Joe LaVigne <jlavigne@hits-buffalo.com> wrote in
news:elup8l$fmu$4@news.datemas.de:


>
> Thanks for the info. I just responded to this guy in the other group
> with almost the same explanation that Paul gave. I was not aware of
> the Audi "issue"...
>
> I like learning new things... ;-)



You're a bit younger than I am, then.

In the mid-'80s, a couple of women drove over their kids while driving Audi
vehicles. Of course, Audi was blamed for something called "sudden
acceleration", which was alleged to be a defect in Audi automobiles. It
turned out in court that these women had had their feet on the gas the
whole time, and didn't realize it. In their panic, they were convinced thay
had their feet on the brake, so simply pressed even harder on the pedal,
turning Junior into a pancake in the process.

Much investigation ensued, with various testing labs and the governments of
several countries coming to the conclusion that it was entirely driver
error and that Audi was blameless. The US NHTSA called it "pedal
misapplication". It further came out that this "pedal misapplication"
phenomenon was pretty much spread out among ALL automakers, with Audi cars
not being any more prone to it than anyone else's.

Audi was eventually cleared of negligence or wrongdoing, but by then the
damage was done. Audi lost millions of dollars in sales and was in
financial trouble for a while. It took years for them to claw their way
back.

The experience, and the threat of emormous lawsuits, was so frightening
that all the automakers were installing brake interlocks by about 1990.

During the fiasco, the TV show "60 Minutes" produced a horribly twisted,
biased and mean-spirited program on the issue. It was essentially a smear-
job on Audi, empty of facts or objectivity, and packed with hate. This
episode colored many peoples' attitudes towards Audi and was a significant
factor in lost sales. To this day I refuse to watch that left-wing,
Naderite, Communist program.



--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/