Injuries and Sudden Death by Truck and Bus Driver Pedal Misapplication
Occasionally accidents happen where vehicles suddenly accelerate into groups of people, seriously injuring and killing some of them. Invariably, the driver says that the brakes failed. The drivers blame the catastrophic accidents on equipment failure and sudden, unintended acceleration.
Sudden unintended acceleration is a problem with some vehicles due to design and manufacturing defects. Several Toyota models, for example, have a notorious history of sudden, unintended acceleration.
Our Galveston bus accident attorneys note that subsequent investigation of most of these serious “brake failure” accidents shows that all the equipment, including the brakes, worked fine. And drivers’ and witness statements often note the sound of an engine revving nearby as the vehicle picks up speed even as the driver is madly stepping on a pedal on the floor of the vehicle.
The Real Cause of Many Multi-Injury or Fatality Heavy Vehicle Accidents Involving Unexpected Acceleration is Pedal Misapplication
It turns out that these accidents result from driver misapplication of the accelerator pedals instead of the brake pedals. The drivers believe that they are applying the brake pedals. And as the brakes apparently “fail” and the vehicles continue to pick up speed, often heading into a crowd of pedestrians or smaller vehicles, the drivers panic and freeze up.
An NTSB report entitled Pedal Misapplication in Heavy Vehicles, Special Investigative Report, 9/1/2009, calls pedal misapplication an “error of response execution.” This means that the driver has selected an appropriate response to a situation (applying the brakes), but has executed it incorrectly or inadequately (the driver has stepped on the accelerator or on both the brake and the accelerator at the same time instead). Pedal misapplication accidents happen sometimes in passenger vehicles. Elderly drivers caused many of the major passenger vehicle accidents of this type.
Some Typical Causes of Driver Pedal Misapplication Errors
Our Galveston bus accident attorneys point out that with heavy vehicles like buses or 18-wheelers, the damage inflicted can be far worse than with passenger vehicle accidents. And the drivers are usually younger. These heavy vehicle pedal misapplication accidents often result when novice drivers take the wheel or when experienced drivers change from one type of vehicle to another.
For instance, Blue Bird and International style school buses have two different types of pedal configurations on the floor. Our Galveston bus accident attorneys emphasize that this can confuse drivers as they change bus types and lead to serious accidents.
In fact, this different pedal configuration has led to some very serious and deadly accidents. Government safety officials trying to determine what to do to reduce the danger of heavy vehicle pedal misapplication to pedestrians and other vehicle occupants have studied these accidents extensively.
Continue to Part 2 to read about some of the deadly accidents of this type that have been studied by safety officials on a quest for a problem fix.