Jeff T
Member
Or having them come apart!
The Cut My Gas Pedal in Half!!!!
- Thread starter SMEE
- Start date
Or having them come apart!
rando
Senior Member
Strictly speaking, I don't think you can be compelled to sign the release. Simply decline the modification and refuse to sign.:sniper:
redhawk243
New member
We have our mats stacked, the oem carpet ones are anchored but the plastic weather mats aren't. One day I hit the gas to over take a car on the hwy, it got stuck under the mat and started to accelerate more than what I intended. Thankfully I acted quickly, threw it in neutral, got into the emergency lane and shut off the engine. I unstuck the peddle and drove off.
What's funny is that ever since I started driving the 4Runner (2006 model) I was always uncomfortable with the amount of space between the peddle and the floor. Now I know that it's my own fault for having the mats the way they were but I'm glad to see Toyota is helping resolve the problem...getting the pedal in half is not a big deal.
What's funny is that ever since I started driving the 4Runner (2006 model) I was always uncomfortable with the amount of space between the peddle and the floor. Now I know that it's my own fault for having the mats the way they were but I'm glad to see Toyota is helping resolve the problem...getting the pedal in half is not a big deal.
BlackWorksInc
New member
That is the procedure when a customer refuses the service, if they also refuse to sign the paperwork it is noted and logged that you refused to sign the paperwork and that we did our part and can't be held liable.
rando
Senior Member
Thanks, that makes sense.
:thumb3:
BTW none of the 4runners have the "sticky" CTS pedal... our pedals are "preferred" Denso units... Not that I believe any of that sticky pedal nonsense either... That occurred, at best, ONCE, in a tired Avalon in New Jersey. The sticky pedal was just as rare as the stacked mats problem. All of it a huge waste of time and money, a useless witch-hunt, that achieved NOTHING.
This was all a driver's ed. problem. When I learned to drive, the real SUA problem that plagued GM cars in the late 60's and the bogus Audi SUA crisis in the early 80's was still fresh in everyone's memory... One of the first lessons in drivers Ed. was how to safely turn off a car in motion, how to press in the clutch or how to bang it into neutral. We actually practiced this.
Every driver should now how to do this simple life saving maneuver and should feel comfortable doing this at any time.
The fact that there was NEVER a reported SUA accident in ANY manual Toyota car or truck should have ended all of this right then and there... Simple Driver Error...
The mat paranoia is just that too.. Take a look in the foot wells of just about any car parked in a shopping mall parking lot... there are wrappers, toys, garbage, pens, packaging, shoes, bottles, cans, etc. All of which can stuck the pedal.
My advice, learn how to drive, learn what to do in an emergency, relax, and enjoy the car/truck.
WINNER!!!!
Please when making "life decisions" Please rely on more than the media. Do some good old research for yourself. Toyota, after MILLIONS of Dolalrs and an investigation by third party NASA, was cleared of ALL issues regarding his issue. Naturally, the media did nt do such a good job covering that part did they.
97BlackAckCL
Elite Member
Thanks guys, I now another reason to not take my car to the stealership service
Iolaus
Member
I still haven't seen anyone make an argument as to why we shouldn't let them do it. All I've seen is emotional bs about "neutering" the pedal with a "gay" "stubby." It works just as well, and no one can see it - including yourself - unless they're looking at your feet.
Even if you are the smartest driver in the world, if an accident involving a stuck accelerator happens with you or someone else driving it, and you refused the "correction," you, personally, are probably going to be liable for any and all damages, no matter where the real fault lies. Your insurance company's lawyers will make sure of it.
Even if you are the smartest driver in the world, if an accident involving a stuck accelerator happens with you or someone else driving it, and you refused the "correction," you, personally, are probably going to be liable for any and all damages, no matter where the real fault lies. Your insurance company's lawyers will make sure of it.
Last edited:
Mine is cut. The reason not to cut it is simple, it doesn't make the car any safer. NASA showed this. Almost all of the problem was daft drivers pressing the wrong pedal (most of them senior citizens) in parking lots and driveways, most of those in Camry's or ES350's, NONE in 4Runners. In all of the trouble years there was only ONE documented case of pedal entrapment and ONE documented case of a sticky CTS pedal. Tens of Millions of cars and trucks and next to zero incidents, pretty much all of the others have been shown to be fraud, pedal misapplication, or media hype.
Going down your line of logic, there are lots of things we could do to a car that will cost less and make the car more safe. Radios and infotainment systems have been documented to be a distraction to most drivers, and have caused way more accidents than these pedals, shall we delete all radios? If its safety at any cost, how about "no start" unless the seat-belts are fastened? That would save WAY more lives then the the neutered pedal. But wait there is more, there are lots of studies that show having all of the seats (other than the driver) facing backwards would also save lives in almost all collisions. etc etc etc...
Toyota agreed to cut the pedals to placate the NHTSA and Trial Lawyers by an effort to demonstrate a legal thing call "due diligence". The cars are no more or less safe now than they were before. Even with the neutered pedals we STILL have AARP members crashing through Walmart parking lots in their Camry's and ES350's.
All we did was waste tens of millions of Toyota USA's money and hundreds of dollars (in accelerated depreciation) of current Toyota owners money. (That is the second reason)
Cut or uncut if you, or someone else, steps on the wrong pedal, your insurance company is coming after you.
Last edited:
Iolaus
Member
To start with, my argument is about liability, not safety.
True, but as you say, "The cars are no (...) less safe now than they were before" either. That's not an argument against cutting, only that it isn't necessary for that purpose.
True as well, but none of those things are issues that the manufacturer has agreed to address; they have agreed to address this issue, making it a legal point of contention in a court of law.
I'm not buying your second reason - especially if the pedal is replaced instead of cut, as some here have suggested. No one looks at the pedals when they buy a car, and even if they did, it's a factory-authorized modification - it's supposed to be there.
Toyota is exercising "due diligence" in order to lessen it's liability. In today's lawsuit-happy environment, it would be foolhardy for us not to do the same.
Say someone's purse, or sweater, or coke bottle, etc. slips down there and get in the way somehow, and someone panics; the lawyers will point to that untrimmed pedal as a contributing factor - whether it was or not. It won't be an "accident" anymore; it will become "negligence," and you will be hit with civil suits by the driver of your car, their insurance company, your insurance company, and any other victims involved. Even if you successfully fight them, you still need to pay a lawyer to do the fighting. You've then been screwed over something you had the power to control.
So, to sum it up:
I repeat... Toyota is exercising "due diligence" in order to lessen it's liability. In today's lawsuit-happy environment, it would be foolhardy for us not to do the same.
True, but as you say, "The cars are no (...) less safe now than they were before" either. That's not an argument against cutting, only that it isn't necessary for that purpose.
True as well, but none of those things are issues that the manufacturer has agreed to address; they have agreed to address this issue, making it a legal point of contention in a court of law.
I'm not buying your second reason - especially if the pedal is replaced instead of cut, as some here have suggested. No one looks at the pedals when they buy a car, and even if they did, it's a factory-authorized modification - it's supposed to be there.
Toyota is exercising "due diligence" in order to lessen it's liability. In today's lawsuit-happy environment, it would be foolhardy for us not to do the same.
Say someone's purse, or sweater, or coke bottle, etc. slips down there and get in the way somehow, and someone panics; the lawyers will point to that untrimmed pedal as a contributing factor - whether it was or not. It won't be an "accident" anymore; it will become "negligence," and you will be hit with civil suits by the driver of your car, their insurance company, your insurance company, and any other victims involved. Even if you successfully fight them, you still need to pay a lawyer to do the fighting. You've then been screwed over something you had the power to control.
So, to sum it up:
Your argument is that doing it doesn't make it safer, but also doesn't make it less safe.
- zero-sum gain.
My argument is that your possible liability is reduced (not eliminated) in the rare event that something should happen. - reduced liability.
I repeat... Toyota is exercising "due diligence" in order to lessen it's liability. In today's lawsuit-happy environment, it would be foolhardy for us not to do the same.
Your personal liability is EXACTLY the same long pedal or short pedal... Your whole argument is based on a fundamental error. Having the pedal cut in NO WAY changes your personal liability in the operation of your car/truck.
The reason Toyota agreed to cut the pedals was to try and make the cars safer, and reduce risk.... NASA showed that this was a waste of time and effort.
No additional risk= no additional liability.
You are missing the obvious point, On its own, the cut pedal does almost nothing to the value of the car or truck... But the media circus sure did... and every time a new buyer looks at a cut pedal they are reminded of all of this mess. To say that this didn't have an effect is rose colored glasses.
Cut or uncut doesn't matter... if your car takes off and causes an accident you are on the hook... It has not changed your personal liability ONE bit... If you think it has you are in for a rude awakening. To say you will get sued less if you have cut pedal is laughable... Do you buy less liability insurance now with the short pedal?
Wrong.
Your liability is unchanged. Rare event or otherwise. If your car takes off for whatever reason and you crash into something you are on the hook. Your POV was the Genesis for this whole mess. "It wasn't my fault... its one of those out of control Priuses". The reality is there was NOTHING wrong with the car, your POV only perpetuates the fear and uncertainty... Ohh just maybe 1 on 10,000,000 this could happen... bull. If it does, and I have a cut pedal I'll be off of the hook.... double bull.
Yes Toyota has lessened its liability, ALL of yours remains intact short OR long pedal.
Iolaus
Member
Maybe, but that's over and done with; that value is already lost. What happened in the past has no bearing on the current decision whether or not you are going to comply with the resulting recommended correction.
Of course you don't buy less insurance; you are, as you say, still on the hook. But if your insurance company can claim negligence on your part, they can try to make the argument that it's you who should be on the hook to pay the damages, not them. After all, even if someone has proved it to be a wasted effort, it's still on the books as a recommended safety correction, making it a valid issue to bring up.
Look, I realize we are arguing over something that may never actually happen again, but the insurance companies are in business to take your money, not pay it out. We risk enough as it is with the modifications we do make; why give them any more of an argument against us over something so petty? :shrug:
Last edited:
I actually work at a P&C Insurance company. No insurance company is going to try to surrogate over a long vs short pedal. This is all fear mongering here.
From the insurance companies POV.. Its next to impossible to prove that it caused the accident, (since the recall several liability lawyers have tried... ALL have failed). Its next to impossible to prove this servicing was refused. "I see you have a long pedal there, why didn't the dealer fix this?", "I have my truck serviced at Jiffy Lube"... "Didn't you get a recall letter?" "What letter?"... Or even more likely, "Ya, I was going to take it in next week".
And even if you can do all of that, you need to prove the big one... Intent. And good luck with that. You somehow have to convince a judge that this wasn't an accident, that the negligence was the proximate cause of the accident, and that it was an "on purpose"... EVERY insurance company lawyer will recommend "pay the claim and settle".
And of course stuff can get stuck on the short pedal too.
One of our unofficial slogans at work is "We cover stupidity".
zstampe
New member
FWIW driving barefoot as you commented earlier is illegal. At least in my state it is.
Rix
New member
As an FYI..... the 3 or whatever cases of confirmed pedal "sticking".... the pedals were sticking BEING PUSHED, like a sticky throttle body, NOT AFTER they were pushed as in "aahhhhhhhhh my prius is out of control, aaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!111ONEONE"
CTS pedals BTW. the shim being added to the CTS pedals (that made them feel different) took pressure off the friction surface that made the pedal feel more "normal".
AND..... the brake pedal will STILL stop the car,(every car with a toyota badge on it) even with your foot to the floor on the gas
AND the engine will STILL shut off with the key or power button.
:lol:
CTS pedals BTW. the shim being added to the CTS pedals (that made them feel different) took pressure off the friction surface that made the pedal feel more "normal".
AND..... the brake pedal will STILL stop the car,(every car with a toyota badge on it) even with your foot to the floor on the gas
AND the engine will STILL shut off with the key or power button.
:lol:
Last edited:
Similar threads
