Third Gen lunges forward in 'park' and crashes into wall, mother injured

There is a lot of speculation running around Facebook due to this news story. They mention another instance where a truck accelerated in 'park' when the users foot was fully on the brake pedal.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/l...ck-wall-driver-says-truck-accelerated-in-park

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PORT RICHEY, Fla. - A Port Richey mother said four days after she bought her brand new 2017 Toyota Tacoma she was left with nearly $6,000 worth of damage after the vehicle accelerated into a brick wall.

“I put it in park my foot was still on the break and the vehicle lunged forward and hit the building,” Milissa Mazzitelli said. “It’s very scary. I don't even want to drive this vehicle. I am freaked out, I am scared.”

Mazzitelli filed a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. She is one of eight complaints filed against the truck.

In her complaint Mazzitelli stated, “after I put in park the 2017Toyota Tacoma lunged forward. This caused the vehicle to hit a brick wall. There was almost $5,950 in damage to the truck and the airbags did not go off. I watched myself crash into the wall and could not stop the truck.”

In another complaint from last December, a driver in Virginia wrote, “while stopped, with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle surged forward. The vehicle was previously taken to be diagnosed. The contact was informed the TCM and ECM needed to be updated.”



Mazzitelli said she isn’t asking for anything except for Toyota to investigate what happened. So far, she said she has been getting the run around and Toyota is dragging their feet. She said Toyota corporate told her an evaluator would be out in the next 30 days to look at her truck. Meanwhile, she said she has to drive around in an unsafe vehicle until then.

“I feel very hopeless. I feel hopeless. They don't care about anything. I'm not buying a used car, an old car, this is brand new. This had four miles on it when I bought it. It's nerve racking I don't know if it's going to happen again or something else worse, unfortunately I'm stuck driving it because of the circumstances,” Mazzitelli said.

According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, the trooper reviewed the video from the gas station and determined that the accident was a “possible mechanical failure, no citation issued.”

Mazzitelli said this was not human error. She said she clearly remembers putting the car in park and then losing control. She is asking Toyota to take her claims serious and immediately launch an investigation into her allegations.

“I'm worried this will happen to someone else and I pray to God that it doesn't because it was a nightmare to me,” Mazzitelli said. “I'm very lucky it could've been worse.”

Calls to Sun Toyota where Mazzitelli leased the truck were not returned. Multiple calls to Toyota Corporate over several days have also not been returned.

Copyright 2017 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Dang it dude.​

 

Won't they be able to check the black box and see if she was in park and applying the "breaks" ?

 

WTF

 

I doubt the truck was in park and she probably hit the gas pedal instead of the brake. I could be wrong, but most instances of unintended acceleration is driver error.

 

My dad got rear ended by a huge van many years ago when the lady slammed on the gas when pulling up to him at a stop light. His head with through the back glass of his Toyota pick up. Good bye Toyota pick up

 

I had a granny hit the gas at my old grocery store and pinned a cart between her SUV and a concrete wall

I never knew a steel shopping cart could become completely flat

 

I agree with this...when I had my first gen I installed some cool new pedals that made the distance between the brake and gas pedals pretty close. There was a time or two where my foot overlapped on the gas when I was first getting used to the pedals. Luckily one time when I was at a light, I accidentally did this and immediately threw my truck in park before I got more than 5 mph which saved me from a rear end.

I know this lady just got her vehicle, but I would wonder what shoes she might of been using? Being that this is a new vehicle, she might not of been used to the pedals yet and maybe she had a similar situation although I know her pedals are stock.

From a mechanical stand point, can a truck even go into gear if set in park? My guess is there would be a few fail safes to prevent any movement, but I don't know much in terms of gearing.

 

It was only a matter of time. All these threads with the AT surging. Someone was bound to get hurt.

 

During that "stuck" accelerator fiasco Toyota had one of the reasons it started to fizzle, is Toyota started pulling the black boxes and found that the accelerator was actually being pushed and not the brakes. (some were legit) There was a Prius in San Diego that supposedly happens to and there was news footage of a Highway Patrol pulling in front to slow the Prius down. Turns out the accelerator would be pushed, then the brakes and back and forth. The driver was late on his monthly payments, and dropped the lawsuit after Toyota found that the gas and brakes were being used back and forth.

So who knows

 

Two things....what are the "breaks"?

And: "There was almost $5,950 in damage"

"Almost" and then you give a more exact answer lol...just funny.

 

yeah, but they only surge WHEN YOU PUT THEM INTO GEAR

 

This never happens on 2nd gens

 

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Distracted driving with her kids, and hit the gas.

 

yeah that was some real estate guy who was going broke. I remember hearing about that on the news and then again later when Toyota found out what happened. I hope the cops or CHP charged him with false police report

 

This never happens on my 3rd gen!

 

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I thought the exact same thing... doesn't know the difference between brakes and breaks... or brakes and gas probably

 

Wait.... "someone" named Wall...?