canodyssey:
![]()
Yeah, sez you. Hey--your mother said get to bed.
Defending myself (HDW671)
Incredible!
I posted here, admittedly for the first time, because I felt that I had important input.
The accusations that I was posting to discredit Honda are surprising to me.
I was not driving the van when this occurred, but after being married to my wife for 15 years and knowing that she has never had an accident or ticket in her 25 years of driving cars, I have to give her benefit of the doubt and believe in her explanation of the account.
As far as the accusations that I'm a Chrysler dealer, "I'm not", but from reading all these posts, it makes me wonder if 90% of you guys aren't Honda dealers making $1,500 above MSRP for every Odyssey you sell.
It was never my intention to bash Honda or the Odyssey. I bought the Odyssey on November 02, 2000 (Vin #2HKRL18501H516982) because it was the most highly rated Minivan at the time. It replaced my 1992 Plymouth Grand Voyager that I bought new in November 1991. (It was a rattling piece of junk after 2 years and 30,000 miles, but we drove it for 9 years and put 120,000 miles on it)
I bought the Odyssey because I believe that they will be in much better condition during the second half of a car's useful life.
I work as a power plant operator (not a car dealership), hdw671 are my initials followed by the hull number of the submarine I was stationed on between 1985 and 1989 as a Navy Nuclear Trained Electrical plant operator and shutdown reactor operator.
If anyone would like to seriously discuss this incident, you can contact me by email at [email protected] and I can either phone you while I'm at work (Watts line) or correspond through email. I took pictures of the van on the side of the hill resting against the water header (not that they prove anything other than "we have an Odyssey" and "it has been wrecked") but I still have to get the film developed and scanned.
The information I quoted was from the website: http://www.autosafety.org/autodefects/HONDA.htm
And it listed only Honda vehicles, because I felt that those were the only ones pertinant to this situation.
Considering the hostile response, I won't respond to this bulletin board again, and I'll let all of you get back to important issues such as "why loose change makes a rattling noise in the change holder"
I posted here, admittedly for the first time, because I felt that I had important input.
The accusations that I was posting to discredit Honda are surprising to me.
I was not driving the van when this occurred, but after being married to my wife for 15 years and knowing that she has never had an accident or ticket in her 25 years of driving cars, I have to give her benefit of the doubt and believe in her explanation of the account.
As far as the accusations that I'm a Chrysler dealer, "I'm not", but from reading all these posts, it makes me wonder if 90% of you guys aren't Honda dealers making $1,500 above MSRP for every Odyssey you sell.
It was never my intention to bash Honda or the Odyssey. I bought the Odyssey on November 02, 2000 (Vin #2HKRL18501H516982) because it was the most highly rated Minivan at the time. It replaced my 1992 Plymouth Grand Voyager that I bought new in November 1991. (It was a rattling piece of junk after 2 years and 30,000 miles, but we drove it for 9 years and put 120,000 miles on it)
I bought the Odyssey because I believe that they will be in much better condition during the second half of a car's useful life.
I work as a power plant operator (not a car dealership), hdw671 are my initials followed by the hull number of the submarine I was stationed on between 1985 and 1989 as a Navy Nuclear Trained Electrical plant operator and shutdown reactor operator.
If anyone would like to seriously discuss this incident, you can contact me by email at [email protected] and I can either phone you while I'm at work (Watts line) or correspond through email. I took pictures of the van on the side of the hill resting against the water header (not that they prove anything other than "we have an Odyssey" and "it has been wrecked") but I still have to get the film developed and scanned.
The information I quoted was from the website: http://www.autosafety.org/autodefects/HONDA.htm
And it listed only Honda vehicles, because I felt that those were the only ones pertinant to this situation.
Considering the hostile response, I won't respond to this bulletin board again, and I'll let all of you get back to important issues such as "why loose change makes a rattling noise in the change holder"
1 - 4 of 29 Posts
I'm not yet believing that anything in the car malfunctioned so as to rev the engine and cause it to run fast while in gear.<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Give this woman a break! Maybe some of you folks out there are super heroes and would have reacted in the NHRA certified .400 sec., but I subscribe to the idea that the initial reaction, in such a case, is delayed by a degree of disbelief.</font>
The simplest explanation is probably the correct one.
Probably.
And the simplest explanation is human error. She thought she was hitting the brakes but hit the gas instead.
For example, we don't know if she was using both feet to drive (bad idea). How many people do you see driving down the road, the freeway, with brake lights on? Plenty. WAY too many. They're driving with both feet and are dragging a foot on the brake without realizing it. These people are dangerous for a whole lot of reasons. And my hunch is that they're more likely to hit the gas when they don't want to, just like they're hitting the brakes when they don't mean to.
Could she be one of those people?
The simplest explanation is probably the correct one. It would take serious effort to convince me that the car "just started going fast" without any human cause.
And the guy's initial reaction was to look for fault somewhere else--to the point of going to a lot of effort to find dubious sources on the net that would back him up.
People screw up. Now if we could only get them to admit it.
I'm not saying she did it; I'm saying I *won't* immediately assume the cause is in the car and then go looking for evidence to support that theory, all the while dismissing any evidence that might point to the fact that she did it.
And if she caused it by her physical actions, she probably had no idea what was going on.
Well, you're careful about it.<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">I started using the technique when I was about 20 years of age and, since I am now 63 years old, I speak from experience. My left foot goes to the brake only when braking is necessary and, as stated in the thread re early brake wear, I get exceptional brake life. My front pads have NEVER worn to the replacement level in fewer than 75K miles and I usually get over 50K from my rear shoes. I have also had to do some emergency braking a few times and have done just fine. Since there are two pedals and I have two feet, it makes sense to me to use one foot on each pedal. This method has served me well and those who have not tried it should not condemn it........</font>
What I'm condemning is the idea that everyone should use this method, without taking measures to be careful about it.
You can't say, "It's a good method" and leave that comment standing by itself--because, as we all know, drivers in the US are generally idiots who barely know what's going on at the traffic light let alone under the hood. You risk getting idiots to use this method and having them drive down the road with their brake lights on all the time, which is DANGEROUS--it's as dangerous as having no brake lights at all. It's the same thing.
People don't realize that it takes just the lightest touch to activate the brake lights. They have their foot resting on the brake pedal, ready to brake--"just in case"--and their other foot is on the gas. The car is going but the brake lights are on. Dangerous.
If you're going to remove that threat by leaving your left foot off the brakes until needed, then you eliminate the advantage of left foot braking--the reaction time. You might as well brake with your right foot, if you're in a position where you have to move a foot from where it is to where the brake pedal is.
I don't think left foot braking is a good idea overall because with few exceptions such as yourself, people don't know how to do it and they cause themselves AND THE REST OF THE MOTORING PUBLIC more problems than left foot braking solves.
Right. But as Chuck points out, this country doesn't advocate training drivers. That's why I hate to see someone advocating this without also advocating exactly what you described above.<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">I do not advocate this technique for ANYONE, but, I would approve of anyone who felt comfortable with it and would be willing to devote the patience and attention to learning it. It is not something you "try" and decide "I like it" or "I do not like it". It is something you have to work at for quite a while before you reach a comfort level and in the meantime, you must be VERY much aware of what you are trying to accomplish.</font>
In the end, it's easier in our culture just to say, don't do it. If someone wants to explore it, then go on and explain. But by and large people don't want to know. They just want to get in their cars and go.
Shoot, I'd bet 99.99% of the people in the US don't even bother reading the owner's manual to their brand new, technology-filled car.
1 - 4 of 29 Posts
- This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Honda Odyssey Forum
Odyclub community is the #1 forum to discuss all things Honda Odyssey: minivans, safety, service maintenance, mods, and more.
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Recommended Communities
