The Crash that Caused the Toyota Recall

[Old Tele man]

...uh, does anybody know where the "ACC" setting is in their engine-control computer software?

...didn't think so!

...so many lines of code, so few checks and balances...

...said by a nieve software engineer: "...trust me, it ALL works 100% fine..."

[dcb]

It's a lot bigger than just the software engineer, it's companies pushing it (and perhaps not putting money in the right place) and people paying for it too.

[cfg83]

Hello -

Ok, I think I found what I was looking for :

The Lawyers Behind the Toyota Floor Mat Recall - FOXBusiness.com

Feb 12, 2010 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) ----The unprecedented recall of Toyota vehicles due to rapid acceleration problems may have had its start in San Jose, California on July 26, 2007. On that fateful day, Troy Johnson was killed when his vehicle was struck from behind by an out of control and runaway Toyota Camry. The driver of the Toyota Camry stated that the accelerator had jammed and was speeding out-of-control at up to 120 miles (190 kilometers) per hour before slamming into Johnson's vehicle, killing Johnson instantly. For the next several months, investigators searched for evidence to charge the driver of the Camry with vehicular manslaughter because they did not believe his story.
...
The Johnson case against Toyota would take less than 12 months to settle with an agreement of confidentiality. "I believe that Toyota did not want to answer questions in this case," added Franecke. Those questions surround the push button that kills the engine after it is held down continuously for 3 seconds. At 120 miles an hour, you can travel 500 feet or nearly the distance of two football fields before the car coasts to a stop.

Second, you cannot stop a vehicle with brakes if the accelerator is jammed. Each pump of the brakes is less effective and the amount of force necessary to stop the wheels at 120 miles an hour is nearly impossible for most drivers. You will fry the brakes as Mr. Gomez did in the Johnson case. Third, you cannot get the car out of gear. In the Camry, once the car is moving and accelerator depressed you cannot get it out of gear. It is locked in and won't move out of the automatic position. This is a transmission design. Placing torque on the accelerator will not allow it to move out of gear. Lastly, attorneys Mann and Franecke were prepared to ask and delve into why the Toyota accelerator jams so much? Was it a mechanical or electrical problem?

This is what I was looking for. The Camry transmission, *by design*, will not allow you to go into neutral when the car is under acceleration. I am betting the Lexus transmission is the same. It's not necessarily a software issue, but it is a design issue. They are probably trying to protect the transmission, *by design*.

Nearly all new cars today contain an event data recorder, called a black box, which can record several seconds of key information when accidents occur or in other circumstances. According to Toyota, its black boxes can capture vehicle speed, engine speed, brake pedal application, accelerator pedal position and seat belt usage, among other things. Unlike other car manufacturers, Toyota's data recorders are extremely difficult, if not impossible for non-Toyota personnel to read. Toyota says it has only one device in the U.S. that can read the data.

How Khan-veeeeen-yent.

CarloSW2

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Hello -
This is what I was looking for. The Camry transmission, *by design*, will not allow you to go into neutral when the car is under acceleration. I am betting the Lexus transmission is the same. It's not necessarily a software issue, but it is a design issue. They are probably trying to protect the transmission, *by design*.

How Khan-veeeeen-yent.
CarloSW2

I always thought ALL vehicles by federal law were required to have an off position in terms of the key. Also most vehicles when shut off in neutral can still be steered.

Same goes for neutral, I always thought neutral was provided because of federal law for emergency situations. Because really what do you need it for otherwise?

Strange that the auto companies want to make it impossible to shift into neutral or shut off the vehicle.

Cheers
Ryan

[Weather Spotter]

I have seen designs like that, the issue many times was that you could lock up your steering and or break your transmission (full instant lock up of transmission - not good if you are going 55mph). mostly this was with regular shift on the column setups but I heard some engineers talking about it with the push button setups.

[wdb]

Another piece to the puzzle. Nice find.

I've decided that new methodologies (push button start, drive-by-wire, etc.) bother me less that new methodologies coming specifically from Toyota. They need to rethink their business model, get some more engineers in high places in the company. They're turning into GM.