There are aspects of Toyota's actions and statements that just don't make sense in this incident.
1) Every vehicle's braking system is able to stop a car under full acceleration. Why aren't victims of this issue able to bring their Toyotas to a stop? Granted, it may not be in time to prevent an accident, but the vehicle should be noticeably decelerating as soon as the brakes are applied. If victims' claims are true that they are applying maximum braking force and yet the vehicles are not slowing down, this would indicate that whatever the problem, it is involving the brakes as well.
Car and Driver magazine recently reported on a test of brake effectiveness, and even a 500hp fire-breathing Ford Cobra GT w/ a supercharged engine was able to be brought to a halt while the accelerator was fully depressed.
So, is it that the problem causes the braking systems of the Toyotas to lose enough of their braking force so that they are no longer effective in this situation, or are Toyota's braking systems currently manufactured to have lost sight of this important industry benchmark, to the point that a fully functioning Toyota brake system is not strong enough to overcome the engines?
Either way, their accelerator pedal redesign isn't going to address the issue. If I was a Toyota owner, I'd be demanding answers that make sense, rather than the illogical nonsense they keep dishing out to the world.
Toyota has denied reports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has signed off on its fix to the stuck accelerator problem, Toyota said yesterday in a one paragraph press statement.
“Regarding reports that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has “approved” a plan for our pedal recall; it is Toyota’s understanding that NHTSA does not officially approve recall remedies. We have reviewed our plan with NHTSA and are finalizing details, which we will announce soon.”
Indeed, such reports were on the news Saturday.
Toyota also said Friday it is stopping production this week, presumably of the eight affected models, so it can get “more of the new pedals to dealers right away.” That’s presumably to take care of existing customers and lot inventory.
Toyota has also published an FAQ for existing Toyota owners addressing whether they should drive their cars and how to detect when the accelerator is a problem. Another FAQ explains Toyota’s recalls (there are two) and its actions in suspending sales of eight models.
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