Elderly Drivers and Toyota

Rym

So check this. According to this article, the vast majority of "incidents" related to Toyota cars and unintended acceleration were reported by elderly drivers.

It is actually quite possible that there is no widespread issue, and that the problem is entirely user error.

lackofcheese

It's possible, but a lot more data is needed to decide conclusively.

Andrew

It's possible, but a lot more data is needed to decide conclusively.

I'll reiterate what has already been said in the ./ comments, but that should also have been the case before public opinion found Toyota guilty.

George Patches

I posted an article to a similar effect quite a while ago.

Rym

I posted an article to a similar effect quite a while ago.

Yeah. Didn't BMW have a similar issue with floormats at some point?

George Patches

Not sure about BMW, but I know Audi had a similar problem with old/otherwise incompetent drivers and the media ganging up on them.

Cremlian

but that should also have been the case before public opinion found Toyota guilty.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA the public looking at a complex statistical analysis before they proclaim Toyota's guilt, what country do you live in? (I want to move there :-p)

Nuri

Yeah the whole "I hit my breaks without putting any actual wear on them" testimony got old pretty fast. Anyone intelligent waited for the verdict before condemning Toyota. The fact that no cases were reported AT ALL until the national news report should have been a clue to anyone intelligent.

Jason

Conspiracy theory: The illuminati are trying to discredit successful Eastern car-makers in hopes their Ford stock will rise.

Seriously, though, my Camry (which I've owned since 2001) drives like a dream. Anecdotal though it may be, I've never had acceleration issues, but I can see how the floor mat could possibly (if you are lobotomized) slide up under the brake pedal and prevent a timely stop. That said, my baby just hit 135,000 miles and is doing just fine, other than some cosmetic issues. I've only ever had to do routine maintenance, while friends with "American" cars with similar mileage regularly break down.

Story: I was once accosted in a grocery store parking lot by a pro-Ford-union protectionist who was outraged at my vehicle choice. I laughed her off and told her my car was built in Kentucky, and most of her Ford was built and assembled in Germany and Mexico.