Bristol couple requests investigation by federal safety agency

By Susan Hogan Published: September 11, 2014

 

 

BRISTOL, R.I. (WPRI) — Bob and Kathy Ruginis were Toyota loyalists since 1980. But that loyalty ends now. Their 2010 Toyota Corolla has been at a local dealership since June 12. Toyota says it’s done with its crash investigation, but the Ruginis don’t want the car back – they say it’s unsafe.

On June 8, Kathy was pulling into a parking space in Bristol when she said her Corolla suddenly lurched forward, hitting a parked car. She said her foot was on the brake the entire time.

“It was an awkward feeling knowing my foot was on the brake and I was accelerating,” she explained.

Toyota did inspect the car, which included an inspection of the accelerator pedal, brake components, the floor mat and a 16-mile test drive. In the end Toyota concluded that “all systems performed properly.” Toyota denied their claim.

But Toyota did not include in its investigation the car’s Event Data Recorder, which records data when a vehicle experiences a rapid change in speed, like in a crash.

The data goes back five seconds before the crash. It shows the car’s speed at 3.7 miles per hour and the brake switch “off”. At 0.8 the brake switch is still off but then at 0 seconds, or point of impact, the car’s speed increases to 7.5 miles an hour and the engine’s RPM doubles from 800 to 1600. The data shows at that time the brake switch was “on.”



Toyota says the EDR conclusively demonstrates that the brake pedal was not depressed until less than .8 of a second before impact.” Resulting in what Toyota believes to be a crash from late braking.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it too reviewed the EDR and concluded “without knowing the crash environment and other factors this appears to be a low-speed parking maneuver that developed into a dual pedal application.”

In response to Toyota’s statement, Kathy Ruginis said “This was not my fault, and for a company that we’ve been so faithful to and loyal to, to tell me that you’re just unhappy because you’re not hearing what you want to hear.”

Kathy and Bob Ruginis also told the Target 12 Investigators that this was not the first time their Corolla experienced a surge in acceleration while the brake was applied. Two maintenance records show they brought the car in for this very reason, and in both cases the mechanic could not “duplicate the customer’s concern.”

The Ruginis sent the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration a petition asking the agency to investigate its case as well as hundreds of other Toyota customer’s complaints alleging low-speed sudden unintended acceleration incidents. NHTSA has 120 days to respond.

The couple also sent a letter to David Kelley, an Independent Monitor appointed by a Federal Court as part of a settlement agreement between the government and Toyota.

Car Safety Expert Sean Kane says this is significant because “under the deferred prosecution agreement Toyota has installed a monitor to ensure that they’re accurately depicting safety and ethics of what they’re doing and this is the first test of that monitor.”




http://wpri.com/2014/09/11/bristol-couple-requests-investigation-by-federal-safety-agency/