Was There More to Fatal Defective Automotive Crash Than Floor Mats?

San Diego, CAAn allegedly defective automobile that killed four people—including a highly trained police officer—is still under investigation. And while the San Diego crash triggered the largest auto defect recall in Toyota's history, there is much more to this automobile defect story than improperly installed floor mats.

The August 28th crash occurred after a 2009 Lexus ES 350 on loan to an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and his family suddenly accelerated to 120 mph before crashing, killing all four occupants. Initial reports suggested that the vehicle's accelerator pedal became lodged underneath an improperly installed floor mat.

However, there appear to be other issues at play.

According to the October 20th edition of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, the Lexus ES 350 driven by the late Mark Saylor was equipped with a push-button start system activated by a wireless electronic fob and a button on the dashboard. However, once the vehicle is moving the engine cannot be shut down unless the dash-mounted button is pushed—and held—for a total of three seconds.

"When you are dealing with an emergency, you can't wait three seconds for the car to respond at 120 miles an hour," said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety in Washington. It's unclear if Saylor's own car had the feature, or if the driver was even aware of it. There is no instruction on the dashboard. The only reference to the engine shutdown protocol is buried deep in the owner's manual.

The possibility of shifting into neutral to stop a runaway car is complicated by an automatic transmission in the ES 350 that can mimic manual shifting. The console-mounted shift lever features a series of gates that allow a driver to select a series of forward gears. According to a Toyota spokesman the arrangement of gears could make it difficult to shift directly into neutral in a panic situation.

Braking is another issue. The doomed Lexus ES 350 driven by Saylor that day was equipped with power-assisted brakes that draw vacuum power from the engine. However when an engine is opened to full-throttle, as was the case with the Saylor crash, the vacuum drops and the power-assist feature effectively disappears. At that speed, experts say, it could take up to 225 pounds of pressure on a brake pedal to stop a runaway vehicle.

If anyone knew how to stop an out-of-control vehicle, it would have been Saylor. He was a 19-year veteran of the California Highway Patrol and trained in emergency and high-speed driving.

The defective car investigation is ongoing.