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A similar situation devastated Audi in the '80s. Hopefully Toyota will learn from history. The Audi problem was more severe because acceleration happened durin

by ynniv 17y ago

A similar situation devastated Audi in the '80s. Hopefully Toyota will learn from history. The Audi problem was more severe because acceleration happened during the transition from park to drive, which is a far more dangerous situation. [ http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1987/05/wathen.html http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1987/05/wat... ]

__david__ 17y ago
That's an interesting link. Do you know if they ever figured out the root cause? Wikipedia makes it sound like it was only ever considered driver error. Also, why is accelerating during the park->drive transition more dangerous than sudden acceleration at speed? Seems to me like the really high speed case would be deadlier to car occupants and those around them.
- wundie 17y ago
  Going from Park -> Drive indicates that you are just getting going and possibly not fully prepared for such a surprising situation. If, like today’s Toyota problem, I'm driving and my car starts to speed up I’m likely to be fully engaged in driving and able to correct the situation more naturally.
  - __david__ 17y ago
    True, it would be more surprising, but on the other hand I was thinking you're probably nearer to obstacles such that you don't have enough time to accelerate to lethal speeds before crashing into something.
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- ynniv 17y ago
  Wikipedia makes it sound like it was only ever considered driver error. Wikipedia only contains "official" "facts". There is no evidence on either side of the story, so Wikipedia just reports whatever Audi said. Complaints were limited to a specific make and model of vehicle. Would it not be rather unlikely that people who can't tell the gas from the break drove that one make and model? It really isn't important either way - the fact is that it had a real impact on their public perception and sales. Seems to me like the really high speed case would be deadlier to car occupants and those around them. Cars moving > 25 MPH are generally found in environments specifically designed for this purpose. Cars in "park" are generally inches from other cars, walls, people, pets... a fraction of a second travel from danger. It doesn't take much speed to fatally pin someone between a car and something else.

by ynniv 17y ago

__david__ 17y ago

That's an interesting link. Do you know if they ever figured out the root cause? Wikipedia makes it sound like it was only ever considered driver error. Also, why is accelerating during the park->drive transition more dangerous than sudden acceleration at speed? Seems to me like the really high speed case would be deadlier to car occupants and those around them.

wundie 17y ago
Going from Park -> Drive indicates that you are just getting going and possibly not fully prepared for such a surprising situation. If, like today’s Toyota problem, I'm driving and my car starts to speed up I’m likely to be fully engaged in driving and able to correct the situation more naturally.
- __david__ 17y ago
  True, it would be more surprising, but on the other hand I was thinking you're probably nearer to obstacles such that you don't have enough time to accelerate to lethal speeds before crashing into something.
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
deleted 17y ago
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ynniv 17y ago
Wikipedia makes it sound like it was only ever considered driver error. Wikipedia only contains "official" "facts". There is no evidence on either side of the story, so Wikipedia just reports whatever Audi said. Complaints were limited to a specific make and model of vehicle. Would it not be rather unlikely that people who can't tell the gas from the break drove that one make and model? It really isn't important either way - the fact is that it had a real impact on their public perception and sales. Seems to me like the really high speed case would be deadlier to car occupants and those around them. Cars moving > 25 MPH are generally found in environments specifically designed for this purpose. Cars in "park" are generally inches from other cars, walls, people, pets... a fraction of a second travel from danger. It doesn't take much speed to fatally pin someone between a car and something else.