Toyota Recall and Parental Negotiation

First, Drake is doing well. I need to weigh him today, but based on his Wednesday evening weigh-in, I'm not going to be shocked when he has gained 2+ pounds in the last 14 days. If not, he will be close.

As most of you have certainly heard reported in the news this week, Toyota has had to recall several million vehicles because they have a tendency to accelerate uncontrollably. At first they thought it was the floor mats. Then it was the gas pedals. I think (and I haven't checked on it this morning) they're ultimately going to determine it's an electrical/computer issue.

What struck me as odd was how long it took for word to come out about what to do if you found your Camry going Speed Racer on you all on its own. (I'm making light of this, but do understand that a lot of people have been injured/killed in these accidents) We just need to remember what Harry Hogue taught us:

Cole: "The accelerator is stuck!"

Harry: "It's over Cole. Push the clutch in let it blow." (I think there was an expletive in there, edited for your edification)

Now, Cole didn't push the clutch in. They were at Daytona and running wide open for several laps was possible. He got spun out, which fixed the accelerator, but jacked up the transmission. The rest is film-making history (MD: Don't hate just because Bruckheimer was involved). This is all beside the point, watch the movie.

My point is this, if you car (and I had this conversation with Britt in a serious tone the other night) accelerates on its own you put it in neutral. The engine may rev like crazy, it may blow itself up (though most cars have cut-offs to protect themselves), but it'll stop accelerating and you can use the brakes to stop.

Seriously, if you're driving a Toyota and it takes off on you, keep you wits about you, put it in neutral and pull off the road using the brakes to control your speed. If the engine blows I'm guessing Toyota will stand behind it, that'll be way cheaper than having you added to the enormous class-action lawsuit they're getting ready to face.

Unrelated to this Days of Thunder life lesson, my wife informed me that Drake isn't allowed to watch that movie until he is much, much older.

I replied, maybe the edited TNT/TBS version?

She agreed if we would skip the side-of-the-road-cop-scene and the bedroom scene.

I replied, those scenes are dumb.

That's what I call complete success - all racing, no love scenes.