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Jaybird wrote:You know ___, I have to agree. I too realize there is an issue with the cars but........I just asked my wife what she would do if it happen to her. She said she would drop it in the lowest gear, stand on the brakes , get to the side of the road and turn it off. Calling me would not even enter her mind. I personally thought neutral, get to the side of the road and turn it off. Lets see a possible blown engine on one hand and kill myself or someone else on the other. Pretty much a no brainer to me. Also, don't newer cars have a rev limiter to keep from bending push rods and punching holes in pistons? 6 miles at 100 mph. Then she said it tried to start again?? Not sure what that meant. Maybe the car was possessed. Must have been complete and total panic to hang on for that long.

E_HILLMAN wrote:Ummmmmmmm, you all might want to rewatch the testimony.

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_____ wrote:I remember when I was 16, had an 83' Chevy S-10. Mashed the pedal and it got hung on the floor mat with wide open throttle. I quickly turned the key, fixed the problem and went on my way. But, back in those days we didn't have cell phones.

Toyota official: 'We need to come clean'
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Writers Larry Margasak And Ken Thomas, Associated Press Writers
13 mins ago

.WASHINGTON – Five days before Toyota announced a massive recall, a U.S. public relations executive at the automaker warned colleagues in an internal e-mail: "We need to come clean" about accelerator problems, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

"We are not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet," wrote Irv Miller, group vice president for environment and public affairs. "The time to hide on this one is over."

The recently retired Miller wrote the e-mail on Jan. 16, 2010, as Toyota officials were on their way to Washington to discuss the problems with federal regulators. On Jan. 21, Toyota announced it would recall 2.3 million vehicles to address sticking pedals in six vehicle models.

The e-mail reveals deep concerns within the company's leadership that Toyota wasn't dealing with the safety problems effectively and could damage the automaker's sterling reputation for producing safe and reliable vehicles. The company already had announced a recall of more than 4 million vehicles in late September 2009 to replace gas pedals that could get stuck in floor mats and cause sudden acceleration.

"We better just hope that they can get NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) to work with us in coming (up) with a workable solution that does not put us out of business," Miller wrote.

The e-mail was addressed to Katsuhiko Koganei, executive coordinator for corporate communications for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.

"I hate to break this to you but WE HAVE A tendency for MECHANICAL failure in accelerator pedals of a certain manufacturer on certain models," Miller's e-mail began with several words in capital letters.

In a memo earlier that day, Koganei wrote Mike Michels, vice president of external communications, "Now I talked with you on the phone, we should not mention about the mechanical failures of acc. pedal because we have not clarified the real cause of the sticking acc pedal formally, and the remedy for the matter has not been confirmed."

Koganei further wrote that Toyota executives were concerned that news of the mechanical failures "might raise another uneasiness of customers."

The subject line said the e-mail was in regard to a draft statement to respond to an ABC News story.

A Toyota official said Wednesday the company had no comment on the e-mails. Miller, reached by phone at his home in Los Angeles, also said he had no comment. His retirement was announced by Toyota on Dec. 16 and his retirement was effective Feb. 1.

The Transportation Department has assessed a record $16.4 million fine on Toyota for failing to alert the U.S. government to the safety problems about the sticking accelerator pedals quickly enough. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday that Toyota made a "huge mistake" by not disclosing the safety problems sooner.

Concerns about sticking gas pedals and complaints from Toyota owners in the U.S. were rising at the end of 2009, according to documents obtained by the AP. The documents show that on Sept. 29, Toyota's European division issued technical information "identifying a production improvement and repair procedure to address complaints by customers in those countries of sticking accelerator pedals, sudden rpm increase and/or sudden vehicle acceleration."

Distributors throughout Europe and in Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Israel received the technical information.

In mid-January, Toyota held internal meetings "to discuss status of production changes and to prepare for meetings with NHTSA" on Jan. 19, according to the timeline. Two days later, Toyota announced it would recall 2.3 million vehicles to address the sticking pedals.

The documents obtained by the AP were among 70,000 pages of papers turned over to government investigators.

Toyota has recalled more than 6 million vehicles in the U.S. and a total of more than 8 million worldwide because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius hybrid.

The Japanese automaker was still weighing its options Wednesday about whether to accept or contest the fine. It has also been named in 138 potential class-action lawsuits over falling vehicle values and nearly 100 personal injury and wrongful death cases in federal courts.