Sunday, August 31, 2014

Chicago: 2012 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER crashes into Garage







updated: 8/29/2014 5:27 PM



Driver hurt after car crashes through West Chicago garage


A man was flown to an area hospital Friday morning after the car he was driving left a West Chicago road, struck the side of a house and then continued into and through a garage, authorities said....







Charlene McCarthy Blake
Complex electronic throttle control software with glitches causing high speed unintended acceleration?Toyota and Lexus vehicles...especially the Toyota Camry...have taken the lead in terms of sudden unintended acceleration-related crashes, particularly storefront crashes. Toyota vehicles have been found to have electronic glitches in the throttle system software (see Michael Barr's finding at embedded gurus dot com) which can result in a full-throttle condition with an ineffective fail-safe. This is a serious state which can lead to fatality or significant injury. A Toyota owner recently won a big court case (Bookout V. Toyota) against Toyota which involved death and injury to the Toyota Camry occupants.

In addition, Dr. Antony Anderson has analyzed the crash of a 2012 Toyota Highlander into a house. He has compared the record...ings of the EDR (black box) with the video footage caught in the home security system. Dr. Anderson found discrepancies between the two. He found inaccurate recording of the EDR. This is significant because often the driver of the vehicle which has crashed into a building or storefront is INCRIMINATED based on the EDR alone. The driver is often braking at the time of the SUA initiation, but Toyota claims he/she is not doing so based in the EDR. In some cases prison time has resulted because the EDR results are accepted over the vehicle driver's sworn statement. Toyota owners BEWARE of Toyota's lack of support after an SUA event!

Sudden unintended acceleration is NOT a problem related only to the elderly or women; it is not a driver error problem; it is not a simple stuck accelerator pedal or drifting floor mat issue. This is a DEADLY issue which the automakers, NHTSA, or the Department of Justice (I.e. Toyota's criminal investigation) have not properly addressed. In fact, there is strong DENIAL that the problem exists at all. Yet...the crashes continue at an alarming rate now.

Barriers placed in front of storefronts is a noble gesture. However, this is just a treat-the-symptom maneuver. The CAUSE must be recognized and fully addressed instead of being ignored.


Charlene McCarthy Blake

PR spin by automaker, law enforcement, and media in full force? Do they desperately desire the final report to say "pedal misapplication" in order to deflect from the ELECTRONICS of the computer-controlled throttle control system?

Let's see if the driver is hung out to dry publicly as so many have been in these crashes into storefronts, buildings, and homes. Jail time for drivers has been levied with nothing more than ruling out the mechanical causes. In cases of Toyota and Lexus, inconsistent and inaccurate EDR information has been used to falsely incriminate SUA crash victims. Character assassinations in the media prior to concrete evidence presentation seem to be the norm.

Are automakers nervous that the truth will be revealed publicly? Why are so many of the articles about such SUA events lacking in pertinent details, l...ike make, model, and model year? Why aren't the exact words of the driver stated? Why is there usually immediate speculation that the driver pressed the wrong pedal? These late model vehicles are *computer-controlled*. Glitches occur often. Critical safety standards aren't strictly regulated and fail-safes have been found to be ineffective by experts in the embedded software field.

Think about how often you reboot your electronic devices. Have you considered that an electronically-driven vehicle has many of the same "glitch" issues? Are you erroneously assuming that your safety has been ensured by the auto manufacturer? Just know, the auto industry is not regulated like the airline industry. Educate yourself on this critical safety matter.

The Car Wash Association knows the truth about sudden unintended acceleration in late model vehicles, particularly Chryslers. A FastStop Car Wash just admitted that there is a list of the most common vehicles to suddenly accelerate. After an employee was thrown from a Ford Expedition as it careened out-of-control from a car wash and into a power box on the side of a building, this information was revealed by the media. In addition, Honda has just become the first automaker to address electronic throttle control software problems.

Why doesn't the public have access to the most-often-to-suddenly-accelerate vehicle list? How hard are the automakers trying to keep such information hidden? Will what you do not know ultimately put you or your family in unnecessary jeopardy? Will the PR agenda of the automakers continue to push for a "pedal misapplication" final report in these crash events?

How long will the flawed study into Toyota and Lexus sudden unintended acceleration by NASA/NHTSA be touted as a reason to blame the vehicle owners? How often will the old Audi SUA investigation be cited by online PR trolls in an effort to justify immediate incrimination of the driver victims? More importantly, how long will the public be deceived?

Why was Toyota whistleblower Betsy Benjaminson recently issued a subpoena by Toyota Motor Corporation? Is this an on-going effort by the automaker to silence the exposure of Toyota internal documents related to the electronic sudden unintended acceleration? Why hasn't Ms. Benjaminson's information been covered by the U.S. media as it has been overseas? More importantly, why hasn't the U.S. Department of Justice made reference to this information in its recent criminal investigation of Toyota? Why have we only heard about *mechanical* causes of SUA?

Something is amiss. Doesn't the public deserve to know the truth? After all, electronic sudden unintended acceleration affects everyone, not just vehicle drivers. Pedestrians and storefront occupants have been killed or maimed. Even residents in homes have been impacted. SUA events are not just occurring on the highways; they are happening in parking lots and from a standstill at traffic stops, too.

This serious problem isn't just about elderly drivers, drivers with medical conditions, or impaired drivers as a seemingly pervasive PR effort might have you believe. This is about vehicles out-of-control because of electronic glitches and ineffective fail-safes. This is
about unregulated critical safety standards in complex electronically-controlled vehicles.

Charlene McCarthy Blake


Charlene McCarthy Blake
Most Toyota SUA victims use the word "terrifying" in their description of the crashes or even in the event without a crash, IF they are lucky enough to stop the vehicle before it crashes! The witness said "horrific" and that word is also used a lot to describe these frightening events of unintended ELECTRONIC acceleration.

These accidents are described as a "freak" or "bizarre" because of the erratic behavior of the vehicles at the time of the incidents. Drivers are "shocked" or "dazed" or "confused" afterwards as you can imagine ANYONE would be!

This isn't about age, medical condition, or any other cause superficial to the ACTUAL no-speed or low-speed to AIRBORNE speed in seconds electronic cause of such accidents.

Make no mistake about it...there is a Big PR push to make sure the driver is found to be at fault...even if it means conjuring up the most "handy" excuse possible. A real Toyota Corolla victim tells all about Toyota's coercion (a.k.a. BULLY) techniques on Twitter. It is NOT funny what the automaker is doing to their own customers when the customers come to them to report this serious safety issue happening in their vehicles!

If you read comment sections on these articles, you see a lot of inappropriate joking going on at the car crash victim's expense. It happens time and time again if you take the time to track the articles about these horrific crashes. Think that's innocent? Think again.

Charlene Blake


Charlene McCarthy Blake
Jeep vehicles are WELL-KNOWN in terms of sudden unintended acceleration. Ask ANY car wash business. As a matter of fact, the Car Wash Association has a formal LIST of most likely vehicles to do this. Jeeps often TAKE OFF while inside these car washes. Carol lives on a lake and the humid conditions may well be connected.

However, there is also a BIG hidden secret in the auto industry...it's called ELECTRONIC sudden unintended acceleration! I know...you thought that was just about FLOOR MATS and sticky pedals, or "driver error," right? That's certainly what TOYOTA would like you to continue to believe, BUT DON'T!

These ultra-complex new engines are completely computer driven. Software is needed to control the throttle system. You THINK you are giving gas when you press the accelerator, but you are only SUGGESTING this to the com...puter. In electronic SUA cases, the throttle software may be glitch-prone and NOT do as you wish.

What happens then? Well, the glitch may (and has for countless SUA victims) result in an OPEN THROTTLE situation. The brakes become INEFFECTIVE in these situations and crashes into storefronts, buildings, and homes have resulted.

What does the automaker say? They hook the vehicles up to the computer and declare NOTHING WRONG! They cite the EDR which has erroneous data and say YOU were NOT braking. They point the finger at you based on AGE, GENDER, MEDICAL history, prescription meds, etc. YOU name it, they've TRIED it!

Get the picture? And you THOUGHT the GM issue was big? Think again! This cover-up of ELECTRONIC SUA is scandalous and very well-orchestrated.

Why even a WHISTLEBLOWER has been legally harassed by Toyota as it does NOT want her Toyota internal docs posted online anymore. The automaker wants to intimidate and SILENCE her. It doesn't want the PUBLIC involved, for goodness sake!

Charlene Blake