Yet another recall...

JCL · #11 05-20-2010, 01:27 PM

Yes, the accelerator pedal made by CTS is a mechanical issue. The only problem is, it can't cause the accelerator pedal to be depressed. It can reportedly cause the pedal to be slow to come back to idle.

But it hasn't been implicated in the unintended acceleration recall, except in the consumer press. When CTS (the pedal manufacturer) went on the offensive, and put out a press release clarifying the issue, Toyota publicly agreed with the CTS statements. Toyota and CTS both confirmed that there has never been an accident caused by the pedal. The pedal wasn't even used on all of the cars implicated in the recall. It was being replaced as a cautionary measure (to show the public that they were doing something). But the news media didn't give that the same coverage, because they had their targets firmly fixed on what they believed was the cause.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTS press release

Elkhart, IN…CTS Corporation (NYSE: CTS) today provided comments on Toyota’s recent accelerator pedal recall. As previously announced by Toyota, the January 21 voluntary recall results from what Toyota described as “a rare set of conditions which may cause the accelerator pedal to become harder to depress, slower to return or, in the worst case, stuck in a partially depressed position.” Toyota said this condition “is rare and occurs gradually over a period of time.”
As has been publically stated by Toyota, we have no knowledge of any accidents or injuries that have resulted from this rare potential condition. Based on information that Toyota has provided us, we are aware of fewer than a dozen instances where this condition has occurred, and in no instance did the accelerator actually become stuck in a partially depressed condition.
As Toyota stated, this recall is different from and unrelated to the “sudden, unintended acceleration issue” which was the subject of the November 2009 Toyota recall. In the November recall, the pedals in Toyota models dated back to model year 2002. CTS became a pedal supplier in 2005. Accordingly, our products are not implicated by the November 2009 recall. The products we supply to Toyota, including the pedals covered by the recent recall, have been manufactured to Toyota’s design specifications.....

Full press release: CTS News Release

So, we have a case of trial by media. And the public thinks that the gas pedal component caused it. BS. I believe that we still don't know what the cause was, if there was in fact one to find.

The hype is just ridiculous. How many people are reported to have died due to this problem? Something like 40? How many die every day on the highways of the US? 40 people dying is very sad, and I feel for their families. But think back to the videos of the people phoning 911 to ask what to do while they were driving down the highway. If Darwin's theory worked correctly, those people would be out of the gene pool now. Again, 40 people dying is tragic. How many minutes does it take for 40 people to die in the US from preventable/treatable lung cancers, 24/7/365? How about we put smoke detectors in cars, like in airplanes? That would save more people than the whole gas pedal nonsense.

Anyway, Toyota will survive just fine. Ford is doing great now, building good cars again, with good consumer acceptance, and that is after having the most vehicles recalled of any manufacturer in history a few years back. Good for them, and I wish Toyota success as well.