Car Guy
How Smart Is Today’s Toyota Driver?
Perhaps Driver’s Ed should be teaching its charges what to do if the accelerator gets stuck.
A couple of thoughts about the ongoing (and metastasizing) Toyota Debacle….
First, it reveals how little the average person knows about cars these days — and thus, how to deal with problems when they come up.
The first is the result, ironically enough, of the near-perfection of modern cars. We’ve become used to vehicles that just work — like magic, almost. It might be -10 degrees outside (or 110 degrees) but the thing will start right up, not spit or stall or balk — or overheat or cause any problems whatsoever (usually). It’s taken for granted the car will get you there, every time.
And it almost always does.
That’s not how it was before the mid-'80s. In those Dark Days, cars were recalcitrant and balky. Often, you had to coax them to start — and do the machine-equivalent of hold its hand sometimes, until it was running reasonably well enough to risk actually driving it somewhere. Overheating and stalling out were common, everyday problems.
Thus, more people knew how to deal with such problems because they had no other choice. When stuck by the side of the road, it’s motivating to pop open the hood and see whether you can pull on something (or kick it) to get going again.
Also in the Dark Days, many more people performed basic maintenance such as tune-ups themselves — chiefly, because they could. The cars were more or less simple and the tools pretty basic. That’s all gone now, of course. Modern cars are computer-controlled Whatzitz made of Unobtainium whose workings are utterly inscrutable and completely bewildering. So we hand them off to the Pros — who work their magic and present us with the bill.
This usually works out OK, too — except more and more of us are now utterly dependent on the Pros and incapable of dealing with situations when they do develop.
Unwanted acceleration. You are driving along and notice the gas pedal (or throttle cable) is sticking. My generation — Generation X — dealt with this almost routinely. I had a ‘74 VW with a cable that ran through a rusty tube, which sometimes made the cable jam and the car surge forward. No big deal. A quick shift into neutral (to disconnect the revving engine from the driven wheels) then kill the ignition (to avoid over-revving the engine), on the brakes (to slow the car) and gimp it to the side of the road, then get out and fix whatever needed fixing.
Anyone over 40 today knows this drill. But many younger people have no clue because they never had to deal with such a situation themselves and more crucially, were never told what to do if such a situation did develop.
Driver “education” is almost entirely about propagandizing new drivers to consider even thinking about driving faster than any posted speed limit anywhere, anytime the Primal Evil — and to never take the initiative. The law is the law — even if following it to the letter ends up getting you into a wreck. (For example: You must always come to a complete stop at a Stop sign — even if it is a driving blizzard and the Stop sign is at the very top of a snow-slicked hill and stopping completely will almost certainly mean your car will roll backwards down the hill — and into whatever happens to be behind you.)
The fallout of this is a whole generation of people whose instinctive reaction to unintended acceleration is to scream and enjoy the ride.
In the case of Toyota this is just what’s happened. Driver notices the pedal’s stuck and the car is surging forward. Driver plays Frogger in traffic — or drives through a plate glass window and into a shopping mall. Anything — except, put the car in neutral, shut off the engine and coast to the side of the road.
With a modern car, you don’t even have to kill the engine to avoid grenading it from over-revving. All modern cars have electronic rev controllers that prevent this. So one step is eliminated — and you still have power steering and brakes.
Nothing could be simpler. But it’s apparently beyond the ken of the latter-day American motorist.
About the Author
Eric Peters is an automotive columnist and author of Automotive Atrocities: The Cars You Love to Hate (Motor Books International) and a new book, Road Hogs.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (112) | Leave a comment
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JimP| 2.10.10 @ 6:38AM
A great column, Eric, and so true.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 2.10.10 @ 6:43AM
As I was driving to the store and back yesterday I came upon two stuck vehicles. The first vehicle was a Jeep, and was completely blocking the side street. It appeared abandoned. I blew the horn several times which mustered two people from the house. When they came out and got I observed the wheels spinning. I then approached them and asked, "Isn't this 4 wheel drive?" They said yes. I then looked inside and noticed they didn't have it activated. It was just a handle that you moved forward. I activated it for them and they moved into their driveway. A few moments later and around the corner another car stuck in the middle of the road blocking everyone. I got out and went up the car. The ladies were all hysterical and I asked if they minded if I tried it. As soon as I sat down I observed a button with what looked like snowflakes on it. I pushed it and hit the gas and the car started to move immediately. They then drove away.
The author may have a point about cars becoming more sophisticated then the public's knowledge to handle them, but I also wonder if our society has created a moron class, who has to be catered to and can't expend any effort at deductive reasoning.
Kevin| 2.10.10 @ 9:02AM
"I also wonder if our society has created a moron class, who has to be catered to and can't expend any effort at deductive reasoning. "
Well put. And this extends beyond automobiles. We have a class of people who don't even have a working theory of how things operate, and hence go into total paralysis when they don't. I have observed this with the hooking up of audio equipment. The idea that, ignoring all other complexities, outputs go to inputs is just beyond many people's ability to grasp. You can't use analogy - saying it's like plumbing (inlets go to outlets), because many have not considered how that works either.
If there are any Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy fans out there, you will recall the planet that ended up with a surplus of lawyers and hairdressers, and had to ship them off to another planet to reset their civilization . ..
Thunderbottom| 2.10.10 @ 10:05AM
I believe that the more our personal technology advances, the more stupid and boorish people become - young people in particular. We have kids who know all about Facebook, Twitter, and texting, but with regard to math and science knowledge, US middle school and high school children rank around 26th to 28th among industrialized nations. We have kids who can't do simple math in their heads and who can't make change without the help of a computerized cash register. As a cub scout, I remember building crystal radio sets and electric motors from scratch. Kids - and a lot of older people, too - know nothing about basic mechanics (as in physics - the wedge, the lever, the inclined plane, the wheel and axle, mechanical advantage, conservation of motion, etc.)
Paul Nelason| 2.10.10 @ 7:46PM
"Any technology, sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from Magic"
Otis my man!| 2.10.10 @ 10:08AM
My brother gave my son a used 1987 VW golf when my son turned 16. He experienced the exact same runaway acceleration described by the author here in his '74 VW and my son handled the situation the exact same way - shift to neutral, kill the ignition, hit the brakes.
He was never trained to do that. It was quick thinking on his part in an emergency situation. So perhaps there is some hope for young people after all.
John Daniel| 2.10.10 @ 6:55AM
Driver's Ed? What happened to common sense? And how much of this piling on Toyota is driven by the UAW?
ggoblue| 2.10.10 @ 7:34AM
its not driven by the uaw i can assure you of that. they arent that smart and they are certainly not in control of government. [i'm a 30 yr member] the unreported fact of the matter is that we have been forced to give up 50 yrs of progress in obamas first 100 days...his name is dirt on the shop floor and we republicans have spent 9 months saying "we told you so"....
it is simply toyotas turn to take a media screwing.
here's an example of what we americans are used to...i worked in a plant that made fords and mazdas side by side...the probe and the 626...they were exact carbon copies with all parts except taillights and trim interchageable....one was rated top of the line by consumer reports, the other got a middling rating. of course the ford automatically sucked. thats what we've been up against and now it is simply toyotas turn.
as for the gist of this blog...of course americans are stupid, they elected an overt communist with no credentials to be president. it doesn't get any stupider than that. thank god for obama he at least woke up the masses politically. now we get to tell the whole country "we told you so" and sweep some real change into washington this november.
Larry In Iowa| 2.10.10 @ 1:45PM
It was the same story for Toyota's and Chevy's made in California. The Toyota was always considered superior to the Chevy despite being identical cars made the same people with the same parts in the same factory. I dropped my subscription to Consumer Reports after that.
John Daniel| 2.10.10 @ 4:11PM
ggoblue - Thanks for the insight. BTW, it's been all downhill since the '69 Charger....
xiphos| 2.10.10 @ 1:19PM
Thank you John, short and to the point.
Lawrence Boccardi| 2.10.10 @ 7:38AM
I'm driving my 6th Toyota. I have become so cynical of the Obama's, that I am certain this pressure on Toyota, is to better prop up Government Motors. The bally-hooed floor mat problem can, and does, occur in any model car. Not enough! Let's find 16 dolts who shouldn't be allowed to vote, much less drive, and wreak havoc. Nope, I don't believe it.
Bruce | 2.10.10 @ 2:40PM
Lawrence - I have been talking up the exact same thinking for the past few weeks. The MSM trumpets headlines "Problems with Fords!", "Callbacks for Honda!", etc. I find it very strange that all this is happening now, after Zero nationalizes GM and Chrysler - very strange indeed.
As to the point Mr. Peters is making ... he is absolutely correct there. America is becoming more and more stupid, and the lack of common sense displayed by the average person these days is STAGGERING. Hey dumbo - turn off the freaking engine! Is that so hard?
Mike Giles| 2.10.10 @ 9:38PM
I wouldn't be surprised if the Dems old friends, the Trial lawyers were behind a little bit of the Toyota hullabaloo. Toyota is a big, rich, target.
SC Mike| 2.10.10 @ 7:47AM
Shades of 60 Minutes 1986 expose of Audi's unintended acceleration. It took Audi 15 years to recover.
Do you recall the verdict? Driver error.
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cjm_18.htm
Toyota is indeed screwed. But the software glitch in the Prius brakes is another matter. Having worked around software engineers most of my life, the thought of spaghetti code controlling brake components scares the dickens out of me.
MikeBee| 2.10.10 @ 8:51AM
SC Mike,
Thank you for your comments. I have wondered if we are "computerizing" too much of the car, when we shouldn't. Perhaps there are some functions on a car which shouldn't be computerized, but should remain simply mechanical. Brakes are a good example. I first noticed that some computerized functions in cars were deficient when compared to mechanical when I sold my 1991 Civic and got another car, a 2002 something. The '91 Civic had air vent controls which were manual. When I needed to switch the heat from the floor to the windshield, so that I could see, it was almost instantaneous. But, in my 2002 vehicle, this function was computerized. I had to wait five seconds or more for the computer to switch the heat to the windshield, blocking my vision if I waited too long to switch. Computers are wonderful things; but they often are deficient when compared to simple mechanical functions.
SC Mike| 2.10.10 @ 10:02AM
Your vents and other HVAC controls are vacuum-actuated, not cable-operated as on your previous vehicle. They are probably operating to spec, but you might want to check / have checked the vacuum system for leaks.
FWIW, my 2008 Fusion has an automatic HVAC, but I keep it on "manual," a feature some models don’t offer.
tired| 2.10.10 @ 11:55PM
In the '90s, some brands moved from the vacuum actuators to electric motors for HVAC functions.
Torquemeda| 2.10.10 @ 11:29AM
If you think today's cars are 'over-computerized' - just what do you think the whole movement to instrument and computerize everything is all about? Just because you have lots of data - doesn't guarantee intelligence nor smart decisions - just who do you think is writing all the code that will control all those 'smart' devices out there.
PS. It isn't anyone interested in individual initiative.
Torquemeda| 2.10.10 @ 11:29AM
If you think today's cars are 'over-computerized' - just what do you think the whole movement to instrument and computerize everything is all about? Just because you have lots of data - doesn't guarantee intelligence nor smart decisions - just who do you think is writing all the code that will control all those 'smart' devices out there.
PS. It isn't anyone interested in individual initiative.
Becky| 2.10.10 @ 8:00AM
I, like most country kids, drove before we went to driver's training. My first car was a tractor. We had manual transmission cars and you could pop the clutch to start it somewhere when you left the lights on, etc.
Tim| 2.10.10 @ 9:18AM
Ahh the Ford 8N. You can see the engine and all of its parts. You can touch things and see what they do.
Marc Boyd | 2.10.10 @ 10:03PM
I own an old 8N/9N hybrid. It was put together some time in the past from someone's spare parts, I think. It also was updated to Alternator and 12 V ignition and Starter. I need to find some steering parts, but it is still sound. And fun.
Melvin| 2.10.10 @ 8:08AM
Americans through indoctrination at government run schools are taught to be hysterical and freeze with fear.
Ahh, the days of learning to drive in a 55 Chevy Canary Yellow pickup with the floorboards rusted out in the middle of a wheat field full straw. Driving in circles in first gear thats the ticket. Lesson two-10 was learning to be coordinated enough to shift gears with a clutch.
Jamie W.| 2.10.10 @ 8:15AM
Thank you for this. I have a fifteen-year-old who will be learning to drive soon, and you've made me rethink the whole teaching process. I hope I am not the only one.
Kevin| 2.10.10 @ 9:04AM
I have often wondered why we can't use four years of high school to produce drivers with State Trooper skill levels?
Driver's Ed teaches you how to drive a car when everything is going right, and not a bit (unless it is individual teacher initiative) about what to do when things go wrong. "Always leave an out" is not enough.
Ned| 2.10.10 @ 10:46AM
Kevin - you must have missed the news clip about the person who killed his whole family when his loaner Lexus did the "unintended" thing and took them off the road at 120... he WAS a State Trooper... and their fatal ride lasted long enough that they called 911 and reported what was happening... but didn't have enough time to reach over and T-A-K-E I-T O-U-T O-F GEAR... plus it was a loaner, so who cares if it blows up!?
That speaks volumes about the poor quality of drivers that are out there right now, waiting for you.
"A walk through the ocean of most men's souls will scarcely get your feet wet."
Roger| 2.10.10 @ 8:17AM
Everyone out here in flyover country is not stupid. I strongly suspect there have been plenty of people who recognized they had a problem and put the car in neutral and got off the road but unfortunately there are surely those who haven't got a clue and NOW we are managing to the exceptions (those people who do aparently need to be protected from themselves). It is the price we pay for a government that too many people apparently want to have, one that takes care of everything for us.
TexasEngineer| 2.10.10 @ 8:27AM
There is a simple adage that applies to almost any piece of equipment. If you follow what the adage advises, you will have the answer to most any dilema that comes along. The adage? R.T.F.M.
Read The Freaking Manual.
Curly Smith| 2.10.10 @ 8:44AM
It looks like Toyota caught the Swine Flu Hysteria. What would the media do for ratings if we all weren't going to die?. Global Warming fizzled, the Swine Flu flew, so now we're accelerating into oblivion with Toyota.
Forget about the Owners Manual, just turn off the TV. The one thing that you can be certain of is that the media over-reports trivia and trivializes the real news. Obama and the democrats destroying the economy , the IPCC imploding , democratic rule bankrupting cities and states , Girl Scout cookies causing secondhand obesity - next on Oprah!
LQQKY| 2.10.10 @ 8:56AM
I am shocked! SHOCKED! No one has had sense enough to ask the most basic question of all, and that is: What would Bob do? :-{
MikeBee| 2.10.10 @ 9:03AM
I've been helping to run manufacturing companies since 1994. There's a simple fact of manufacturing that Toyota has gotten caught up in: when volumes go up, quality goes down. This is unfortunate for Toyota, which became popular with drivers worldwide because of their reputation for high quality. In fact, they were the first auto company to put out a car, in the early 1980s, which didn't need a tuneup until it reached 100,000 miles. It has become common to find older model Toyotas on the road, rusting out around the engine and interior.
But Toyota decided to beat General Motors, and become the largest car company in the world. Increasing their volumes/output in this manner, quality began to suffer, as it always will. Apparently, Toyota's executives and managers were too focused on selling the most cars, and forgot about quality. It will take them many years to bring their quality back, and to recover their volumes (if volumes ever recover for them).
SC Mike| 2.10.10 @ 10:06AM
Have no fear, the hyenas are moving in for Toyota's carcass.
http://www.washingtonexaminer......04552.html
Trial lawyers are signing up Toyota owners for what will be the largest lawsuit since Wile E. Coyote V. Acme Products.
http://www.torinfo.com/justfor....._acme.html
Tom| 2.10.10 @ 1:21PM
I think cell phones and the GPS make people stupid.
2Gunz| 2.10.10 @ 1:34PM
Just finished reading an article in "Car & Driver", where they tested just what happens when you hold the throttle down and then apply the brakes. From 80mph the Toyota took just 20 ft farther to stop, and that was with the car left in gear. The same with a Lexus. The Infiniti they tested stopped in the same distance, mostly because, their "drive by wire" shuts off the throttle when the brakes are applied. The only vehicle that took longe to stop was a 550hp Mustang, it took 3 times as much distance for the brakes to overcome the engine.
SC Mike| 2.10.10 @ 1:47PM
Popular Mechanics has good observations on why the Toyota backlash is overblown.
http://www.popularmechanics.co.....45385.html
Big Java| 2.10.10 @ 2:48PM
Growing up, my father was a Ford man. When it was cold, you would be sure and bundle up because no matter how far you were going, around the block or 60 miles away, the heater would not start working until you were almost at your destination. And when starting it for the fisrt time of the day, wheather 10 degrees below or 80 above, you had to pump the gas pedel 4 times all the way down to the floor, then start it.
I love my big, safe, warm in the winter, cool in the summer Tundra.
David D| 2.10.10 @ 5:25PM
Years ago I remember watching one of the morning shows and they had this woman who's accellerator got stuck and she couldn't stop her car. She called 911 on her cell phone and they dispatched a patrol car who then pulled in front of the woman and slowed down so the woman ran up against the patrol car and then he slowed down and got her to stop.
The hosts were interviewing her and the police officer and all I could think of is "No one at the dispatch center or any of the police officers thought to tell her to put the car in neutral or turn the ignition off?"
Richard Baker| 2.10.10 @ 5:29PM
Drivers Education in the High Schools is the major cause of driver timidity and stupidity. Look around you and you'll notice that the younger drivers (I'm 57 and got my license in 1968 in Virginia) always look scared to me when they are driving down the road and the "What do I do mentality" comes from the Drivers Ed method of teaching the kids to drive with bored Gym teachers. I watched the Drivers Ed kids when I was a High
School teacher and noted their fearfulfulness. My opinion, of course. Another sterling achievement of Government.
Interested Conservative| 2.10.10 @ 5:36PM
I once drove a Volvo to and from work for a month without a starter motor. Had to park it facing downhill, and only had a Flintstone start once or twice.
Took longer to explain to the kids what "stick" and "jump" mean.
astonerii| 2.10.10 @ 5:44PM
All the things you say are true about what to do in a situation like that.
I have driven many older vehicles and I have never experienced an auto accelerating car. Although I would have known what to do if it happened to me. While you suggest hitting neutral first, I am certain I would have cut the engine first. Reasons being; first it only takes a few seconds for a stuck accelerator to over RPM an engine, second is that cars are set up to survive easily an engine that dies, for a stick shift you hit the clutch, for an automatic, the torque converter will allow the car to coast.
The differences of situations today are much different than they were 30 years ago. There is much more traffic congestion, people are much more distracted with the number of other things going on around them and they have not been taught to focus and concentrate on the tasks they are performing, people are not as educated as they were in critical thinking. Congestion leaves very little room for error, when there is an error a distracted person may take more time to recognize there is a problem, once realizing there is a problem the person ends up with two handicaps which are less time to react because more time was spent recognizing the problem and less ability to apply critical thought quickly to come up with valid solutions.
John| 2.10.10 @ 5:49PM
Here's another bit of ignorance about cars and inertia. Ever notice how people reflexively tailgate these days? It's as if they think their brakes are magic buttons that cause the laws of physics to be suspended, allowing their cars to stop on a dime no matter how fast they are traveling. Does anyone know anybody who ever got a ticket for tailgaiting? No? Ever wonder why not.
Ken (Old Texican)| 2.10.10 @ 6:38PM
Heh, John.
...not only tailgating...but jabbering on a cell phone while tailgating.
...dumb as dirt, drivers. Great post, heh.
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Mark| 2.10.10 @ 6:55PM
I don't know about other vehicles but my Dodge pickups steering wheel locks up when you shut it off so shutting off the engine might not be a good first option.
Motorhead| 2.10.10 @ 7:17PM
Mark, you might want to check that switch. Every modern vehicle I have owned has 2 positions. The first shuts off the engine, the second locks the wheel.
That's the way we tow a vehicle behind our motorhome
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ExPat| 2.11.10 @ 9:28AM
When I was young I drove a Morgan, a Brit sportscar kind of similar to the old MG's. There was a little foot pedal under the dash that you had to push every couple of hundred miles to divert oil from the engine to lubricate the front suspension. I remember taking off the carb and cleaning and rebuilding it on newspaper on Mom's kitchen table. A runaway throttle cable was a no brainer back then. Ah, the good old days.
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Motorhead:
Exactly.
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