Dragging Toyota Through the Media Muck

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This case also shows how the reporting of incidents like these evolves. The public will always remember the original speculation, but few of the final facts.

At first, the San Diego Union-Tribune legitimately asked how a gas pedal could become trapped by a floor mat. After that potential problem was discovered, Toyota's 2007 and 2008 recalls should have resolved it. But it turns out that this particular Lexus ES 350 did not contain the new mats. According to the report released by NHTSA, the vehicle instead had larger floor mats made to fit a Lexus RX crossover. Worse, Lexus managers have relayed that in a conference call on that case, a Toyota official informed them that those mats were placed in the vehicle face down. That's not uncommon in dealerships that offer loaner cars. (John Hanson, a safety spokesman with Toyota, last week said that he was not aware of "the floor mats' being put in upside down." He promised to verify or refute the report, but as of this writing has not.)

The NHTSA report also shows heat damage to the brake system on Saylor's Lexus, which would seem to rule out nonfunctioning brakes. In a further Union-Tribune story, the sheriff's report implied that part of the floor mat appeared to be covering part of the vehicle's gas pedal. The newspaper also reported that an eyewitness "said she passed the car, then saw in her rearview mirror that it was pulling over to the right shoulder." Then the car apparently accelerated past her, leading to the fatal crash. At one point, then—if the eyewitness is correct—Saylor was starting to get control of the car.

Why didn't Saylor put the vehicle into neutral to negate the effect of the racing engine? There's further speculation that it might not have been possible; Expert Witness Services' Daniel Vomhof III suggested that a failure in the electronic software system might prevent a driver from shifting the car into neutral, but it's unlikely.

That's the problem with open speculation: It's a legitimate way to study an issue, but it doesn't become fact until the engineering studies are complete.

As for the likelihood that the braking system could not have stopped Saylor's Lexus, given its acceleration, the staff at Car & Driver examined the speculation for the upcoming March issue. The story shows that the Camry's brakes "can easily overcome all 268 horsepower" put out by its engine at full throttle and it adds that doing so takes "just 16 feet longer [distance] than with the Camry's throttle closed." Car & Driver did point out that in spite of the cars' successful brake performances in its tests, Toyota has not installed software code that would order the throttle to shut down if braking pressure were applied.

It's a fair bet that Toyota will address that redundant safety measure soon.

a Perfect Storm of Wrong Moves?

Based on the facts known about the San Diego case, the most likely situation probably (but not necessarily) unfolded in this manner.

The wrong floor mats were placed in the car, probably covering part of the gas pedal. At one point, Saylor pressed the brake pedal and the floor mat transferred the pressure to the nearby gas pedal, which would make it seem as if the car were accelerating on its own. It's possible that the more pressure he applied to the brakes, the more pressure the trapped floor mat transferred to the nearby gas pedal, which would have raised the engine's RPM—bleeding off the power-assist vacuum to the brakes. Eventually Saylor was down to just straight hydraulic brake pressure, which requires braking hard and constantly. If he started pumping the brakes, it might have been insufficient to stop the car.

This may be what the case is really about: In unexpected and sudden road emergencies—at the height of panic—we are a nation of amateur drivers.

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