I’m hoping someone can help me understand this issue with Toyota and floor mats.

It seems that driver-side floor mats on certain Toyota models could get stuck on the accelerator, which could cause unintended acceleration, which could cause an accident.

This “situation” has led to the sixth-largest recall ever in the U.S., and the largest recall in the U.S. for Toyota Motor Corporation.

Toyota plans to replace the gas pedals on four million vehicles in the U.S. because of the potential problem.

The car manufacturer’s dealers will offer to shorten the length of the gas pedals by three-fourths of an inch beginning next month as a stopgap measure while the company develops replacement pedals.

Is all that really necessary?

What in the world is a driver doing with his feet to move a floor mat up onto the accelerator?

If a floor mat does ride up onto the accelerator and cause the vehicle to accelerate, why doesn’t the driver depress the brake and slide the floor mat back off the accelerator. Or, why not simply shut the car off and steer to a safe spot?

Could it be because drivers are too distracted doing all the things they do behind the wheel?

When are people going to start taking responsibility for their actions?

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

The idea of Thanksgiving is to remember the things we have to be grateful for.

For me, it is also the time to thank those that have helped me throughout the year.

This isn’t as simple it sounds. Human nature is such that we tend to remember the bad things more easily than the good things.

What’s more, we frequently become too busy or preoccupied and forget to say thanks.

I also believe it is important to express our thanks one more time when the occasions warrant.

All that said, I want to pass along a few thank yous.

I want to thank my dear, loving parents for instilling in me honesty, integrity and a strong work ethic, among other traits.

I want to thank my brothers, family and friends for their love and support.

I want to thank my family and friends for their love and support as well.

I want to thank my coworkers and some, not all, bosses and overseers for their help and guidance.

I want to thank all those I have interviewed for articles for their time and insights.

I want to thank all those who I use as resources.

I want to thank those special people who I turn to for advice, guidance and wisdom.

I want to thank that wrecker operator who came to my assistance for that roadside breakdown in the pouring rain and cold.

I want to thank that anonymous person in line behind me at the checkout counter for giving me the 14 cents I needed to pay my bill so I wouldn’t have to break a $20 bill.

And I want to thank you, the reader, for reading and commenting on my Fleet Maintenance Magazine blogs and columns.

That means a great deal to me.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration.

And as always, I welcome your comments and thoughts.

I’ve been doing a lot of interstate driving of late, visiting shops, and I figure I must have somehow missed hearing about the federal mandate that if you drive on an interstate highway, you must do something in addition to driving while behind the wheel, preferable talk on a cell phone, check your e-mail on a handheld device, do text messaging or use an in-cab satellite communication devices.

It was very rare for me to spot someone just driving.

A lot has been made of distracted driving, especially the contribution of mobile communication devices.

Driver distractions are nothing new. You may be interested to know that they’ve been a topic of discussion since windshield wipers were introduced in cars during the early 1900s.

Distractions take away a driver’s attention to the all-important task of driving. This lack of focus increases the likelihood of accidents.

Inattention inhibits a driver’s ability to react to what’s going on ahead and around them.

Nowadays there are many more distractions. Aside from communicating while mobile, we eat and drink behind the wheel, perform grooming functions, read, make to-do lists, fiddle with the CD player, CB or two-way radio, ad nauseam. But bird watching?

A recent mishap occurred in La Marque, TX, which is about 35 miles southeast of Houston, that involved a bird, a cell phone and a million-dollar sports.

A man told police he was driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when a low-flying pelican distracted him, which caused him to drop his cell phone, which caused him to reach to pick it up, which caused him to veer off the road, which caused him to drive into the salt marsh. The car settled half-submerged in the brine. 

While common sense can’t be dictated, it’s high time that we minimize ALL distractions and focus on the safe driving. Oh . . . and don’t become mesmerized with birds.

The advance of technology never ceases to amaze me, although it constantly overwhelms me.

Engineers can now see sound? You heard me right.

Ford Motor Company is using a new technology that allows engineers to actually see unwanted sounds and eliminate them during vehicle development. The objective: to ensure that its new vehicles have the quietest interior cabins.

Ford is the first automaker in North America to use the new Noise Vision tool - a small sphere equipped with more than 30 highly sensitive microphones and 12 special cameras that is placed inside the vehicle cabin.

Powerful software reads data from Noise Vision and creates a computerized image showing interior noise “hot spots,” including wind noise, a squeak or rattle or unwanted feedback from the engine or the road.

Vehicle engineers say the key element to interior quietness is to pinpoint the source and location of every unwanted sound.

When it comes to car buying, third-party customer satisfaction studies show that automobile owners connect an ultra-quiet cabin with overall product quality and satisfaction, and quietness is one of the top reasons to buy a vehicle.

Ford used to rely on trial and error to make a vehicle quieter, using a process of elimination. Noise Vision literally shows engineers where the noise is and allows them to eliminate it once and for all.

No doubt Noise Vision type tools will find their way to other vehicle manufacturers.

I think vehicle engineers have been dong a very good job of making vehicles quieter through the process-of-elimination technique. Today’s vehicles are considerably tighter and quieter than the cars and trucks I drove way back in the late 1970s.

I wonder what technology has in store for us next? Got any ideas?

Frequently, sports analogies are used in business. Football seems to be the most used sport.

The most recent use of the football-business comparison that I came across was keynote address by Daimler Trucks North America’s senior vice president of parts Jack Conlan to the recent Technical & Maintenance Council Fall Meeting and National Skills Competition - TMC SuperTech 2009.

His talk entitled, “Driving from the Red Zone to the End Zone,” outlined five key “plays”  to developing and maintaining a winning game plan for 2010.

“2010 will be the time to execute proven plays at the line of scrimmage. It won’t be a time of improvising, last minute audibles or Hail Mary’s,” said Conlan. “By developing and maintaining renewed levels of discipline, experience, preparation, partnership and transparency, 2010 will simply become the time to drive the ball into the emissions ‘end zone,’ safely and profitably for your companies, your teams and the entire industry.”

His five game winning principles:

- No time for costly penalties. A team must maintain a “disciplined approach” to get to the end zone so as not to waste time on costly penalties. He suggested developing  operational metrics that are transparent to all managers so they can be involved and open to solving problems as they occur.

- Go with the best prepared players. He said now is not the time to question if one of your “players” has had the right training or not. Partner with manufacturers, suppliers and technologies that not only meet the standards, but exceed them.

- Winning coaches value experience. In the current high-stakes environment, do not underestimate the value of experience and proven outcomes.

- Have all the right gear and equipment. Now is not the time to question if you, or your service provider, has the right tools and parts available. All of the appropriate “gear” must be available. He said that OEMs should make available online and instructor-led educational and certification emissions compliance programs for trainers and technicians. Training needs to include both the after treatment system and on-board diagnostics, including additional “hands on” experience in diagnostics for the aftertreatment system.

- The entire team must be on the same page. This applies to not only the “players” and “coaches,” but to suppliers, employees and support personnel. “To be successful, build a strong, committed and knowledgeable network.”

He summarized his address and then ended with: “Thank you.” That was disappointing.

I was expecting him to conclude his address by saying: “Now let’s get out their, kick some a– and win.”