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Middleboro Review 2

NEW CONTENT MOVED TO MIDDLEBORO REVIEW 2

Toyota

Since the Dilly, Dally, Delay & Stall Law Firms are adding their billable hours, the Toyota U.S.A. and Route 44 Toyota posts have been separated here:

Route 44 Toyota Sold Me A Lemon



Tuesday, June 10, 2014

After Toyota Solara slams into KinderCare, Day Care Reopens


Narrative of KinderCare Crash offered below by Charlene Blake.

Feel free to share additional comments and information:
suddenunintendedacceleration@gmail.com






If one examines the two vehicles involved closely, it's easy to see that the damage incurred is out of line with the assessment that the Dodge Durango somehow catapulted the Toyota Solara into this KinderCare facility. First of all, the trajectory was anything but straight. The Solara angled back from the street toward the daycare in a virtual modified U-shape. The Solara careened over a median, over a curb, through mature shrubs, into an exterior wall and then traveled deep within the building into a second room. It came to rest not far for the back wall of the facility. There are numerous pictures of black skid marks within the building on the floor of the rooms the Solara came in contact with.
 
 
The Solara is NOT a billiard ball that was hit in such a way to send it plowing through a building at a very odd angle. Further, the rear of the Solara shows no significant damage. The Dodge Durango was driven away from the scene so the impact did not affect its function. From all signs of the two vehicles, it appears the accident was a fender-bender...but not just any fender-bender. The Solara driver reported that the vehicle continued to gain speed after the hit by the Durango and that the steering was not working. Both these statements coupled with the trajectory of the Solara fit a sudden unintended acceleration event possibility.
 
 
Was the Durango impact significant enough to trigger an electronic sudden unintended acceleration event in the Toyota Solara? How likely is such an event? Several world-renowned experts (ones who Toyota would rather you not know about for obvious reasons) have highlighted more than one way an ELECTRONICALLY-induced sudden unintended acceleration event can occur.
 
 
Toyota's electronic throttle control system software was found to have glitches that could cause such an event. Worse, such an electronic glitch could render the fail-safe (way to stop the SUA) INEFFECTIVE. Result? The Toyota could be a runaway stoppable only by impact. Even then, the engine will continue revving forward until something stops forward (or backward as the case may be) momentum.
What has Toyota admitted to regarding ELECTRONIC sudden unintended acceleration? Absolutely nothing, of course! It has washed its corporate hands clean of all things SUA-related since that huge $1.2 BILLION DOJ settlement. In the meantime, the NHTSA and Toyota have received countless complaints about Toyota and Lexus vehicles "taking off," "having a mind of its own," "going airborne," etc. Storefront crashes and crashes-into-buildings/homes continue with a disproportionate number attributed to Toyota and Lexus vehicles.
 
 
There's a HUGE push to show driver "pedal misapplication" and much reference to this being a problem with "elderly" drivers. Drivers own complaints (showing remarkable similarity if one compares notes among these types of accidents) are discounted. Worse, drivers are discredited...some say even targeted...by those who wish to keep the truth from surfacing.
Let's see...have we seen an automaker hide key safety-related information before? Have we seen any cases where the NHTSA has even covered for an automaker in such unconscionable actions? OK...you get the idea. THINK...why would an automaker wish to keep ELECTRONIC sudden unintended acceleration a secret? After all, isn't SUA history and just about pesky floor mats, sticky accelerator pedals, or better-yet driver error? NO! That's just what the automaker would like you to believe...and there's a HUGE economic reason for that, isn't there?
Unfortunately, what you do not know about ELECTRONICALLY-induced SUA can be an issue as many of the current SUA victims are learning the hard way. An electronic sudden unintended acceleration event can result (and has!) in jail time for the driver. Why? Speculation of "pedal misapplication" is all that is left when the historically-unreliable EDR (black box) shows no braking even when the driver has two feet on the brake and incurs foot damage (see Tanya Spotts Lexus case). The Toyota electronic throttle control system software glitch has been found not to leave a fault code. The vehicle brakes which did NOT function at the time of the ETCS-i software glitch show no signs of a failure mode. The DRIVER is assumed GUILTY and the vehicle is found fault-free. It continues to happen DAILY.
Absence of proof is NOT proof of absence. This electronic SUA problem is one that every driver should be concerned about. Drivers should be asking some tough questions of the automaker, Toyota specifically.
Let's not forget that these engines are complex and computer-driven. Electronics will have glitches. The important factor is how these glitches are handled within and what safety standards have been applied. An electronic software glitch which renders a fail-safe ineffective is totally unacceptable. Don't make assumptions that strict safety standards have been applied when they have not!

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