What is disappointing is Toyota's insistence that everything is 'operator error' and that there seem to be serious questions about Toyota's electronics that remain unanswered and uncorrected.
When my BRAND NEW TOYOTA turned into a LEMON....
this article was found:
FROM: Toyota Table of Contents
WASHINGTON, March 23 (UPI) -- Toyota warned U.S. dealerships in 2002 that Camry owners complained of throttle surges and recommended adjusting the computer, documents indicted. [sic]
A lawyer with the non-profit Center for Auto Safety in Washington said the technical service bulletin discusses electronics issues -- not mechanical issues raised in the massive recall -- and how the condition was corrected, CNN reported Tuesday.
"If you look at this document, it says electronics," attorney Clarence Ditlow said. "It says the fix is reprogrammed in the computer. It doesn't say anything about floor mats."
....repair bulletin proves the manufacturer misled the public about the causes of sudden acceleration.
FROM: Documents Contradict Toyota
The article cites a panel of independent experts that now doubt Toyota’s explanation that floor mats or sticky accelerator pedals explain the surge in complaints. “Instead, they believe precisely what Toyota has for many years steadfastly denied: that the problem is rooted in electronics,” the article states.
The dealer pleads: “… Engine revs stick at 6000 rpm without
any reason. This issue occurs without any warning and at random cases. … (there
were) two big car accidents in which the drivers miraculously escaped injuries.
… the vehicle accelerated in an uncontrolled manner … more than 5 times … the
Accelerator Sensor Assembly was replaced. … This issue could cost lives!!”
In another communication, a driver reported a Tundra
zooming to 80 miles per hour, uncommanded, with ineffective brakes. When the
truck was fixed, the technician noted, “short (circuit), insulation defective,”
and replaced the gas pedal sensor assembly. The same document lists 547 pedal
position electronic sensor assemblies that were replaced to fix speed control
malfunctions that had been attributed to a mechanical “sticky pedal.”
Japan engineers also noted or investigated many varied
electronics-related causes of UA and speed control issues. They include short
circuits in the pedal position sensor, cruise control, poor wiring connectors,
electromagnetic interference (EMI), and voltage irregularities. Numerous times
throughout the documents, the electronic Engine Computer Unit (ECU) is mentioned
as a possible cause for vehicle behavior that they could not understand.
FROM: Toyota settles wrongful death lawsuit
Toyota Motor Corp. has settled what was to be the first in a group of hundreds of pending wrongful death and injury lawsuits involving sudden, unintended acceleration by Toyota vehicles, a company spokesman said Thursday.
Toyota reached the agreement in the case brought by the family of Paul Van Alfen and Charlene Jones Lloyd, spokeswoman Celeste Migliore said. They were killed when their Toyota Camry slammed into a wall in Utah in 2010.
This is Noriko Uno's car.....
FROM: The Truth About Cars
Opening Statements Begin in Toyota Unintended Acceleration Case
Attorneys for the family of a woman killed in a 2009 crash involving a Toyota Camry say a brake override system should have been installed in the car
By Jonathan Lloyd
| Thursday, Aug 8, 2013
The family of Noriko Uno say the sudden acceleration of her 2006 Toyota Camry led her car to fly out of control, ultimately ended in her death. Toyota says there was no defect in her vehicle, and driver error is to blame. Kathy Vara reports from the Westlake District for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2013.
"Toyota is committed to providing its customers with safe and reliable vehicles, including the 2006 Camry driven by Mrs. Uno, which was equipped with a state-of-the-art braking system."
Toyota attorney Vincent Galvin delivered his opening statement Thursday afternoon. He said the defense's case will take Uno's "overall behavior" into account.
They presented a map of the street on which the crash occurred, laying out the series of events -- attorney said she drove into oncoming traffic, struck at least two poles and crossed a median -- that led to the collision with a pepper tree.
In 2010, Toyota settled with the family of California Highway Patrol officer, his wife, their teen daughter and brother-in-law -- all were killed when a Lexus ES350 loaned by a San Diego dealership crashed in Santee. CHP investigators said they received a 911 report that the vehicle's accelerator was stuck before the August 2009 crash, which occurred on the same day as the collision involving Uno.
[Toyota settled the case for $10 MILLION with a GAG Order, blaming the dealership. The dealership got the GAG order removed to publicize the facts involved.]
Two months after the Santee crash, Toyota recalled vehicles because of the floor mat entrapment issue.
[Toyota settled the case for $10 MILLION with a GAG Order, blaming the dealership. The dealership got the GAG order removed to publicize the facts involved.]
Two months after the Santee crash, Toyota recalled vehicles because of the floor mat entrapment issue.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Toyota-Camry-Unintended-Acceleration-Lawsuit-Trial-218852741.html
Mardirossian said Uno was a cautious driver and neither floor mats nor driver error were to blame. He said witnesses heard the Camry engine racing and saw brake lights going on and off. Pulling the handbrake had "zero effect," Mardirossian said.
"Imagine her strapped into her Toyota Camry driving 100 mph knowing the next move would be fatal," he said. "She saved many lives by veering off into that center median knowing that death was near."
That same day – Aug. 28, 2009 – off-duty California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor and three family members were killed on a suburban San Diego freeway when their 2009 Lexus ES 350 reached speeds of more than 120 mph, struck a sport utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames. A 911 call captured Saylor's brother-in-law telling the others to pray before the car crashed.
Toyota Sudden Acceleration Case Set To Begin In Calif. Following The Death Of Noriko Uno
By GREG RISLING 07/21/13
Report: Toyota 'secretive' about black box data
Mar 5th 2010 11:59 AM EST
Due to the ongoing NHTSA investigation and several lawsuits involving Toyota, the automaker's in-car "black box" data is coming into the spotlight. However, the Associated Press has conducted an investigation of its own, finding that Toyota has, for years, blocked access to event data recorder (EDR) information, and that the automaker has been inconsistent in revealing exactly what these devices do and do not record.
In this investigation, AP found that Toyota has frequently refused to provide information crucial to crash victims and survivors, and that in some lawsuits, the automaker has routinely provided printouts with key information missing. What's more (this much we knew already), AP reports that Toyota's EDRs use proprietary software (meaning it can only be read by Toyota), and that until just recently, there was only one computer in the entire United States that contained the software needed to rear EDR data.
In a statement to AP, Toyota outlined exactly what information its EDRs collect, including vehicle speed, gear shift position, angle of the driver's seat, whether the seat belt was used, and the accelerator and brake pedals' angles. In the coming months, we'd expect that Toyota starts to make more of this information readily available, especially with its committed cooperation to ongoing safety investigations.
[Source: The Associated Press via Yahoo | Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty]