NHTSA: N.Y. Prius incident was human error

[PBS Poll-435]

NHTSA: N.Y. Prius incident was human error
Last Updated: March 18. 2010 4:23PM
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
The Detroit News



Washington -- Federal investigators say a highly publicized accident involving a suspected runaway Toyota Prius in New York was caused by human error, not bad brakes. "Information retrieved from the vehicle's onboard computer systems indicated there was no application of the brakes and the throttle was fully open," NHTSA said in a statement of a Harrison, N.Y., crash. NHTSA officials said the findings mean the accident was caused by the driver.

Toyota sent six investigators and NHTSA sent two investigators to look at the vehicle that was driven by a housekeeper and crashed into a stone wall in the New York City suburb March 9. The housekeeper had blamed the incident on the vehicle, saying it wouldn't stop.

Toyota's separate investigation into a March 8 incident, in which a 61-year-old man said his 2008 Prius reached speeds of more than 90 miles an hour on its own on a San Diego freeway, has found no evidence to back up the claim. The investigation showed the brakes and accelerator had been applied more than 250 times.

Toyota, meanwhile, is taking a more aggressive role in its own defense, following its bruising recall of more than 8.5 million vehicles worldwide over sudden acceleration concerns. The automaker has demanded a retraction and public apology from ABC News over a Feb. 22 story that the automaker says used a "fabricated" shot. It also said ABC News failed to disclose that an expert quoted was a paid consultant.




Next?

[Taverner]

1. I KNEW IT!!!!!

[xultar]

2. Does Toyota send the checks directly to your house or do you get direct deposit?

Inquiring minds just wanna know.

[PBS Poll-435]

4. Metallic briefcase dropped by a helicopter

:hide:

[xultar]

5. Figured. ROFL

[Dreamer Tatum]

6. Odd that a human could cause an auto accident, isn't it?

Seems awfully fishy to me, given humans' perfect safety record in operating motor vehicles.

[xultar]

9. I'm having fun with PBS Poll 435. I'll have fun with you later.

[TK421]

14. They use Mothra for air-mailing n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. Pretty obvious, really.

I guess all the GM shills knew the whole time to, I don't know why they bothered to keep up the facade all this time.

[csziggy]

7. In this case and in the California case, where is the info coming from

About which pedals were pressed and how often? If from the Toyota computers in the vehicles, who is actually reading the data and what software is used to read it? If the software is proprietary Toyota software, who is capable of monitoring to make sure that the results are accurate?

If the root of the "braking" problem is computer error how easy would it be for Toyota to have introduced code in their software to have the results of any computer diagnostic show that it is caused by operator error rather than by a fault in the computer software?

I have no clue as to the answers to these questions, but I have been wondering since the first reports that mentioned the possibility of computer problems.

[liberal N proud]

8. That is what I want to know

Who is actually reading the data?

The car in California was towed directly to a Toyota dealership.

[Statistical]

10. Nobody is saying the root of the braking problem is human error... rather

there is a genuine issue with accelerator in some Toyota models.

However you then get follow-on effect.

If this lady 2 years ago had crashed her car likely even she would have concluded she accidentally was pushing the gas instead of brake (it happens a lot more than people realize).
However all the media attention about Toyota problems (as if they are universal and affect 100% of vehicles in 100% of the models in 100% of the years) the blame gets shifted.

The driver is convinced her Toyota was defective. There are defective Toyotas but hers isn't one of them.

[frylock]

11. you're being far too logical..

embrace the toyata hatred.

[spoony]

12. "Nobody is saying the root of the braking problem is human error"

Er, actually the OP is, in another current thread.

[PBS Poll-435]

13. In the California situation, yes. nt

[spoony]

15. And...in every other case

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7945750&mesg_id=7947784

[PBS Poll-435]

16. Pretty much. The real question is would this lady in New York still have crashed her Prius

Into a wall if Toyota's problems weren't discussed daily in the media?

:shrug:

[spoony]

18. WOW. So it's the media discussing Toyota's problem, rather than Toyota's problem

that is endangering people? I have to hand it to you, that's some audacious stance you're taking. It's insane, and I certainly understand why people are questioning your employment, but it's novel in any case.

[PBS Poll-435]

20. Sec. LaHood didn't help when he told people to not drive "those cars"

And then retracted it a few hours later...

:shrug:

[Fumesucker]

17. Sorry, humans don't make errors when driving Toyotas..

Only in domestic vehicles are humans capable of error..

[readmoreoften]

19. It's obviously a case of failure to accept personal responsibility. Everything is!

So says the liable company and its shills. A trustworthy source no doubt.

[PBS Poll-435]

21. Kick?

:shrug:




:yoiks:

[Odin2005]

22. BULLSHIT!!!

[PBS Poll-435]

23. Why?

[anigbrowl]

24. Who needs reasons when you've got emotions?

There's a large number of people on DU who have little or no interest in evidence-based inquiry.