I am not clear -- if your gas pedal is stuck, why can't you shift to neutral or turn off the car? Did the problem prevent that too? Maybe it did, but if not why not do those things (unless you are in a panic)? Even if it ruins your engine, that's better than driving out of control.
Now how do you expect a woman to do this while she is doing her makeup, watching TV, and texting. People aren't that coordinated. Get real!
Thats logical but in reality, by the time you finished saying to yourself "what the fu--? is going on" you would have hit something
Victims of the problem tried that, put in neutral, try to turn the engine off, tried to brake with both feet.... and the car would continue to go forward. It certainly looks like an electronic problem, which toyota still denies. see: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/20...tearful_victim_of_runaway_lexus_testifie.html
Well, there is a easy way to tell whether this is hype or a serious QA problem. If there are more issues down the road, then Toyota has real QA problem. If this is a one off thing and we never hear anything for the next 5 years, then probably it is the exception rather than the norm.
I too thought this was a hatchet job on the company till all the facts came out. You have a company bragging about saving $100 million by delaying recalls that resulted in the deaths of dozens of innocent people. I don't see how anyone can defend them.
that's bullshit and impossible. hit the brakes: car will stop. TESTED MANY TIMES put it in neutral: car will disengage. THIS IS NOT AN ELECTRONIC CONNECTION - THERE IS A LINKAGE IN THE SHIFTER THAT ACTUALLY DISENGAGES THE FUCKING GEAR BOX WHEN ITS IN NEUTRAL
A lot of people don't know that shifting into neutral will disengage the car. Aside from that, looks like using the breaks won't work, as the ABS will take over, and the engine is still engaged, unlike the normal case, when pressing the breaks will first disengage the engine. Turning ignition off might be a problem too, as in some Lexus models you have to keep the ignition button pressed for 3 seconds. Under extreme conditions people will act irrationally - there.