The Toyota Backlash

As an owner of a 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid, I've had quite a few people ask me if I've taken the car in for its recall. Undoubtably the questions are stemming from an unbelievable amount of negative press that Toyota has been getting lately. To clear things up, there are two recalls: One that can trap the gas pedal under the floor mat and one where the pedal can remain stuck down without interference from the floor mat. My car is involved with the former, but not the latter.

But let's examine this a bit. The most famous case of death from the floor mat issue was when four people died in a Lexus because the gas pedal got stuck under a floor mat. I listened to to the audio of the 911 call. It must have been terrifying and my heart goes out to the family of the victims, but I have to wonder: How could the driver, an off-duty CHP officer, not have had the clarity of mind to simply put the car in neutral and press the emergency break slowly? He had time to call 911, but no time to think of any other maneuvers? I'm shocked that of four people in the car, no one thought to do that (or just DID IT without thinking). In the recording, the driver says, "we have no brakes". I can only assume that's either because these people were extremely unlucky enough to have the brakes fail when the gas pedal got stuck or he'd been holding them down to try to counter the stuck gas pedal for so long and they were probably so hot that they were no longer effective. This means that he'd been trying to solve the problem for at least 5 minutes or so before calling 911. Trying everything except turning the car off or putting it in neutral.

As it turns out, this is a problem if you replace your stock floor mats with some all weather type. You know the kind. The ones with the steep rim around the outer edger to contain any water your shoes bring with them on a rainy day. That edge can trap the gas pedal underneath it. Is it just me or does this seem to be the fault of 1) the owners for using aftermarket mats and 2) the mat manufacturer? Toyota's letter which went out to consumers says that "no defect exists in vehicles in which the driver's floor mat is compatible with the vehicle and properly secured." (my emphasis)

That this issue has resulted in even a single death amazes me. Have you ever taken your shoes off while driving and left them in your footwell? I have. And I've had one of them catch the gas pedal and pin it down. It was jarring to say the least, but I solved the problem in seconds (and have learned not to leave my shoes there). But unless you're in a Corvette, seconds of the gas pedal being stuck are not going to send you into hyperspace ok? At worse, I can imagine a rear-ender where you're at fault.

Now the second recall, where the gas pedal gets stuck down is caused by a different issue. Many of today's cars do not connect the gas pedal directly to the motor. Instead, the gas pedal is like the dimmer switch in your living room. It merely sends voltage to the computer and the computer decides what to do. For example, in my car, if I put it in neutral and floor it, nothing happens. The car just rejects the command for more gas. In my Corvette, this would also happen if the rear wheels lost traction. No matter how much gas I'm giving it, the engine's computer would just say, "Nope."

Well, this fly-by-wire mechanism can feel kind of light on the loafers, so Toyota installed a metal bar that resists the motion of your foot to make you feel like you're actually moving something when you press the gas. In some rare circumstances (and I'm guessing colder/saltier climates), this mechanism can cause the gas pedal to get stuck. This IS Toyota's fault, but I still fail to see how anyone could die from this. The same response applies. Neutral, Emergency brake slowly applied. Let me make this easy. If the car's in neutral, it doesn't MATTER what the gas pedal is doing. Problem solved. So the only people who are dying from this appear to be people who are panicking. I want to get a bumper sticker that says, "I can put my Toyota in neutral in less than 3 seconds. Can you?"

I recently read that a lady who drove through the wall of a store while parking is suing Toyota because her gas pedal was stuck. Lady, you're parking. Why do you have the gas pedal down at all? If it's stuck anywhere, it should be UP. I suspect that she did what many inexperienced or older drivers do which is press the gas instead of the brake while she was parking but might as well cash in on Toyota's red face, huh?

I think Toyota has acted responsibly and quickly and all this negative press (and congressional hearings? Are you frigging kidding me?) are waaaaay over the top. But isn't that who we are now as a people?

To the president of Toyota, I apologize for the way my country has treated you. You'll have to excuse us. For many years, we made pieces of shit that used to go through recalls all the time (with no congressional hearings) and we're a little upset that yours have been relatively great. So now that there's a nick in the armor, you can count on us to tear you to shreds. Ford's new slogan: "Buy Ford, because Toyota's trying to kill you."

As Dennis Miller says, "It's time we started taking responsibility for ourselves instead of suing the inventor of the fork because we have a fat ass."