After learning about the uncontrolled acceleration problem I am afraid to drive my 2010 Toyota Camry. Should I go back to driving my old 1998 Camry?
Remove the driver’s side floor mat and you can drive the car safely.
You can put the floor mat back in after Toyota modifies your gas petal. Then later when new gas petals are available your Toyota dealer will replace the modified petal with a new one designed to not catch on the floor mat.
Also, don’t push the pedal to the floor. It can’t catch on the floor mat if it doesn’t touch it.
The Problem With Removing Floor Mats Is That Many People Aren’t Convinced That This Is A Floor Mat Caused Problem, But Rather A Computer Issue.
CSA
Unfortunately, there no helping “those” people.
BC.
Since it’s now an unsafe car, and will lead to a bad accident, I will take it off of your hands for a very generous $1000. Make sure you take out that floor mat before I pick it up, however. 
BC.
Seriously . . . I think that you need to visit your Toyota dealer for an update and ask them the very same question. Rocketman
Flower power?
;-))
In addition On Toyota Camry and Avalon and Lexus ES models, they also will replace thick foam padding under the carpeting with thinner pads to allow more clearance between the pedal and floor. So until the recall and computer brake override be aware of the problem and the best way to deal with it, as suggested in other threads here.
“Unfortunately, there no helping “those” people.”
It is still not clear that Toyota’s explanation concerning floor mats is the only issue. Several people reported having unintended acceleration while cruise control is engaged. Lose the attitude.
- Take out the floor mat. ( or you could pull it back far enough to ensure the pedal doesn’t catch.)
- Practice , in your mind, the action of putting the car in neutral if the engine were to take off racing.
** Your panic reaction is KEY to safety, for yourself and those around you. ** - No ‘pedal to the metal’ accelerations.
In a panic situation ( engine racing ) your sub-concious will act first. Train your sub-concious to put the car in neutral first. Tromping on the brake is probably the first gut reaction, this is just fine but the car is still out of your control and possibly even ‘racing’, so get it in neutral asap.
All the rest you’ll do after gaining control of the vehicle, and getting off to the side of the road.
At that time only will you then turn off the engine and check to see if you can pull back on the pedal.
My own pedal became trapped by my floor mat once. My own mistake when replacing mats after washing.
But the first reaction move was to put in neutral, THEN concern myself with other problem solving actions.
Once on the birm of the road I discovered the trapped pedal, moved the mat bacwards, and continued on my way.
Drive your Camry as usual
You engage the cruise control normally by accelerating up to the speed you want and engaging the cruise.If your gas pedal is stuck at that time the car will keep accelerating because the gas pedal overrides the cruise control.
remember you can always put a car in neutral if it has a stuck accelerator—the engine will continue to race but the car brakes will stop the car.
Thanks for the responses. I feel safer having watched the Consumer Reports video on this web site. I have removed the driver’s side floor mat that the dealer forced us to buy. Still like the car very much.
Following the recommendations above will greatly reduce the chance of a problem. It will then be down to just a bit worse than getting stuck by lightning. Frankly the 2010 will likely be a little safer than the 1998 due to the additional safety features on the 2010.
Try to keep things if perspective. Even with the floor mat there is not much chance of a problem, and you greatly reduce that small chance by removing the carpet.
Keep up with Toyota and get any modifications they come out with as they come and don’t worry.
This business of the floor mat interfering with the gas pedal makes me wonder about aftermarket floor mats.
I’ve yet to see in any store that sells these mats have a list of mats designed/designated for a specific vehicle.
Mind you, that would have to be a LOT of different designed mats.
Some people not aware of possible problems buy these and wind up in trouble.
I own a 2004 Toyota Matrx XR and the manufacturers mats are made to fit AND have hooks anchored in the floor (that hold the mats) to prevent them from sliding and interfering with the gas pedal.
So it would appear to me Toyota has already figured that one out.
When I bought winter mats to trap water off wet shoes/boots, I carefully cut them to safely fit and cut two small holes for the hooks to fit through.
My gut feeling tells me the problem is not with the mat but something else.
If the throttle sticks on ANY car, you can always turn off the ignition switch. Just don’t turn it to the LOCK position or pull out the key. You will still have power brakes and be able to steer to the side of the road although the steering effort required will be greater.
Does anyone know why the manufacturers have gone to electronic throttle control? Cables or mechanical linkage worked fine, and if one broke after half a million miles the fix was easy and reasonable. Just wait till a throttle servo goes south. Hide your wallet.
"Does anyone know why the manufacturers have gone to electronic throttle control?"
Yes, many people know. It allows them to squeeze another few % MPG out of the car. They’re just doing what the government and many car shoppers are demanding.
BTW, mechanical cables sometimes stuck too.
We have a '10 Camry. If the CORRECT mat is installed PROPERLY, with the hooks PROPERLY installed and attached, the is NO WAY the mat could interfere with the gas pedal. I’ve checked it and could not even force the mat to get in the way of the petal (pedal). Our '98 Camry had the exact same setup with mat and hooks. Your '98 probably had these too, if you ordered the factory mats.
History repeats itself. In the Popular Science magazine, there was a feature every month called “Tales from the Model Garage”. Gus Wilson, the propprietor and wise mechanic took care of customers in his small town. In one episode that appeared in the late 1940’s just after WWII, a customer had purchased a new car with an automatic transmission. The customer had removed the floormat and cleaned it after his young son had tracked mud into the car. The customer didn’t get it back right and the accelerator stuck. He got the car stopped, but ran a traffic signal in the process. A policeman issued a citation. The customer was livid with the car and threw the keys. Of course old Gus Wilson solved the problem and everyone was happy. It’s interesting how this problem has resurfaced more than 60 years later.
We old geezers remember a safety feature on cars that was useful in case the accelerator stuck. It was a pedal on the floor called the clutch. One could simply press down on this pedal and it would disconnect the engine from the rest of the drive train. My Dad had a 1947 DeSoto with the “lift and clunk” automatic transmission. You used the clutch to put the car in driving range, or into reverse, or low range, but once in driving range, all you did was release the accelerator to shift into high. I remember that there was a label on the clutch pedal that read “Safety Clutch”. Maybe Chrysler corporation had the right idea in having an automatic transmission that also had a clutch pedal.