Defective Vehicles Jeopardize Your Family's Safety

I don't know Carrie Carvalho, but she inspired me to file a Petition for Defect Investigation because of my Toyota BRAKE FAILURE.

Following Ms. Carvalho's lead, I reviewed and listed all of the complaints - letter below - 7 accidents, a total of 30 complaints.

We pay our taxes and fund government to protect us from Corporate irresponsibility.

There is simply no excuse for jeopardizing public safety for corporate greed whether it's Toyota or Route 44 Toyota.

March 14, 2013

Petition by Owner Prompts Recall of 183,000 Honda Vehicles

By CHRISTOPHER JENSEN

 

American Honda 2005 Acura MDX.

Honda’s recall of about 183,000 vehicles that might apply the brakes on their own was prompted by a woman who was frightened by having that problem in her own Honda and angry that there wasn’t a recall.

Courtesy of Carrie Carvalho.

 

Carrie Carvalho of Arlington, Mass., used a little-known tactic: Filing a formal defect petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, requiring the agency to review her concern.

The recall in the United States covers 101,000 Honda Pilots, 60,000 Acura MDX vehicles, 21,000 Acura RLs from the 2005 model year. About 800 Acura MDX models from 2006 are also included, the automaker told the safety agency in a letter dated Wednesday. Worldwide, the recall covers about 250,000 vehicles.

The automaker said it was not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the problem.

Some owners have complained to the agency of “unexpected braking of varying duration, including several allegations of rapid decelerations from highway speeds to near stop in highway travel lanes.”

The recall is to correct problems with the Vehicle Stability Assist, or V.S.A., which is what Honda calls its electronic stability control system.

Such systems are designed to detect when the front or rear of a vehicle is sliding in a direction contrary to what the angle of the steering wheel indicates. In such situations, the system would apply pressure to a brake to try and nudge the vehicle back on course.

Honda says the malfunction is caused by an electrical capacitor being damaged during manufacturing and possibly an electrical ground bolt that is not tight enough.

Those faults could cause the brakes to be applied “for a fraction of a second” without the driver touching the brake pedal, Honda said.

If the driver should brake during such a malfunction, Honda says a brake-assist feature might activate, applying more stopping power.

Brake assist is a feature found on many vehicles. It is designed to detect sudden, emergency braking and, if the driver is not using the vehicle’s full braking power, to apply it electronically. Automakers developed these systems after safety research determined many crashes occurred because drivers were not pushing the brake pedal to the floor during an emergency stop.

Ms. Carvalho, who owns a 2005 Pilot, experienced involuntary braking problems.

Instead of merely filing a complaint with the agency – as thousands of owners do every year – she took advantage of a federal regulation and filed a defect petition with the safety agency last April. It was one of only six filed during 2012.

She told the agency she found 38 complaints from worried Honda owners and said Honda told her – and some other owners – “they have never heard of this problem.” She also complained that the agency had not begun an investigation.

The agency last October agreed with Ms. Carvalho’s concern and opened a preliminary evaluation.

Last month it upgraded that investigation to a more serious engineering analysis.

Opening an engineering analysis often prompts an automaker to concede a recall is needed.
Chris Martin, a Honda spokesman, wrote in an e-mail that Ms. Carvalho was not responsible for the recall.

“It’s never just one thing that causes initiation of a recall,” Mr. Martin wrote. “Honda received a very small number of complaints over a number of years, and the company was monitoring the situation to determine if a larger issue existed.”

However, Honda’s recall report to the agency makes no note of such monitoring. Its chronology of the recall begins with N.H.T.S.A. notifying Honda of Ms. Carvalho’s defect petition.

The report also disclosed that last November the agency conducted a demonstration to show Honda an example of the malfunction.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/14/petition-by-owner-prompts-recall-of-183000-honda-vehicles/

U.S. Department of Transportation

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Office of Defects Investigation [NVS-210]
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20590

 

Petition for Defect Investigation Toyota Prius Software/Brake Failures

The reports below are posted on the NHTSA web site, representing 7 accidents, a total of 30 complaints and deserve investigation and correction.

My vehicle was towed to the dealership, Route 44 Toyota [Raynham, MA] after the initial brake failure.

When it was pronounced 'No Computer Error Messages' and unable to duplicate problem with my presence prevented during the evaluation, I attempted to retrieve my vehicle.

I never left the parking lot of the dealership and repeatedly demonstrated the problem, both to a Route 44 Toyota salesman and a Route 44 Toyota technician seated in the passenger seat - the pedal traveled to the floor, a dashboard warning light came on every single time I depressed the brake pedal. There were NO BRAKES. The vehicle continued moving after the pedal traveled to the floor.

We had owned the vehicle less than 1 month and had driven it less than 1,000 miles. For that reason, we are perhaps lucky that the problem manifested itself early and we were prevented from injuring or killing others.

How can I drive a vehicle with NO BRAKES?

This is another Toyota failure that jeopardizes public safety and needs to be investigated.

My vehicle has remained on the property of Route 44 Toyota since that failure and is available for inspection.

2012 Prius - 7 complaints

10487746

10485993 NOISE

10483983 NOISE

10481010 NOISE

10480948 NOISE

10473030

10458505

2011 Prius - 7 complaints

10489219 Rough surface

10484633 Rough surface

10482485 Caused accident

10477385 Rough surface

10460127

10459051 Rough surface

10458927

2010 Prius - 14 complaints

10488950 Rough surface

10488731 Caused accident

10487606 Rough surface

10479349 Rough surface

10478683

10476613 Caused accident

10475164 Caused accident

10474307

10474207 Rough surface

10470599 Rough surface

10467713 Caused accident

10464794

10463317 Rough surface

10460049

2009 Prius - 2 complaints

10469900 Caused accident

10455338 Caused accident

Before innocent lives are sacrificed because of Toyota's denials, I request that your office initiate a defect investigation leading to a recall and correction of Toyota Prius' brake failures.