In the 3 years from 1999-2001(pre-problem years), there was an average of 26 cases per year of "abrupt acceleration". In the 3 years from 2002-2004, there was an average of 132 cases per year of "abrupt acceleration", an increase of 400%. NHTSA deemed the causes as "driver error."Niagara wrote:How many Camrys have actually crashed due to stuck gas-pedals? A dozen maybe, out of the millions produced?
I mean LEGITIMATE crashes, before the media circus. Let's not count the hundreds of "accidents" that are now going to happen to collect the insurance money.
Toyota vehicle recallsNHTSA data shows that there was an annual average of 26 abrupt acceleration reports in 1999-2001 Toyota Camry and Lexus ES models. This number increased by more than 400% to a total of 132 annually in 2002-2004 models, which were designed with new electronic throttles.[56] Toyota responded by stating,
Six times in the past six years NHTSA has undertaken an exhaustive review of allegations of unintended acceleration on Toyota and Lexus vehicles and six times the agency closed the investigation without finding any electronic engine control system malfunction to be the cause of unintended acceleration.[57]
In 2004, the NHTSA launched a probe of throttle control systems on around 1 million Lexus and Toyota sedans.[58] Upon that probe, Toyota urged the NHTSA to define the issues as quick bursts where the engine surged to "something less than a wide-open throttle." The company compared the complaints to previous sudden unintended acceleration cases the NHTSA deemed "driver error."[58] It also said the computer could not open the throttle without the accelerator pedal pressed, and, the brakes would be able to stop the car anyway.[58]
After several months of investigating, the NHTSA said it found no evidence of a defect and there was no data indicated any bad parts.[58] Christopher Santucci, an employee of Toyota's Washington, D.C. office and a NHTSA employee until he was hired by Toyota in 2003, testified that he was informed by the NHTSA in March 2004 about pending investigation over unintended acceleration complaints. According to Santucci in his deposition, his former NHTSA colleagues decided not to investigate some incidents involving acceleration lasting longer than 1 second. The decision to exclude certain incidents from the investigation apparently reduced the significance of the issue to the NHTSA at least on paper. [58][59][60] However, in 2005, 2006 and 2008, Toyota customers again asked the NHTSA to investigate uncontrolled acceleration from electronic throttle controls and power steering issues. Although there were hundreds of complaints, the NHTSA found no evidence of defects; and in every case, Toyota provided data it said showed no such evidence.
On November 2, 2009, the NHTSA denied a petition to reopen previously closed unintended investigations of Toyota vehicles, stating they were unlikely to reach any new conclusions. [61] In February 2010, however NHTSA was again looking into the electronic throttle control systems on Toyota vehicles.[62] In February 2010, State Farm insurance revealed that it had warned NHTSA in late 2007 on an increased trend of Toyota accidents related to the recalled models; other insurers stated however that they had not seen such a trend.
Car and Driver, Motor Trend, and Ward's Auto also compared the 2009-10 Toyota recalls to the Audi sudden acceleration cases of the 1980s, which led to a widely-noted media frenzy and hundreds of sudden unintended acceleration claims for Audi cars. In that case, a 1986 segment on CBS News' 60 Minutes accused the Audi 5000 sedan of unintended acceleration defects, which was followed by numerous reports of tragic accidents and media expert commentary. However, the NHTSA later determined all complaints to be due to driver error.
rangerone314 wrote:I wonder how many SUVs have rolled over in comparison.
fordrolloverAccording to the NHTSA, of 194 reported rollovers, 166 involved Ford Explorers and Ford Explorers accounted for 79 of the 88 rollover fatalities.
GM Arlington workers toil overtime to maintain SUV supplies
10:59 AM CDT on Sunday, March 21, 2010
By TERRY BOX / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
ARLINGTON – Big, growling transporter trucks regularly whip into the east entrance of the General Motors Assembly Plant, arriving for another load of SUVs fresh off the line.
After being idle for weeks last year, the plant is working more overtime now than anyone can recall – with most of the factory's 2,400 workers putting in 60 hours some weeks as Arlington labors to maintain an adequate supply of sport utility vehicles for dealers nationwide.
"When I look at where we were a year ago, this is a much better situation," said Paul Graham, 47, the plant's new manager. "Demand is there, and we need to meet it."
Arlington's burden – which can earn senior workers nearly $800 in overtime pay in a week– exemplifies GM's new approach to building cars and trucks.
Before its bankruptcy, GM often scheduled heavy production at plants to help spread its high "legacy" costs – mainly health care expenses for retired autoworkers – among more vehicles.
That approach helped dilute the legacy costs per vehicle, but the company was often forced to then put high, profit-sapping incentives on its overproduction to sell the vehicles, said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
After going through bankruptcy and shedding much of its legacy costs and debt – as well as closing factories and laying off thousands of workers – GM now strives to build only as many vehicles as its dealers need, avoiding incentives as much as possible.
...
(more at dallasnews.com)
Before the bankruptcy and restructuring in August, three GM plants assembled full-size SUVs. Now Arlington is the only plant that makes Chevrolet Tahoes and Suburbans, GMC Yukons and Yukon XLs, and Cadillac Escalades.
They'll probably offer $1 gas for life or somesuch gimmick. They're Gubmint Motors, after all.emersonbiggins wrote:I suspect that you're right, mos. I would imagine that the psychological effect of gas over $3/gal coming this summer will have not lost all his blunt effect on the American public, and that we'll once again see GM's current market move in dire straits, but who knows?
Keith_McClary wrote:[They're Gubmint Motors, after all.
emersonbiggins wrote:BTW, this is THE plant that builds Suburbans, Yukons, Escalades and Tahoes.
OilFinder2 wrote:BTW, this is a significant reason why this particular plant is so busy:Before the bankruptcy and restructuring in August, three GM plants assembled full-size SUVs. Now Arlington is the only plant that makes Chevrolet Tahoes and Suburbans, GMC Yukons and Yukon XLs, and Cadillac Escalades.
What used to be done in 3 plants is now being crammed into one.
GM is also doing this with an SUV plant in Kansas City (makes crossovers I think).
Car owners and independent mechanics will soon learn more on whether copyright laws could hinder their ability to repair and modify vehicles.
The US Copyright Office will hear arguments today in Los Angeles on whether it should grant exemptions in copyright law that would preserve the legal rights of citizens to tinker with their cars. Representatives of both automakers, who oppose the exemptions, and gearheads are scheduled to testify during the hearings.
Hearings are scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT. We'll be there covering the proceedings, so check back here for updates throughout the day.
Every three years, the Copyright Office holds these hearings to determine whether exemptions should be granted for certain activities covered in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This is the sixth time the hearings have been held since the law's passage in 1998, but the first time the activities of mechanics and hobbyists have fallen under scrutiny.
Few would have imagined that cars could be impacted by the DMCA at the time it became law, but vehicles have since become little more than rolling computers that are controlled largely by software.
Automakers are arguing that tinkering with this software infringes upon their right to protect proprietary intellectual property, and believe the law prohibits outsiders from accessing this software without authorization. General Motors and John Deere have gone as far as arguing that customers don't actually buy their cars, they merely buy a license to use vehicles for the duration of their lifetimes.
Hundreds of organizations and citizens have written to the Copyright Office to support exemptions that would allow for their continued rights to repair, diagnose and conduct research on vehicles.
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Tanada wrote:This thread has been quiet for a while but hey, when GM makes news, they make news. GM lawyers are arguing today in front of a judge that you do not have the right to modify, repair or alter your car/truck or any of its systems because they sell you a vehicle, they sell you the right to operate a vehicle.Car owners and independent mechanics will soon learn more on whether copyright laws could hinder their ability to repair and modify vehicles.
The US Copyright Office will hear arguments today in Los Angeles on whether it should grant exemptions in copyright law that would preserve the legal rights of citizens to tinker with their cars. Representatives of both automakers, who oppose the exemptions, and gearheads are scheduled to testify during the hearings.
Hearings are scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT. We'll be there covering the proceedings, so check back here for updates throughout the day.
Every three years, the Copyright Office holds these hearings to determine whether exemptions should be granted for certain activities covered in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This is the sixth time the hearings have been held since the law's passage in 1998, but the first time the activities of mechanics and hobbyists have fallen under scrutiny.
Few would have imagined that cars could be impacted by the DMCA at the time it became law, but vehicles have since become little more than rolling computers that are controlled largely by software.
Automakers are arguing that tinkering with this software infringes upon their right to protect proprietary intellectual property, and believe the law prohibits outsiders from accessing this software without authorization. General Motors and John Deere have gone as far as arguing that customers don't actually buy their cars, they merely buy a license to use vehicles for the duration of their lifetimes.
Hundreds of organizations and citizens have written to the Copyright Office to support exemptions that would allow for their continued rights to repair, diagnose and conduct research on vehicles.
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