Well, Toyota has spoken. They're going to:
- cut the gas pedals shorter
- replace some gas pedals entirely
- remove material from the throttle pedal vicinity
- introduce brake overrides on Lexus models
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/bu...toyota.html?hp
That last one was explained in the article as an application of throttle and brake at the same time will causing the brakes to 'override' the throttle, in short the brakes should win the contest. That sounds like one of those intuitive actions, and if it was on the Lexus involved in the accident it would have stopped the car from accelerating out of control.
However there are other reports of Toyotas that had unintended acceleration, in which the drivers insist that floormats and sticking pedals could not possibly have played a role. If so, we're probably looking at failure of the 'drive by wire' fully electronic throttle system.
Toyota Recall: Fails to Address Cause of Many Sudden Acceleration Cases, Expert Says - ABC News
Stay tuned.