Owners of Toyota Cars in Rebellion Over Accidents Caused by Sudden acceleration.

[HemiEd]

Owners of Toyota Cars in Rebellion Over Series of Accidents Caused by Sudden Acceleration


Anyone else been following this story? They had a pretty graphic show on nightline about it last night.


http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Runawa...ory?id=8980479

Refusing to accept the explanation of Toyota and the federal government, hundreds of Toyota owners are in rebellion after a series of accidents caused by what they call "runaway cars."


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Department of Transportation: underlying defect causes accelerators to stick.

More PhotosSafety analysts found an estimated 2000 cases in which owners of Toyota cars including Camry, Prius and Lexus, reported that their cars surged without warning up to speeds of 100 miles per hour.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE OF THE RUNAWAY TOYOTAS STORY.

Toyota says the incidents are caused by floor mats becoming stuck under gas pedals, but owners say that's not what happened to them.

Watch the full report tonight on 'World News with Charles Gibson' and 'Nightline'.

"I'm absolutely certain that in my situation, it was not the floor mats," Elizabeth James told ABC News. She was driving her Toyota Prius outside Denver, CO when she says it suddenly shot up to 90 miles an hour, even though her foot was on the brake and not the gas pedal.

"I kept going faster and faster," James said. "And all of a sudden… my foot was pressing on the brake super, super hard and I wasn't slowing down."

James and some other Toyota owners suspect the accidents have been caused by some kind of glitch in the electronic computer system used in Toyotas that controls the throttle.

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...at-recall.html

[TLO]

Originally Posted by Cochise

They should introduce that Chevrolet Cobalt feature where you can jiggle the key and the car bursts into flames

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by Radar Chief

Oh, I hadn't heard of that. Is this what you're talking about?

GM CEO admits recall tardy, won't pledge liability
James R. Healey, USATODAY 5:37 p.m. EDT March 18, 2014

DETROIT — General Motors CEO Mary Barra said on Tuesday that the automaker didn't move fast enough on the ignition switch fault that triggered the recall of 1.62 million cars worldwide and is blamed for 12 deaths in 31 crashes.

But Barra, in her first interview since the February recall, wouldn't promise that GM will accept responsibility for deaths, injuries and damage that happened before big car company went through government-supervised bankruptcy reorganization in 2009,

The bankruptcy deal freed "new GM" — formed July 10, 2009 — from product liability and other claims for incidents before that date. Old GM retained those liabilities, as well as unwanted assets to be liquidated, and now exists as a shell unlikely to be able to make good on claims from the accidents. New GM did carry with it responsibility for the products themselves, such as handling warranty claims and recalls.

GM records show the ignition switch problem first was noticed in 2001 during development of the 2001 Saturn Ion; again in 2003, after it was supposed to have been fixed; then in 2004, by a GM development engineer doing pre-production work on the then-new 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt.

"Clearly, this took too long," Barra told a dozen reporters at GM headquarters here."We will fix our process."

But she wouldn't promise to establish a victims' fund or otherwise have GM accept liability for pre-bankruptcy accidents.

"Right now, our focus is on the customers 100%" to "make sure we repair every single one of these vehicles," she said, though she promised that "after the (GM internal) investigation, we will do what's right."

STORY: Barra creates permanent global safety chief

VIDEO: : Barra on recall -- "terrible things happened"

NEW RECALLS: GM recalls 1.5M vehicles in 3 new actions

GM hired Tony Valukas, chairman of the law firm, Jenner & Block and former U.S. Attorney who probed the Lehman Bros. collapse, to lead that internal investigation.

Barra noted that he "has 10 years of activity to go through" to untangle how and why decisions were made that eventually led to the switch recall. "We won't sacrifice accuracy for speed," she said, "and I told him there are no sacred cows."

She said, "No one (has been) disciplined or fired at this time."

The lag between first signs of trouble with the switches and the recall has prompted ongoing investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Department of Justice and two Congressional committees, which plan hearings late this month or early next.

Barra said "it's likely" she'll testify at those hearings, along with other GM executives.

Barra and Mark Reuss, who replaced Barra as GM's executive vice president of global product development, met with reporters to give GM's current analysis of the recall details, to explain how GM is working to prevent future delays recognizing problems and to update the time line for replacing faulty ignition switches.

The switches can unexpectedly move from "run" to "accessory," stalling the engine and cutting power to air bags and other systems. The 1.37 million cars recalled in the U.S. are the 2005-07 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2007 Pontiac G5, 2003-07 Saturn Ion, 2006-07 Chevrolet HHR, 2006-07 Pontiac Solstice and 2007 Saturn Sky.

Dealers will begin receiving replacement switches on April 7, Barra said. They're made by Delphi, which also made the faulty switches, but GM is monitoring the production closely, she said. GM has worked with Delphi to increase capacity and should have enough switches for all recalled models by October, Barra said.

Barra and Reuss both said they'll re-emphasize to dealers that they should provide free loaner or rental cars to people nervous about driving their recalled cars before they're fixed. GM is paying for the interim cars, so dealers shouldn't object, Reuss said.

Some owners have complained to GM, and to USA TODAY, as well, that they've had trouble getting the free temporary vehicles.

Barra also said GM has added dozens of phone workers to make sure owners with questions about the recall or loaner cars can get through promptly.

[Lzen]

Geez, another reason that bailing out GM was a terrible idea.

[Jimmya]

We should have let GM fail.

[MIAdragon]

Wow, thats bullshit GM.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by Jimmya

We should have let GM fail.

That is how free enterprise is supposed to work. Same with Chrysler after Daimler and Cerberus picked their bones clean.

[planetdoc]

GM knew of faulty ignition switch, court documents show

General Motors Co. engineering managers knew about ignition-switch problems on the 2005 Cobalt that could disable power steering, power brakes and air bags, but launched the car anyway, according to court documents

Auto companies are subject to a law that makes it a crime to mislead U.S. safety regulators.

Would GM's previous bankruptcy absolve GM of tort in regards to criminal negligence? I dont think so.

[BlackHelicopters]

GM should have been allowed to fail. Let the marketplace dictate the outcome.

[planetdoc]

everyone is all for free markets except when it affects their job and their community. The same people who complain about government waste will complain to their congressman if they fail to bring home pork projects. This is how congress as a whole can have an approval rating in the teens and twenties, but than congressman can be re-elected at a 90% rate.

[planetdoc]

GM recalls 1.3 million more cars

has to do with power steering failure.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by planetdoc

GM recalls 1.3 million more cars

has to do with power steering failure.

That's interesting, we were just in the used car market and were considering a G6, and I saw a ton of complaints online about power steering failure in them. Had I known they were going to recall them I may have went ahead and bought one. We ended up buying another Toyota instead.