Is the Acceleration problem a lot bigger than Toyota?

[Chuck]

Speaking of impacts at 60 mph and faster, the crash that killed Princess Diana was going at least that fast. Her bodyguard in the passenger seat was the only survivor as he was the only one wearing seat belts....he still had a long recovery.

[GreenVTEC]

The sad part is the Toyota troubles may just just scare people into other cars but into bigger cars because they are worried about such things as uncontrollable acceleration or someone else hitting them.

[nash]

The problem appears to be basic drivers education... When I learned to drive, it was expected that you learned how the car would respond to an engine failure! Turn off the key and drive that sucker without power anything. Learn how it coasts, turns and brakes with no power. Pump those brakes so the vacuum booster runs out and see how much force it takes to stop that 2 ton lead sled you are driving. Learn how to stop the car with just the emergency brake. Many cars and trucks can do so, once you learn how to modulate the brake and not lock up a tire. A little practice in an empty parking lot can really teach you a lot. Sadly my TCH has a "drum in hat" style parking brake. The TCH parking brake fades badly if I attempt to use it to stop the car and speeds over 20mph.

It doesn't take much practice, but it give you a clear idea of how to drive the car without power. I had an old Dodge that broke a motor mount. Goose it too much, and instant runaway acceleration until you turned the key off.

I don't think folks are taught this basic drivers saftey anymore and it is a shame and a hazard.

[Jough96Accord]

I don't think folks are taught this basic drivers saftey anymore and it is a shame and a hazard.

Absolutely. When I was a kid, I'm now 27 , I had a desire to learn about cars. I wanted to know about brake boosters, manual trans and how to repair my own vehicle. My dad would always tell me that "When you grow up and have your own things, you should learn how to fix them, otherwise they don't belong to you, they (and you) belong to the guy servicing your stuff." It still holds true today. Anyways...

Without getting too in depth into my life, I'm now caring for a 16yo turning 17. She wants a car, but doesn't really care about the reality of driving, just the cd player, the iPod, the blue tooth to the cell phone. She does know that she wants an auto, so texting will be easier while driving. I just bit my tounge when she said that, nearly bit my tounge off.

[fuzzy]

Originally Posted by Chuck

... I'd expect a hypermiler facing the gas pedal problem to either shift into neutral, click the ignition key a notch to kill the engine, or depress the power button for three seconds. ...

I have previously admitted here to having suffered the 'pedal misapplication' version of engine surge, triggered by extreme fatigue. It was almost instantly resolved both by hitting the clutch, and by a single pump of the 'brake'. The second 'brake' application felt different than the first, matching what the brake was supposed to feel like. Without that action and change of feel and change of engine behavior, I might not have believed that the first 'brake' was really the gas pedal.

Lacking a clutch in this hybrid, I've practiced the next closest thing -- shifting to Neutral enough to make it feel natural. And the fastest way to Neutral on this 2010 Prius is to slam the knob into Reverse. It overrides to Neutral without the forced delay imposed when intentionally shifting to N. (Don't try this on most other transmissions.)

I was stunned by the ABC News piece last November, where the Consumer Reports segment claimed that most of today's drivers have never shifted to Neutral.

[Chuck]

This just in: Toyota's Jan sales down 17% to 98,796 vehicles sold.