# Floormats And Uncontrolled Accelleration



## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

I'm assuming everyone has seen the news on the Toyota recall for floor mats accidentally pressing the accelerator to the floor, and the horrific accident it caused. The news has also menitoed that this can happen with other vehicles with aftermarket floormats. I figured, this topic deserved a public service message:

1. You should really only use the floor mats designed for your vehicle, and they should always be restrained with the clip on the carpeting. This should prevent a properly designed mat from sliding up over the accelerator.

2. If you every have an uncontrolled acceleration, the best thing to do is pull the gearshift into Neutral. This will obviously stop the vehicle from accelerating, but at the same time keep your steering working and help a little with the brakes (Many brake systems are powered by engine vaccum and when the vehicle is at full throttle, there isn't much vaccum, but it will still be better than no power to the brakes). Every current vehicle I'm aware of has a rev limiter that should prevent the engine from exceeding the design limit of rpm's regardless of how hard you press on the throttle.

Turning the engine off is sortof a last resort because you'll lose the afore mentioned power brakes, power steering, and it may lock you steering column so you can't steer at all.









3. You should be familiar with how your car works. Apparently one of the issues making this worse is the keyless ignition and a "unique gearshift layout" which they say doesn't make neutral intuitive (No clue about the details as I don't drive many Toyotas). I'm not exactly sure what they mean by that, but please everyone check and see how you shift into neutral, and how you shut off your car even if you aren't stopped, in park with your foot on the brake (this really only applies to the keyless ignition systems).

Ok, safe travels everyone!


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Public Service Messages are good things, Nathan (most of the time, anyway







. Thanks for putting on your work hat for our benefit.

btw, maybe you should add a tag line when you do this kinda thing so those who don't already know will realize that you are sharing more than just your personal opinion ... just a thought


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

I have to say this is a recall to protect people from themselves. There is no reason a person with the responsibility to drive can not make sure the floor mat is not obstructing anything. Recalls are being marginalized when used for this kind of thing.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

CamperAndy said:


> I have to say this is a recall to protect people from themselves. There is no reason a person with the responsibility to drive can not make sure the floor mat is not obstructing anything. Recalls are being marginalized when used for this kind of thing.


I understand your point Andy, but the concept of recalls (or those all too prevalent safety warnings) are to protect those that don't realize the dangers. In this case it appears that more could have been done to prevent these dangers, and that's what the recall will accomplish.

Toyota isn't the first company to get caught by this issue. Also, there's plenty of other ways to get yourself into trouble. When I got my F150, I got 2 floormats, the carpet kind that were strapped down properly and the thick rubber for winter that were set on top. The dealer should have explained to me that you use one or the other, but not both, and they need to be installed correctly.

There are several ways to get a stuck throttle and therefore my main focus was on what one should do if this happens. Many people are intimidated by the sound of an engine racing out of control, but if everyone understands that it's ok, to shift into neutral, that may prevent a hesitation that could be life threatening.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

wolfwood said:


> Public Service Messages are good things, Nathan (most of the time, anyway
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well, unfortuantely, I can only share my personal opinion







. However, I have held accelerators to the floor to see where the engine stops and have pulled a car into Neutral while accelerating quickly on a test track. I wouldn't ideally do any with my personal car or on the public roads, but the cars do have that capability. (I baby my own car as this always has the potential of causing problems)


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Nathan said:


> Public Service Messages are good things, Nathan (most of the time, anyway
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well, unfortuantely, I can only share my personal opinion







. However, I have held accelerators to the floor to see where the engine stops and have pulled a car into Neutral while accelerating quickly on a test track. I wouldn't ideally do any with my personal car or on the public roads, but the cars do have that capability. (I baby my own car as this always has the potential of causing problems)
[/quote]
Of course....but your "personal opinion" has a fair amount of training & expertise behind it (in this case, anyway or, at least, I _presume_ you apply some degree of your professional expertise here...maybe (?)







)


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## Rob_G (Feb 16, 2006)

I own a Toyota (RAV4) as well and quite honestly, I'm not too surprised by this.

I do find it quite ironic though as I've been seeing a TON of new commercials for the WeatherTech Floorliner Digitafit mats lately. These are matched for your make/model/year for a custom fit taking the carpeting into account for the fit process. Been thinking about getting a few to if anything, help with the mess.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Rob_G said:


> I own a Toyota (RAV4) as well and quite honestly, I'm not too surprised by this.
> 
> I do find it quite ironic though as I've been seeing a TON of new commercials for the WeatherTech Floorliner Digitafit mats lately. These are matched for your make/model/year for a custom fit taking the carpeting into account for the fit process. Been thinking about getting a few to if anything, help with the mess.


Notice how in the pictures, the mats do hook in just like the factory ones do.


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## john7349 (Jan 13, 2008)

I have a 2006 Toyota Tundra. I have both Toyota Carpet mats and Rubber mats. A couple of days ago I took my carpet mats out and replaced them with my rubber mats (for hunting / winter use). I noticed that printed in small letters on the rubber mats, " DO NOT PLACE ON TOP OF CARPETED MATS". That must be why....


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## psychodad (Dec 9, 2008)

Rob_G said:


> I own a Toyota (RAV4) as well and quite honestly, I'm not too surprised by this.
> 
> I do find it quite ironic though as I've been seeing a TON of new commercials for the WeatherTech Floorliner Digitafit mats lately. These are matched for your make/model/year for a custom fit taking the carpeting into account for the fit process. Been thinking about getting a few to if anything, help with the mess.


I have the Weathertech floorliners in my TV. Love them. Driver side has hole for the floor clip as Natham mentioned. They have high sides that contain water, mud and coffe spills. Just did that this week.







I have one in the rear also. A little pricy, but worth it to me.


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## Tyvekcat (Aug 28, 2007)

Yeah, I have to agree with CamperAndy on this one. I own one of the recall vehicles. Its a Lexus IS350, and for three years now, have not had a floor mat incident. I was a little perplexed when I saw it was included in the recall. The mat is held in place with two latches. It hasn't moved. May pass on this recall as the alleged fix being discussed on the message boards is two stainless steel lag bolts through the floor-board to hold the mat in place and trimming the mat away from the accelerator.









I will accept responsibility for my floor mats. Really, they don't move. I guess if my mats get a wild hair and decide to move, Gorilla glue will fix that !









Yeah there was a recall on the IS350 right after we bought it. It was come to the dealer and change out your front disc brakes because as they were making to much dust on the wheels. The dealer would install 'less dusty' pads.
I passed on that one as well. A little brake dust doesn't hurt anything. Later I saw a bunch of whining on the Lexus message boards about stopping distances increased with the newer 'less dusty' pads. Duh !

I like to read about the recall and see if it really affects me. This one doesn't.

There was a crazy recall sometime back with the Dodge Rams. I can't remember exactly what it was, but something like if the drivers door is open and the truck is running, if you take it out of park and put it in reverse, the horn blows? That was wacko. Passed on it too.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Tyvekcat said:


> There was a crazy recall sometime back with the Dodge Rams. I can't remember exactly what it was, but something like if the drivers door is open and the truck is running, if you take it out of park and put it in reverse, the horn blows? That was wacko. Passed on it too.


Well I actually don't mind this one. It scares the poo out of you when you do it but you will never get run over by your truck with this warning operational. The most common time to have an issue is when connecting your trailer or backing a boat down a ramp. I think it would be nice to be able to turn this off but I will live with is. Most of those that are really annoyed by it just short out the seat belt wiring so the truck thinks the seat belt is always connected. Then you get no horn or chime when you decide not to wear your seat belt.


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