Page 330 - Acceleration News Today

Company executives rolled out a handful of 2008 prius hybrids to demonstrate the brake override system. >> so were going 45, 55. >> reporter: toyota was so eager to prove their point they allowed reporters to get behind the wheel of a similar prius at speeds of 50 miles an hour and have their drivers -- >> bring the speed up to 60, 70, 80 -- >> reporter: try to simulate an out-of-control acceleration at 80 miles an hour. in every instance when the brake was pushed firmly down, the car slowed dow...

Coping during the start of a stressle -- >> i lived in upstate new york, and even back in the 70s youd hear stories about how students would jump off bridges into the gorges. the seattle times, this may sound far-fetched but federal regulators are study if sudden accelerators is linked to cosmic radiation. they have long affected airplanes and known for triggering errors in computer systems. it shows how deep they are digging to solve the mystery of sudden acceleration. "usa today," can tige...

Company executives rolled out a handful of 2008 prius hybrids to demonstrate the brake override system. >> so were going 45, 55. >> reporter: toyota was so eager to prove their point they allowed reporters to get behind the wheel of a similar prius at speeds of 50 miles an hour and have their drivers -- >> bring the speed up to 60, 70, 80 -- >> reporter: try to simulate an out-of-control acceleration at 80 miles an hour. in every instance when the brake was pushed firmly down, the car slowed dow...

141 investigations into unintended acceleration and closed 112 of them without any action. i spoke to joan claybrook who is now professor emeritus of the safety watchdog, public citizen. >> they found an easy out in my view on this by just blaming the driver. but any driver who puts their foot on the accelerator by mistake will take their foot off the accelerator rather than jamming it on the floor and keeping it there till they have a crash. thats just not reasonable. >> we contacted nhtsa abou...

Defects in the cars. a fact that audi knows too well. back in the 1980s, the german automaker faced charges of unintended acceleration that linked to hundreds of crashes and six deaths. the national highway traffic safety administration concluded that people were hitting the gas instead of the brake, but it led audi to install the automated shift lock which forces drivers to put their foot on the brake before the vehicle can be shifted into drive or reverse. the feature thats in every automatic ...

Unintended acceleration is not a new problem, that nhtsa has been tracking this for years and found more deaths in vex made by ford, chrysler and other companies combined than in toyotas over the past decade. nhtsa sent us figures that back that up. a total of 59 fatalities due to unintended acceleration in vehicles over the past ten years. ford with 19, chrysler with 12, they still pale in comparison to toyota that had over 50 deaths. nhtsa has spent decades trying to get a handle on this probl...

For potential brake problem. odyssey minivans and element small truck model years 2007 and 2008 may have defective brake pedals that could make stopping the vehicle much harder. its just the late nest a series of auto recalls including more than 8 million toyotas flagged for potential accelerator problems. but toyota is by no means first automaker to deal with this issue. thats triggering accusations government regulators are asleep at the wheel. brian todd has been investigating. pretty eye ope...

Leadership. in washington, shannon bream, fox news. >> bret: the wife of senate majority leader harry reid is back home after being seriously hurt in a car accident thursday. landra reid underwent surgery for injuries including broken back, neck and nose. the minivan she was in was rear-eneded by a tractor trailer. their adult daughter sustained minor injuries and released from the hospital thursday night. the ntsb says the engineers have not been able to explain the reported sudden high-speed a...

Evidence to back up that mans story. thats what federal investigators said yesterday. miguel almaguer is in san diego. is the driver still sticking with his story? >> yes, tamron, we havent heard from james sikes for several days. his lawyer said he has no plans to sue toyota. he continues to stick to his story. he said with the incident that happened certainly happened, although toyota has not been able to replicate it or nhtsa, the federal government, investigating arm that is part of this inv...

Nations financial system. dodd says besides laying down more stringent rules for institutions and great er protections for consumers the biggest aim is to prevent firms from getting so big that their failure would threaten the entire financial system. well take a closer look at that bill in our next hour. so have you ever found yourself staring into the face of skeptical mechanic as you try to explain the latest mystery affliction to your car? of course that problem always disappears once youre ...