Toyota Highlander out of control

[trev0006]

Toyota Highlander out of control

Sure looks like the Electronic Throttle Control got stuck, huh? Another case of "UNINTENDED ACCELERATION?" She was only able to control the car with the PRNDL - 3 teenage girls in the car and just pulling into a neighbor's driveway to pick-up during carpool.

 

[Thai]

Toyota Highlander out of control

Sure looks like the Electronic Throttle Control got stuck, huh? Another case of "UNINTENDED ACCELERATION?" She was only able to control the car with the PRNDL - 3 teenage girls in the car and just pulling into a neighbor's driveway to pick-up during carpool.

Wow, that is pretty shocking! Why would anyone buy a 2wd model?!!!! uke:

Oh yeah, Toyota has some explaining to do about the accident....

 

[downpour11]

Whoa!!! Neutral neutral neutral!!! Bet that gave those girls a scare. Glad it got caught on video though, that's a lot of damage. Toyota definitely has some explaining to do.

 

[Thai]

And the weird part is that I am really interested in the Highlander as our next vehicle...this incident (if true) does give me pause....

 

[KCcarguy]

I put unintended acceleration incidents on the same level as Bigfoot, alien abductions, and spontaneous human combustion. They have been extensively investigated and were not able to place fault on Toyota. I think its a lot more likely that its human error.

 

[bofa]

Worst stunt-driver ever.



I'd be interested to see what the black box says.

 

[KidVermicious]

I'd be interested to see what the black box says.

Me too. The car takes off just as she should have been hitting the brakes, that could easily be a case of fatfoot.

 

[koulee]

Looked to me like the driver got the pedals confused. If you watch again, right before the first hit, you can hear the engine rev up as if the driver hit the accelerator instead of the brake.

If it was unintended acceleration, why didn't the engine continue to rev up while it was lodged into the garage after the first impact?

Driver then threw the transmission into reverse and backed out with a higher than normal rate of acceleration. And while her foot was still on the accelerator pedal, threw the transmission from reverse into drive. You can hear the drive wheels squeal when this happens.

After the second impact, her foot was still on the accelerator pedal and she throws it into reverse again, whipping the vehicle around.

To me, it looked more like a case of can't find the brake pedal, lack of common sense and panic.

 

[eddiebx]

IMO there's really not enough information from that video alone to judge what really happened, so it's probably too soon to start pointing fingers...like [MENTION=80047]bofa[/MENTION] said, the black box data would surely fill in those gaps.

And for everyone standing at the sideline yelling, "put er' in neutral", "turn off the car", etc...I'm sure it's a lot different trying to make a split second decision when you're actually in the driver's seat and already panicking.

Unexpected things happen and it's natural to panic to a certain extent. I mean...if we always acted with complete common sense to diffuse the situation, we really wouldn't have any to panic over now would we?

 

[TRDCal]

And for everyone standing at the sideline yelling, "put er' in neutral", "turn off the car", etc...I'm sure it's a lot different trying to make a split second decision when you're actually in the driver's seat and already panicking.

I agree that you can't say how you'd react in a situation until you in it. But something is up here, I mean come on...and I say f**k neutral, jam it in park!...once it's in it's in, you can't miss it. Sure its not the best for the tranny, but I think after she plowed down the first wall (which I found rather impressive) I think damage concerns should be the least of her worries.

 

[absolute yota]

I don't see the brake lights. I see reverse lights. Driver error. That front drive reverse 360 was sweet though. I would have gone to park the second I stopped against the garage. Who jams the car in reverse while its redlining ? I'd have shut it down, the garage is already toast and I'd be more worried about saving my engine anyway

As far as unintended a acceleration goes, the only time I had this happen was with my buddy driving in his S10. We had picked it up from its first oil change at 3000 miles. Pulled out of the stealership, floored it, and it wouldn't stop, coming up quick on traffic he went to neutral, pulled over and shut it down. Upon opening the hood we found the problem, oil cap was left off and had jammed itself in the wide open throttle linkage. Needless to say he was really pissed, the dealer told him sorry, but that's all. Obviously an easy mistake to forget the oil cap, but we could have wrecked. Always double check !

 

[T4R_MTL]

oh I thought she was the ex-wife of the that house owner

 

[bofa]

Looked to me like the driver got the pedals confused. If you watch again, right before the first hit, you can hear the engine rev up as if the driver hit the accelerator instead of the brake.

If it was unintended acceleration, why didn't the engine continue to rev up while it was lodged into the garage after the first impact?

Driver then threw the transmission into reverse and backed out with a higher than normal rate of acceleration. And while her foot was still on the accelerator pedal, threw the transmission from reverse into drive. You can hear the drive wheels squeal when this happens.

After the second impact, her foot was still on the accelerator pedal and she throws it into reverse again, whipping the vehicle around.

To me, it looked more like a case of can't find the brake pedal, lack of common sense and panic.

I think there's something to this. When I first started driving, I was backing out of our driveway and I thought I was on the brake pedal. Instead, I hit the gas, which I continued to press harder before realizing what I was doing, and I ended up taking out the neighbors mailbox.

I think our brains sometimes have hiccups and mixing up Right from Left can pop up sometimes. Even sometimes when following directions, we as adults may hesitate when processing "turn left" or "turn right". It's often dismissed as a brain fart or telling someone to use "their other left", but I would believe this to be more likely than unintended acceleration.

This article is pretty interesting.

Why some can't tell left from right - The Body Odd

 

[Tresvn]

Me too. The car takes off just as she should have been hitting the brakes, that could easily be a case of fatfoot.

I can see it being a case of fat foot too. I have a pair of work boots that barely fit between the break pedal and the wall opposite the gas pedal. even in sneakers I tend to hit the gas when braking sometimes.

 

[TOY2G]

Worth mentioning:

Under the investigation of the unintended acceleration several models were tested in the following manner. (FYI this information comes from Director of Toyota US sales South East Division. I would consider him a reliable source in the matter.)

Vehicles were brought to a speed of 30mph on a straight stretch of paved road. The driver would then simultaneously depress the accelerator and brake pedal.

In EVERY test the vehicle was able to bring itself to a complete stop even under full acceleration.

I understand that the story may be different at 60mph+. but this Highlander from a stop in theory would have had no problem stopping itself even at full throttle.

I know someone here will chime in with the name of this test. it is not new, and NASA did not invent it to test Toyota.



Funny thing. several weeks ago a KIA sorento in TX accelerated out of control all the way to OK an dit was caught on Police dash cam. Where was the media on that one, where was the big 3, where was the multi billion dollar recall for KIA??? No Place is where..its all propaganda to increase favor of American vehicles. (sorry I digress)

 

[IntoTheVoid]

 

[NJshadow93]

Yes, that gif is correct, she totally hit the gas instead of the brake. Not once did I see brake lights either. It really gets on my nerves when people assume Toyota had something to do with this like the title of the video in the OP link suggests.

 

[Thai]

Ok...kinda confused here. I assume the Highlander's brake lights are the big lights on the tail lights that were not lit up during this whole fiasco. I think that I see the reverse lights go on.

But, even at the end of the video where the Highlander came to a stop, I don't see brake lights coming on at all. So, how did the Highlander come to a stop?

Did the driver finally found PARK on the gear selector and that was how the Highlander finally stopped?

 

[Thai]

Funny thing. several weeks ago a KIA sorento in TX accelerated out of control all the way to OK an dit was caught on Police dash cam. Where was the media on that one, where was the big 3, where was the multi billion dollar recall for KIA??? No Place is where..its all propaganda to increase favor of American vehicles. (sorry I digress)

This one? Link: http://jalopnik.com/5938166/watch-a...r-weave-through-traffic-at-118-mph-in-her-kia

Kia is not American...and American auto industry is (or should be) afraid of the darn Koreans as they are the Japanese these days....

 

[bofa]

This one? Link: Watch A Woman With A Stuck Accelerator Weave Through Traffic At 118 MPH In Her Kia

Kia is not American...and American auto industry is (or should be) afraid of the darn Koreans as they are the Japanese these days....

Kia Sorrentos are built in Georgia IIRC. But then again, the Highlander is built in... Indiana?