those thin clear mats then that would be fine...

A friend of mine tried putting an all weather mat on top of her existing one on her IS and had no luck in doing so, she had to take out her original one.

 

[brad6841]

I know this was a problem on the 02 Nissan Altima....the carped would bunch up over the gas pedal and cause unwanted acceleration. On the 03+ Altima's there is a tab that holds the mat in place.

To me removing the carpeted mat and replacing it with the rubber mat would make the most sense....but some people can be a little ignorant.

 

[jwyshrek]

Don't you guys realize that people don't use their brains anymore!?!? Or think for themselves...

We have cars that park themselves...VCRs that have self programming clocks...warning labels on Preparation H that state, "Do not take orally."

When I visited Grand Caynon West...on a Indian Reservation...there are no guard rails along canyon edge. From what I understand, no one has fallen off. However, on the South Rim, which is controlled by the feds...there is a guard rail, but people fall off all the time.

That should tell you something...

 

[Thai]

To tell you the truth, i am guilty of putting all weather mats over the carpet ones. I am doing that on my MB, but like above, my MB has a retention clip to hold it in place.

The new ES350 has the push-button start (where you leave the key in your pocket and you just start/stop your car with a button on the dash). It could be that this "button" does not let you turn your car off while accelerating. It is interesting that the girl(s) could not shift into neutral.

 

[alaskanboi]

If they can slam it into park, they can put it in neutral. If a car is smart enough to not allow you to go to neutral while accelerating, it would def know not to let you put it in park.

I like how they failed to mention how well the emergency brake worked... I bet the girls were sitting there screaming "I wish there was a brake for emergencies!!".

Whats funny is my friend had a problem with the floor mats... only when it slid up, it actually prevented him from pushing on the gas all the way (slid under the gas, not over it)... he just thought he lost a crapload of power in his truck. Even took it to the dealership. They moved the mat back and it was "fixed".

 

[SciRunner]

I bought my Toyota rubber mats and it had a legal disclaimer not to place the rubber mats on top of the carpet mats. Maybe dealers should leave the same legal disclaimer on the vehicle at time of purchase. Although people will likely forget and do it anyway.

 

[RamThis]

Wow those must be some stiff damn floormats....... because you'd think they'd just bend instead of pressing the accelerator, especially that much.

If I had a car accelerate more and more every time I pressed on the brake, After a quick moment to reflect on the reaction to my own actions, I'd look down at my feet actually to see WTF's going on lol. Probably coulda saved ten grand in repairs if she just realized every time she pressed the brake, something was happening, looked down, and just used her heel to push the mat back off the pedal.

 

[Hank]

Wow those must be some stiff damn floormats....... because you'd think they'd just bend instead of pressing the accelerator, especially that much.

Very true, if the rubber mats were really that stiff to press on the accelerator, then how likely is it for the driver to accidentally lift up a corner of the "stiff" rubber mat over the accelerator. A flimsy thin rubber mat might lift up, but then again, it wouldn't have caused the gas pedal to be depressed as the brakes were applied unless the driver used both feet to step on the brakes and actually stepped on the gas pedal as well. Total B.S. or an absolute moronic driver who needs to be educated!

Edit: I guess I missed the part about the driver being a 17 yr old girl. Well, this whole story about the floormat could very well be a load of crock the girl made up after crashing her parents' car and didn't want to be responsible for it and getting in trouble. She could've been distracted by cell phone, texting, friends goofing off, etc. If this incident turned out to be phony or nothing by a lie, the girl should be punished or have her license revoked as articles like these affect the reputation of Toyota/Lexus. The person who wrote the article should write a letter of retraction if the truth came out and the accident wasn't caused by the rubber mats.

 

[tkr128]

My all-weather mats came with a disclaimer telling you not to use them over the carpet ones. This was nearly 4 years ago, I doubt Toyota would remove this disclaimer from the mats.

I find the story a bit fishy. The cruise control light makes no sense, what do floormats have to do with the cruise light coming on? Unless the floormats had extending hands that were capable of pushing the cruise button on the steering wheel, I don't see why the light would have come on in the first place. It also mentions that the woman's daughter and 5 of her friends went on the trip...doesn't the ES seat only 5?

 

[mole177]

i woudl assume panic mode of the girls kicked in.

they are only 17??

they should belong in a crummy honda or some other starter car.

 

[Thai]

Aren't you guys a bit hard on these girls?? Are you guys so sure that you guys would have been so different, esp. when you were 17 years old?? I can tell you that if i was 17 years old and had this problem, i would definitely need a change in underwear afterwards and may not have acted much differently (esp. if i did not much about cars).

 

[TheBlueWave]

That car was too nice for young kids to drive, I wouldn't do it. If you want safety, get a Crown Vic or something cheap and safe lol! But if the car is repaired, just "sitting on the lot", I'll take it off their hands if the price is right.

 

[gizmopt2002]

I bet no one knows that I'm only 16, and working at Staples to save up enough money for my own 4Runner, but besides that I pay for everything myself, gas, insurance, maintenance. But that's besides the point. Even my GF who is all booksmarts and almost never streetsmarts, knows to check the mats. And I dunno about you guys but i would feel retarded if I put carpeted mats over the all-season mats. Pretty pointless if you ask me. And putting it into park was a stupid decision. but then again theses rich girls probably didn't know any better. Also the fact that they couldn't shit into N sounds like BS to me. They probably heard the engine accelerating and might have been going downhill so they were just coasting along. If this would have ever happened to me, I would immediately put it into N and shut off the car and coast to the side and check the mats and such. I wouldn't check the mats only because I would spend too much time looking at the mats and not enough time to control the car. I'm sorry but these girls sound uber rich. The one girl is 17 and wasn't allowed to be in the city? A month after I got my license my parents told me to drive in the city (Chicago) to get used to it. It's better now than later. I also agree with mole177, they should be driving their OWN cars at 17 unless of course they already have their own MB and Lexuses. I also agree with tkr128, it does only seat 5, so seating 6 defeats the pristine "safety" of the Lexus. I honestly think its driver error, I frequently put my foot under the accelerator and brake to make sure of no obstructions. And one last thing, if they can drive they obviously took drivers ed. One of the first thing they taught and stressed is if the car suddenly accelerates, shift into N and put your foot under the accelerator. Or maybe they were too busy texting each other.

 

[Mark86]

If I were the parent, I wouldn't allow any of my child's friends drive my vehicle. As for the story, it seems a bit exaggerated. It kind of seems like there is covering up for bad driving.

 

[TheBlueWave]

If I were the parent, I wouldn't allow any of my child's friends drive my vehicle. As for the story, it seems a bit exaggerated. It kind of seems like there is covering up for bad driving.

Of course they're covering up. They need to collect damages, right? Any lawyers on this forum please chime in.