I just heard the 911 call of the family who was involved in a fatal crash due to the drivers floor mat getting in the way of the gas pedal(it hurt my soul)...So...05-09 camry's and some lexus and other toyota/lexus models...They are saying to at least remove the drivers floor mat...Untill they fix the issue...Thought i would post this ...! You would think at the very least to put the car in nuetral...Very sad...!
-------------
M.E.C.P & First-Class
Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!
And reading between the lines..Automotive News, they appear to be in some trouble.
I read that it was an all weather mat placed on top of the stock mat. Also, the all weather mat was designed for an SUV. I would imagine the dealership that supplied the that car as a loaner vehicle is going to be hit pretty hard.
-------------
Kevin Pierson
The real sad thing about it was, the car was occupied by 4 people, one of which was a California Highway Patrol officer. They had time to make a 911 call, but none of the 4 thought about putting the car in neutral.
Or reaching down and forcing the pedal back up. I read they drove 5 miles at ~125 miles/hour.
-------------
Kevin Pierson
Re tommy's first post, shove it into neutral? Stand on brakes? Turn off ignition? Reach down to pull back mat? Get foot under pedal? Reaction times? What was lining the road? One can SCRAPE roadside furniture to ease down. I've pulled off most of the above stunts in 45 years on the road, even had a gear shift come away in my hand! 125mph in a Toyota? They had time to make a 911 call didn't they.
If only one of us were the 911 operator.
It was an "intelligent" key car, so there was no "key" to turn off. The car was a loaner car, so the driver wasn't familiar with how it operated. Apparantly, you have to hold the start/stop button down for at least 3 seconds to force the ignition off while the car is moving (a good thing for everyone to know).
I still can't figure out why they didn't shove the car in to neutral. That would be the easiest thing. I also read that there was a 911 call from another vehicle saying that a Toyota car just flew by them with their wheels on fire (ie they were standing on the breaks). The camry is a 260hp car - there is no way the brakes alone would stop the vehicle.
Once question that has never been answered is how did the pedal get all the way to the floor? I wonder if the dealership "rigged" the car so that people who abuse loaner cars get whats coming to them. (that was total sarcasm - not serious at all).
-------------
Kevin Pierson