But the point is, they wait too long and to this day, neither Ford nor Firestone accepts fault. So I’m not holding my breath. Even if kill switches were announced tomorrow, it be sometime before we’d see it through Toyota.

However, some enterprising mechanics should be able to pull this off quickly. Anybody doing this?

I disagree on the creating a law, lets do an executive order now, force all manufacturers to install kill switches depending on the control factors regarding electronics and software. I wish someone would start advertising this for Toyota’s, I’d get it today.

The problem is Toyota will never admit a problem and the government will wait forever to act. So more people will die unneccesarily. I can’t believe they actually blamed the Lexus crash on foot pedal and pads, what BS. I’m not saying that the pedal can’t stick or the pad can’t jam the pedal but it’s just not that believable or it would have happened a lot more.

For whatever reason, faulty software, electronics or signal interference from cell-towers, Toyota has a problem that will not soon be fixed. If they cannot easily repeat the scenario in the lab, kill switch is the only thing left, otherwise we all have a bunch of boat anchors. <>

And like others have mentioned it’s not just a Toyota problem.

Thanks, someone finally said what you said, which I muttered since day 1 but does Toyota? GM? Obama? noooooo.

And you know what else bothers me, Toyota’s override braking system, now isn’t that going to operate with the same software and electronics that the rest of the car uses? So I’ve already have a time-bomb, what if the override braking system decides NOT to engage when it’s running away at full throttle?

Sorry but I’m a software engineer and if the system is running away at full throttle nothing but a kill switch will stop it, because it’s not listening to any inputs. So if they put the brake override system on using a separate circuit, etc. there’s still collusion in the electronics somewhere. What makes anyone think that the same unexplained bug in a runaway car can’t occur in the brake override. Damn that’s it, I will have a new gas tank installed with a removable plug on the bottom, which of course has a cable attached to it. Runaway, no problem, I just pull the cable, no more gas!!!!

Better yet, just tie a cable to the fuel line so I can just rip it out. I know I know I may start a fire, but hey by the time the car stops it probably won’t have spread too far and I can run away! LOL!

Thanks for the article.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that, for a variety of reasons, mostly centering around safety features, emissions and fuel economy, automakers found it necessary to take away direct control of the engine from the driver. For example, if your car has stability control the computer overrides the driver and retards the throttle when stability control engages. Same thing with anti-spin control, newer generation anti-lock brakes, etc. Also, the computer controls the engine in stick shift cars to avoid sudden RPM drop bursts of unburned fuel thru the exhaust. When you try to shift, the computer holds the RPMS high even though you’ve let off the throttle. That keeps the exhaust hot, and keeps burning the fuel.

Automakers will give you 100 reasons why their “intelligent” computer is smarter than you in controlling the engine. My ’06 Tundra’s engine has a mind of its own. Every time I shift, no matter when I let off of the gas I get a 100-200 RPM INCREASE in RPMs. The effect is like riding with a 15-year-old learning to drive a stick.

If I shift to neutral at about 30 MPH and coast down, you should see all the speed-sensitive RPM increases and decreases that take place until the truck comes to a stop with no input on my part whatsoever (brake or gas). It’s frightening, and one reason I like to drive stick–at least I have the option of putting in the clutch and/or forcing the manual tranny into neutral.

And the ’06 also still has a key, something that should never have been eliminated from other cars. How stupid to put a “computer controlled” ignition into a car–just like the on/off switches on a laptop. How many times does my laptop crash or refuse to go on or off during the year, but at least it doesn’t crash at 100mph with my soft pink self imprisoned inside. To transfer what’s effectively the same technology (“press the power button for 3 seconds to force the car to shut down”–only a technician should have to know this stuff!) to an automobile is asking for carnage IMHO.

Thank you so much, Brad. Means a lot.

Gunnar, as always, I really enjoy this site. Keep up the great work.

Best,
Brad Starcevich