NHTSA Complaint #10298556 — 2010 TOYOTA AVALON

1. ON THREE OCCASIONS THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS JAMMED OPEN BY FACTORY CLOTH FLOOR MAT. REMOVED THE MAT. 2. ON MULTIPLE RECENT OCCASIONS WHEN THE CAR IS STARTED AND PLACED IN REVERSE TO BACK OUT OF A PARKING SPACE THE CAR WILL NOT MOVE EVEN IF THE ACCELERATOR IS PRESSED. CAR SEEMS AS IF THE WHEELS ARE CHOCKED. THEN WHEN CAR DOES MOVE IT ACCELERATE QUICKLY IN REVERSE. HAVE DISCOVERED WHEN THIS HAPPENS THE TRACTION CONTROL APPEARS WHEN THE CAR IS SHIFTED INTO REVERSE AND STAYS LIT FOR A PERIOD OF TIME, THEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT AND THE CAR SIMULTANEOUSLY FEELS AS IF THE BRAKES HAVE BEEN RELEASED EVEN THOUGH THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS NOT DEPRESSED. IT IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND HOW A DRIVER COULD PRESS THE ACCELERATOR TO GET THE VEHICLE TO MOVE AND THEN HAVE THE CAR SHOOT BACKWARDS CAUSING DAMAGE OR INJURY. 3. ON THREE SEPARATE OCCASIONS WHILE WEARING BOOTS I REMOVED MY FOOT FROM THE ACCELERATOR AND DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL ONLY TO HAVE THE VEHICLE INSTEAD OF DECELERATING, ACCELERATE VERY QUICKLY. THE REACTION EACH TIME WAS TO PRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL EVEN HARDER RESULTING ONLY IN THE VEHICLE ACCELERATING EVEN HARDER. ON ONE OF THOSE OCCASIONS IT OCCURRED BACKING OUT OF A DRIVEWAY AND ALTHOUGH I WAS ABLE TO STOP THE VEHICLE QUICKLY IT NONETHELESS ACCELERATED SEVERAL FEET INTO THE MIDDLE OF A STREET. IT IS CLEAR THAT THESE THREE INCIDENTS OCCURRED BECAUSE OF THE PROXIMITY OF THE BRAKE AND ACCELERATOR PEDALS AND INADVERTENTLY BUT SIMULTANEOUSLY DEPRESSING BOTH. I BELIEVE THE SITUATION IS AGGRAVATED BY THE FACT WHEN DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL YOU CANNOT FEEL THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL UNDER YOUR FOOT AND HAVE NO IDEA YOU ARE PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR UNTIL YOU GO THROUGH THE MENTAL PROCESS OF TRYING TO DETERMINE WHY THE HARDER YOU DEPRESS THE BRAKE THE FASTER THE CAR GOES. IT IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND WHY ONE MIGHT PANIC AND "STAND" ON THE BRAKE PEDAL ONLY TO HAVE THE CAR ACCELERATE TO A VERY DANGEROUS SPEED. MY 190 MPH MOTORCYCLE DOESN'T SCARE ME, THE VENZA DOES. *TR