Caroline: I just read on the PB about that former Mayo doctor whose Prius had accelerator and brake problems. I would shit my pants if I couldn't stop my car.
Ryan: Just put it in neutral.
Ryan: That was my very first reaction when all this Toyota accelerator stuff started hitting the news.
Caroline: That's what my husband says, but ... I can't believe people didn't try that.
Caroline: A part of me thinks putting it in neutral wouldn't work under those circumstances. I can't explain why not. I'm not a mechanic.
Ryan: Once it's in neutral, you're fine. In the Dr.'s case, his brakes also apparently failed, which would suck a bit more.
Caroline: I think that's what many people have been experiencing. The double whammy
Ryan: Something in the P-B article doesn't make sense: "happened a split second after he gently pressed the accelerator on his Prius to back the car up about 50 feet into a hotel parking space in Palatine, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. "
Ryan: 50 feet? Was it Paul Bunyan's parking lot?
Caroline: Well, the Prius IS a small car.
Ryan: Why would you be backing up for 50 feet?
Caroline: I don't know!
Ryan: And that former doctor specifically said he "gently" pushed the accelerator. Why be gentle when you have to traverse 50 feet? What kind of parking space was this?
Caroline: Man. I wish you were the reporter who interviewed the guy. The story would've been so different.
Ryan: HEADLINE: "Former Doctor Requires 50 Feet to Back Into Parking Space"
Caroline: LOLO! That's a lead burier.
Ryan: SUB-HEAD: "Likely Fell Asleep Traversing Distance; Blames Toyota Instead"
Posted by Ryan at March 2, 2010 01:03 PM | TrackBackWhy is so hard for people to understand that you can't put the car in neutral. The throttle is controlled by a computer. The same computer controls the automatic transmission, the brakes, and the ignition switch. If the computer "gets lost" and screws up the throttle, it is probably so screwed up that it also can't control the brakes or transmission or the ignition switch. The fact that the brakes and transmission also don't work, makes it easy to understand that the floor mats or the throttle pedal aren't the problem. The problem is in the computer electronics.
Posted by: Ron at March 6, 2010 10:50 AM
Stumble It!
