In the report, it says the floor mat was found in the wreckage on top of the gas pedal and under the brake pedal, and that the floor mat and gas pedal were fused (melted) together by heat. The report went on to say that they cannot be completely certain that the floor mat was on top of the gas pedal before the crash, because it could have moved during the crash.

I think it is pretty clear that the floor mat was the problem. Sure, 99.99% certainty is not "completely certain", but it's close enough for any practical purposes.

 

From Consumer Reports:



"According to the NHTSA report, the mats in the Lexus ES 350 that Saylor was driving were made for a Lexus RX 400h SUV, not the ES 350 sedan."

"The gas pedal was fused to the mat in the fire that ensued after the crash."

 

?? How can a manufacturer be responsible for the placement of the wrong floor mat in a rental car?

Skeptic that I am... and having had a brother who is ex-CHP and hearing some of his 'personal' adventures ... It wouldn't be beyond a shadow of a doubt that this dude was doing well above a safe and sane speed for the conditions BEFORE the incident. Honkin' down the hills and curves in an unfamiliar car loaded with family, perhaps?? Showing them how its done? And why was there time for a 911 call??? saying they were doing 120mph??? Maybe the caller was requesting help because the driver was out of control??? Murder - suicide comes to mind..... Anything is possible.

Being a 'boy in blue' does not raise this chaps talents or abilities beyond that of normal folk. Although one would think.... one WOULD think... that somewhere his training would have covered what to do in such an emergency. Maybe he did follow his training and it was all wrong??? We'll never know what his response was... maybe he thought he could 'drive' it out?

He just got caught out by a cascade of events leading to his demise and his family.

The fire fused mat is only one link in the chain of events.... and it many not even be the first link (and probably isn't!!!) .... Its just an incidental finding and may not even be related (as noted in the reports) to the accident nor can it be demonstrated that it is the 'root cause.'

It is a popular and newsprint selling story.... but the press often gets it all wrong. Need we point to the Ft. Hood stories??? Or, the UFO balloon fiasco????



I, for one, am going to wait several months until the proper parts are available for a repair.

 

Now we hear about problems with the Corolla models losing power - more bad press for Toyota to deal with.

I checked the floor mats on our '09 TCH and they don't even come close to the accelerator so I won't let anyone "trim" anything.

 

Same here. Something else is wrong.

 

>>Same here. Something else is wrong.

I can understand why some people think that. It looks impossible for the intended floor mat, properly secured, to cause the problem.

But my understanding is that these accidents typically had people who'd piled a winter mat on top of the one already there so that it wasn't secured and was closer to the gas pedal. Or they had the wrong mat.

While NHTSA is careful not to rule out another cause, to date they've only been able to document a floor mat problem.

 

So has anyone heard anything from Toyota yet?

 

Speculation....

You may remember there was a TSB about floor mats earlier, especially for people that put the winter mats on top of the carpet mats.

Now they seem to be addressing people that put aftermarket mats in their car. I feel a bit bad for Toyota that they have to address a problem cause either by people not following instructions, or aftermarket products. As others have noted, if you use the proper mats properly, it doesn't cause a problem.

Just follows the trend to no personal responsibility at all.....

Cheers!

Dang

 

Careful there my Canadian brother...

An 09 Avalon went full speed, out-of-control in Nevada this week. Killed two, injured two. No floor mats.

I have big, thick aftermarket mats over my OEM mats, to keep the original mats nice. I have got myself down in the foot well and slid those mats around a hundred different ways. There is just......... no way.

 

Can you post a link? I did a quick google and didn't come up with anything in Nevada. There was an '08 Avalon in Texas that ended up upside down in a pond and the comments there have been 'it is a model that is affected by the recall, but we don't know what happened here'.

Right now it looks like any accident involving the affected Toyotas will have the press questioning if it had something to do with the accelerator first and then looking at the facts.