...just an American family on
an outing....in a RUNAWAY
TOYOTA.
An August 28th 2010
crash near San Diego of a Lexus ES 350 sedan driven by the off-duty Highway
Patrol officer, Mark Saylor resulted in tragedy.
Mr. Saylor was driving
his wife, their 13-year-old daughter, and his brother-in-law on a family outing
when their car
"began to
accelerate on its own" and sped out of control despite
Saylor’s attempts "to apply the brakes and otherwise do everything possible to
stop" the car.
The car reached speeds of up to
120 miles per hour before
it struck another vehicle, plowed through a fence, hit a berm and flew through
the air, then rolled several times into a field and burst into
flames.
The HORRIFYING 911 call and
loss of this California family FINALLY forced attention
to be drawn to TOYOTA's
FAILURES.
After praising itself for $$$$ saved by avoiding
RECALLS and ignoring U.S. statutes, the sad loss of the Saylor
Family called attention to TOYOTA.
TOYOTA settled cases with GAG ORDERS
[confidentiality agreements], silencing public discussion, just as they did in
the Saylor settlement....well....except TOYOTA blamed the dealership that
removed the silence.
TOYOTA settled the Saylor Family
lawsuit for $10 MILLION. You simply don't do that unless
you know you're wrong.
You didn't know Noriko Uno.
She died trying to stop her RUNAWAY
TOYOTA.
This is Noriko Uno's
car:
She even pulled the hand brake
to stop her car.
This is her
family, torn apart by her loss.
Paul Van Alfen's RUNAWAY TOYOTA:
The crash on Nov.
5 killed Paul Van Alfen, 66, and his son's fiancee Charlene Lloyd, 38; Van
Alfen's wife and son were also injured in the wreck. Unlike similar crashes in
Toyotas later blamed on drivers
mistaking the accelerator for the brake,
police say
Van Alfen's Camry left skid
marks as it exited Interstate 80 near Wendover, Utah.
presumably from holding down the brake pedal. The Utah Highway Patrol said
Monday that based on statements from the passengers who survived, the
Camry's gas
pedal appeared stuck.
Van Alfen's Camry
had been covered by three recalls relating to sudden acceleration
problems, including floor mats and sticking pedals. While
investigators believe Van Alfen had brought his Camry in for the repairs, it's
not clear what fixes had been performed. Toyota has also said it was upgrading
2008 Camrys to include brake override systems designed to cut engine power if
the brake and accelerator are pressed simultaneously; and once again, it's not
clear whether that upgrade was performed.