WOW..Toyota settles for $1 BILLION for nothing

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted by JuneBug

- If you are still driving one of the vehicles listed in the settlement, Toyota will pay for a brake override system to be installed in your car, or make a cash payment in lieu of the installation. The system, the settlement says, “will automatically reduce engine power when the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal are applied simultaneously under certain driving conditions.” If your vehicle is not elligible to have the system installed, Toyota will make a cash payment of up to $125.

This sounds like a great idea, but we were told already RAV4 cannot have that (why???). So one will get some minimal payment that will fix nothing.

[Vandermast]

About 10 years ago I was driving my Rav4 on cruise control down a quiet county road. Coming to an intersection with a larger road, I pressed on the brakes and they went all the way to the floor. I kept pumping the brakes to no avail. I pulled on the emergency brake but it didn't prevent me from barreling across the highway, going down a bank, and coming to a stop in a weedy field. I was only lucky to miss the cross traffic.

After sitting for a while in stunned silence, I started up the car and tried the brakes. They seemed to work and I was able, with FWD, to drive back up the bank.

What had happened was I had hit the clutch instead of the brakes. That mistake had never happened before in my long, accident-free driving history and has never happened again.

The relevance is that it took me some time to really believe that I had been so stupid to have hit the clutch instead of the brake. I can easily see how someone might hit the accelerator instead of the brake and have a "sudden spontaneous acceleration" experience. I can also see how easily it would be to be in denial about that having happened, especially if the result was some damage to your or another's vehicle.

I would bet a lot of the reports of sudden acceleration were actually just pedal error like mine.

[bob-o]

Originally Posted by Vandermast

I would bet a lot of the reports of sudden acceleration were actually just pedal error like mine.

Pilot error is most likely the cause of many of these problems. Toyota is interfering with Darwin's natural selection process by paying people who are too stupid to notice that their floor mat has shifted and is on top of the accelerator pedal. Those people should not be part of the continuing gene pool.

[Blogson]

Maybe Toyota needs to try to prevent drivers from pressing the wrong pedal by mistake by installing the brake pedal so that it is all the way to the left-hand side, where the clutch pedal used to be before RAV4s were deprived of having manual gearboxes.

[Dr. Dyno]

Speaking of pedal error, back when I drove foreign stick shifts almost exclusively I'd occasionally get into an American automatic barge with a wide brake pedal and touchy power brakes. You can guess what happened when I caught the edge of the brake pedal as my left foot went for the clutch when coming to a stop. Better have your seat belt fastened!

[techguy]

I have a 2006 RAV4 so why haven't I been contacted about this recall. it is customary to contact all involved parties and Toyota has my contact info, so the lawyers would also have it.
have other RAV4 owners in the recall period been contacted ? I had my RAV4 fixed at the dealer over a year ago I think. they put a little carpet hook on the driver side.

isn't $227 million isn't enough for the lawyers to hire someone to contact me?

yes, if you read the details, the lawyers get $227 million and most owners get a $100, I certainly think that is fair !

[Billiam]

Pedal misplacement happens more often than people think. In panic situations one can swear that they are pressing the brake, when in fact, they are pressing the throttle.

This video shoes just that. First of all, listen carefully to the gentleman try to start an engine that's already running. He then proceeds to put the car in reverse and apply throttle. I'm sure once he climbs on top of the police cruiser he thinks he's pushing the brake.....obviously not though, as the engine is bouncing off of the rev-limiter. BTW, this year/generation Camry has an electronic throttle. Clearly no "gremlins" at work here. Just bad footwork.

Oh...and this video is everything but "funny as hell".

Old Guy Drives Over Cop Car - Funny as Hell - YouTube

Old Guy Drives Over Cop Car - Funny as Hell - YouTube

[RTexasF]

Originally Posted by Dr. Dyno

Speaking of pedal error, back when I drove foreign stick shifts almost exclusively I'd occasionally get into an American automatic barge with a wide brake pedal and touchy power brakes. You can guess what happened when I caught the edge of the brake pedal as my left foot went for the clutch when coming to a stop. Better have your seat belt fastened!

How well I can identify with that. Way back in them thar days my parents were looking at a brand new 1956 Mercury with an automatic and the new "POWER BRAKES". My parents had never driven an automatic at that time. My father drove without a problem and then it was my Mother's turn. She was nervous and sure enough stabbed the wide brake pedal looking for the clutch.

She locked up the brakes and I went from the back seat to bouncing off the rear of the front seat. Good thing I had (and it remains today) a hard head because my gourd bounced off of the rear of that front seat big time then I hit the floorboard. I've tried to blame that event for much that happened later on but to no avail

Amazing how I've no clue what I had for lunch last week but I remember this incident 56 years ago as if it were a recent event.

[Climbitnow]

Originally Posted by techguy

I have a 2006 RAV4 so why haven't I been contacted about this recall. it is customary to contact all involved parties and Toyota has my contact info, so the lawyers would also have it.
have other RAV4 owners in the recall period been contacted ? I had my RAV4 fixed at the dealer over a year ago I think. they put a little carpet hook on the driver side.

isn't $227 million isn't enough for the lawyers to hire someone to contact me?

yes, if you read the details, the lawyers get $227 million and most owners get a $100, I certainly think that is fair !

The LAWYERS caused our RAVs to be allegedly devalued, NOT Toyota. WE allow lawyers to get away with this. We deserve $nothing$.

IMHO.

Tom

[ordpete944]

Has anyone been able to submit a claim form? I tried to but the links were all dead. Is it past the dead line to do this? I saw that we had 150 days from the "notice date". However, it does not say what day the notice date is.

Thanks.

Pete