It took ten months. It was about the best minds in the nation. They performed extensive tests. And God knows what it all cost. But when it was over, the results were entirely predictable. could not find the U.S. Department of Transportation's nothing wrong with Toyota vehicles, they leave suddenly would accelerate out of control.
The results were predictable, because the country went through the same old, almost a quarter century. Only then we went to Audi. And in both cases, each car company has to have some kind of mysterious gremlin cause to accelerate his car would suddenly charged out of control.
But there is a significant difference between the two studies. At that time, Department of Transportation pushed it to driving errors. Officially, they called it "pedal misapplication." But this time, the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood would not do that. He said it was caused by mechanical problems, ie, sticky pedals and floor mats piled up.
Too bad that the secretary does not have the courage to call it what it is. By identifying the cause of the problem, more people are going to lose their lives.
The Audi case if DOT investigators eventually determined that driver error was the cause of the problem, they were able to identify a fix. They commissioned the installation of the shift-lock mechanism that is installed on all vehicles today. He forced the driver's foot on the brake before it could move an automatic transmission in drive. This eliminates almost all cases of sudden unintended acceleration, but not all of them.
This is one of the dirty little secrets of this sudden unintended acceleration problem. It's been around for decades and it is each one of the major car companies. While Toyota is reviled today Ford is actually number two on the list of reported incidents.
There are some simple fixes that could greatly reduce the problem. It is unfortunate that the Secretary General not willing to driver error and blame something is done about it. There are some simple fixes that could greatly reduce the problem. First of all, many cars today have the brakes too close to the gas pedal. It is easy to hit both pedals, especially if you have wide feet or boots. Also, many older people, especially those with diabetes, especially lost the feeling in the feet. You literally can not feel that is her foot pedal. By providing greater distance in the plane between the pedals, they would better feedback. In other words, if the brake pedal is at a higher level and bend your knees, put your foot on them, they know their foot on the brake.
Of course, say so-called "safety advocates" that the National Academy of Sciences and NASA scientists simply missed the electronic goblins that cause the problem. Do not throw them a thorough investigation and not enough to assume that this could be caused by driver error. And they promise they are going to sue the living daylights of Toyota. Perhaps the Secretary General is afraid about the safety advocates and lawyers for the plaintiffs to avail themselves largely support their cause.
Therefore, I have five questions I love to see the Secretary-General would answer.
1. Why are there no reports of Toyota with manual transmission in sudden unintended acceleration involved?
2. Why is this a problem found only in North America? Why are there no reports of electronic elves caused Toyota to run out of control elsewhere in the world?
3. Why, if this affects all the major car manufacturers, Toyota being isolated for testing?
4. Why this problem occurs mostly at older drivers, especially older women?
5. Why is not the secretary even as a driver error in cases where sticky pedals and stacked floor mats were not the cause?
Ray LaHood would clearly like a legacy as Secretary of Transportation to leave the really improved public safety. Here is a chance for him a problem that could quickly show the results must be tackled.
No comments:
Post a Comment