avalon2000 Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 From US NEWS http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-...ragic-Accident/ Toyota, Lexus Dealers Will Inspect Floor Mats After Tragic Accident Posted: Sep. 17, 2009 10:09 a.m. Toyota dealers nationwide have been ordered to inspect floor mats in all of their cars after a California Highway Patrol Officer and three members of his family were killed in a horrifying high-speed traffic accident apparently caused by a mismatched floor mat. USA Today reports, "Toyota Motor Sales USA planned to issue an order Wednesday to about 1,400 Toyota and Lexus dealers nationwide to make sure each of their new, used and loaner vehicles had the proper floor mats and that the mats were properly secured, said Brian Lyons, a spokesman for the Torrance-based company. Customers who are concerned should also make sure they have the proper mats. "If there's any doubt in their mind about the security and shape of their mat," Lyons told reporters, owners should "go ahead and visit the dealer." Kicking Tires explains, "It's believed a floormat caused an accident that killed four people in San Diego County after becoming snagged on the vehicle's gas pedal." Four people were riding in the Lexus ES350, which a dealer had loaned to the family while their own car was serviced. Crash investigators haven't released a final conclusion, but told reporters that a driver's-side all-weather floor mat found at the scene doesn't match the ES 350. USA Today notes that the mismatched mat "could have snared or covered the accelerator pedal." A passenger in the car "called police about a minute before the crash to say the vehicle had no brakes and the accelerator was stuck." Investigators estimate that the Lexus was travelling more than 120 miles per hour "when it hit a sport-utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames." Bloomberg notes that this isn't the first time Toyota has heard of a similar issue. "Toyota in 2007 recalled 55,000 Camrys and Lexus ES 350s in the U.S. to replace floor mats that it said could slip forward and snag the gas pedal, causing uncontrolled acceleration." The 2009 ES350 involved in the California accident was not covered by that recall. Drivers trapped in a car with the accelerator stuck have several, very limited options. Toyota's Lyons told USA Today, "The driver could have put the car in neutral to disengage the engine from the automatic transmission." He "also could have turned off the electronically keyed car by holding down the start switch for three seconds, but that could have locked the steering wheel, turned off the headlights and cut power-assist to the brakes, Lyons said." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XR2003 Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I read about that. It seems people have been putting another floor mat on top of the ones that were bought with the vehicle. I know the Toyota floor mats are nice - but I see no need to place another floor mat on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanoid Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Holy crap, my mom likes to put floor mat on top of floor map for some reason. I should tell her to stop that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 The mats that are the problem are the super thick rubber all-weather ones that have to be purchased as an additional accessory over and above the original carpeted factory mats. They can get jammed into the accelerator pedal because people just throw them on top of the original mats, and they're not clipped down like the factory mats are so they can slide forward. If your mom has just a slim mat, it's probably no big deal, but you should let her know that it's okay to use the original mats...she can just order a new set of them for about $100 if she wears them out. The other issue here is that Lexus recalled those mats a couple of years ago because there was potential for this to happen. Not sure why a 2009 ES350 should have them installed now, especially one in Southern California...they're really for snow, etc., not for sunny California weather. The part that really gets me is that the potential problem is specific to Camry's and ES's only, and only those with the all-weather accessory mats. People are now freaking out about other Lexus cars for no reason. There was an article I read about a lady in CA with a GS300 that claims her car accelerated by itself once in a parking lot. I'm sure she's totally imagining it, probably accidentally hit the gas when she meant to hit the brake, and it's all fueled by this accident report. Really, who hasn't accidentally hit either the brake or accelerator when they meant to do the opposite? I know I've done it. It amazes me how people can build on isolated incidents when it comes to car manufacturers. Remember the RX400h that blew up somewhere on the east coast last year? The initial media reports were that "a Lexus hybrid caught on fire and that Lexus corporate was unavailable for comment", it was all over CNN as being a "Lexus problem" and there were all sorts of theories about Lexus hybrids being unsafe and prone to fire...until the police found out the car blew up because there was a bomb in it. Then the story was quietly ignored by the media because it wasn't nearly as sensational as a story about the world's biggest auto manufacturer making cars that blow up. It'll be interesting to see what the investigators find as the actual cause of this horrible accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XR2003 Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Southern California actually has mountains with snow - so that MIGHT be why they had them. But I agree with what was posted. Still - those rubber mats can be bought from a local auto store- but again I still see no reason to put a 2nd set of floor mats (carpet or rubber/all-weather) mats on top of a another set. Purpose is to what? Keep the bottom one's clean? People just lack some common sense some times. Just cut some holes for the 2nd set of floor mats to the floor mat anchor to avoid this issue - but sometimes it takes a tragedy to happen before people wake up from their nap of ignorance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Southern California actually has mountains with snow - so that MIGHT be why they had them.But I agree with what was posted. Still - those rubber mats can be bought from a local auto store- but again I still see no reason to put a 2nd set of floor mats (carpet or rubber/all-weather) mats on top of a another set. Purpose is to what? Keep the bottom one's clean? People just lack some common sense some times. Just cut some holes for the 2nd set of floor mats to the floor mat anchor to avoid this issue - but sometimes it takes a tragedy to happen before people wake up from their nap of ignorance. There's snow and mountains in Southern CA? Really? Where? We have them here in Vegas (Mt Charleston, ski resort, everything), but I didn't know there was anything there. Hopefully this accident will be the wake-up call. Especially since Toyota issued the recall 2 years ago, and apparently no one paid attention then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humanoid Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Leigh, there's snow up in Big Bear and Wrightwood during winter, yeah, I know hard to believe that there is. SoCal is the only place where you can go surfing in the morning and skiing in the afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XR2003 Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Does man made snow count? Who knows - maybe it will be a very snowy winter for our mountains this year. Big bear, Wrightwood, Mammoth. Only a couple of hours away from Los Angeles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Pretty cool...I didn't know that. Maybe one of these days I'll learn to ski and/or surf, and pay you all a visit! (I'll drive there in my perfectly safe Lexus that has only one set of mats that are safely clipped down...I may hit 120, but that will be on purpose.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XR2003 Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090930/ap_on_...W90YXRvcmVjYQ-- So looks like Toyota will recall 3,800,000 vehicles due to the floor mats hazzard. "The recall will affect 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350." Too bad the Matrix isn't part of the recall, I wouldn't mind new floor mats. :P ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Yes, this could happen to any car, actually. It's unfortunate that it happened in such a highly publicized manner to a Toyota product, as it could easily have been a Chrysler, a Honda, a BMW...anything really. Just don't double-mat your car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Might have to start watching BBC...I'm sure we'll be hearing about this for awhile on our networks here. Disregard the fact that NHTSA just closed the SIXTH case for Toyota because of lack of evidence other than operator error or improper floor mat installation...we all know that ABC knows everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XR2003 Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Re-opened, just for laughs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XR2003 Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 still wonder why the driver just put the car in neutral (auto or manual transmission) and turn off the ignition...... ...and if a certain someone posts non-sensical garbage in this thread or ANY other thread - they will have an extra 5 floor mats in their car on the driver's side floor. . . ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 still wonder why the driver just put the car in neutral (auto or manual transmission) and turn off the ignition...... ...and if a certain someone posts non-sensical garbage in this thread or ANY other thread - they will have an extra 5 floor mats in their car on the driver's side floor. . . ;) I agree. Never saw the spam post because you killed it so quick, but I'll donate a set of used Toyota mats to the cause!! I've heard a theory presented on that accident in CA that perhaps the driver did it purposely. He was apparently a cop who investigated car accidents, so should definitely have known what to do, especially as the car was only going 40mph when the issue began. ES350s take awhile to get to 120, so he had some time. I hope for his family's sake that it was not intentional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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