The good news... there has not been a reported case of UA with the Camry Hybrid.

The BIG question is if it does happen, will the vehicle operate as it should. For example, will the car actually shift into neutral when you move the shift lever. Or will the car actually shut off if you hold the power button for 3 seconds. There is no way of knowing if these will work as designed or malfunction. Since the car is malfunctioning under UA, these obvious safety actions may not work.


Braking with both the emergency brake (which operates independently and manually to the regular brakes) and two feet with maximum pressure on the normal brake pedal may be the only driver's options.

 

Sorry to say, this in not true. Unless you are suggesting that there hasn't been one case reported thru "regular" media. One of the posters here has reported it happening to him in another tread on this forum...floor mat induced, but UA, none-the-less.

 

I was referring to non-floor mat related UA. The floor mat issue is real and easily explainable and correctable and non-electronic.

 

Peter, I don't believe that anyone is suggesting shifting to Park as an option... as you mentioned, this is a bad idea. Additionally, although I haven't tested it, and I could be wrong... I doubt that using the parking brake would activate any brake throttle override on the TCH. I don't believe that it is designed by Toyota engineers as a BTO (lowering engine output, as you called it).

Elliott, The Parking Brake hasn't been called an Emergency Brake for many years for a good reason, it is not designed to be used in an emergency. A car with 4 wheel disc brakes (like the TCH) has a set of very small drum brakes inside of the rotors, that are activated by cable when the Parking brake is applied. They would likely become overheated quickly, and rendured useless in the type of panic stop required by a UA incident.

With all this said, I am still amazed that the first reaction of anyone experiencing UA isn't to brake hard, then, while braking, shift to Neutral, then shut off the ignition.

Hopefully, the positive outcome of all this media UA talk will be to bring more attention to this safety procedure, and more people will understand how to stop their car if they should experience UA, and lives will be saved.

In fact, my thinking is that this stopping procedure should be immediately added to every driver's training course. This should be a mandatory correct answer (written asnswer, not multiple choice) on every driver's test.. don't answer this question correctly, you don't pass the test. And finaly, this should be a question that should have to be answered correctly before any driver's license renewal.

 

fair enough!

 

And, like they told us in Driver's Ed, if all else fails, run into something cheap.

 

Jbollt, the 'parking brake' affects only the rear wheels. They should lock if the pedal is fully depressed and thereby assist in slowing the car down should the regular brakes (and all other methods) not function. If they don't and do burn out, if they are the only thing that will assist in slowing the vehicle down, it is worth the risk.

Nobody (perhaps) really knows at this point what will be working properly or not should a 'real' UA event (non-floor mat related) occur. Should a total electrical failure occur during a true UA event, the manual brake may be the only option, at which time it will change from a parking brake to an 'emergency' brake (I really feel old now, thanks!!!).

FWIW, I have a lot of confidence in Toyota and the Camry. My wife and I just bought our second as of last week.