

Settlement will cover equipment installation, compensation for lost value





Toyota Pedal
Toyota's acceleration issues were eventually pinned on faulty floor mats
[Image Source: Today's Machining World]



Toyota vehicles



Sources: Hagens Berman, Toyota [PDF], LA Times

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Public Perception
By ChronoReverse on 12/27/2012 12:01:31 PM , Rating: 5
It's seems downright ridiculous that despite nobody being able to prove that Toyota made a real mistake, the company will still have to suffer through the financial loss as well as the even more important public perception hit.

RE: Public Perception
By Souka on 12/27/2012 3:02:52 PM , Rating: 2
I never understood why the acceleration couldn't be stopped.

Woudln't any one of these do the job?
--> turn ingition off
--> put car into neutral
--> press brake pedal
--> press emergency brake

Yes I know some cars don't have a "key"..but any one of these should do the job right?

RE: Public Perception


Standing on the brakes would stop any modern car.

RE: Public Perception
People are dumb.

RE: Public Perception
By dsumanik on 12/27/12, Rating: 0
RE: Public Perception


RE: Public Perception



RE: Public Perception
By MartyLK on 12/28/2012 12:46:18 AM , Rating: 2
You need to take into account that the drivers were likely talking on their cellphone. From what I see these days, when a driver is talking on their cellphone, they refuse to be bothered with anything else, including paying attention to where they put their foot - on the accelerator or brake. They are so focused on their conversation that they don't even look around to notice their environment or circumstance.

They seem to figure that if there is an issue while they are on the phone, that has to be the fault of someone else.

Intentional cellphone talking while driving (ICTWD) could also explain why some of them follow the voice guidance of a GPS straight into a ditch or lake.

RE: Public Perception
By npolite on 12/28/2012 8:07:58 PM , Rating: 2
Turning the engine is generally not a good idea since you will lose power steering and power brakes. Unless you are under say 30 mph you shouldn't use this to stop a car.

RE: Public Perception
By Solandri on 12/28/2012 1:58:45 PM , Rating: 2

It's a problem with our legal system. The standard for civic trials is a preponderance of the evidence. That is, if some guy can show more evidence that unintentional acceleration caused his accident than Toyota can show that it didn't cause the accident, then he wins. He doesn't have to prove his story is true, he just needs to prove it's more likely than Toyota's story.

The problem being that you can't prove a negative - Toyota can't prove that the acceleration wasn't caused by some mysterious gremlin in their car's design. So they're forced to prove something else caused it. And if that something else is the guy putting his foot on the wrong pedal, how are they going to prove it since he's the only witness who knows?

The standard needs to be changed so the burden of proof rests upon the person claiming the less likely scenario happened.

RE: Public Perception


toyota, you did good

RE: Public Perception

RE: Public Perception
By Icehawk on 12/29/2012 10:44:48 AM , Rating: 2
If you think this is ridiculous (I do) - look at Audi, STILL paying for their "unintended acceleration" even though it was proved multiple times to be user error.

Yay, legal system.

