I didn't check the floor mat's positioning before I got into the driver seat recently. It's been a couple of months since floor mats were a main topic in the news, and I'd gotten complacent. But as soon as I started driving, I could tell something was wrong. The throttle pedal felt lumpy.
At a stoplight, I peeked down into the footwell and saw that the floor mat had crept up onto the bottom-hinged throttle pedal, as you can see in the photo above. While the light was still red, I reached down and pulled it as far away from the pedal as possible and then went on my merry way with no further incident.
Later, when I got to my destination, I figured I'd better reattach the mat, if that was possible. When I lifted up the mat, I saw that, unlike last time, there was a clip attached to the mat (we must have picked one up recently), but it had come loose from its anchor point in the carpet again. I pushed the clip into the hole as best I could and then rehooked the mat. It seemed to hold well enough. But it was a good reminder to check that mat every time I get in.
Bryn MacKinnon
hybris says:
06:09 PM, 01/14/10
Now I like my black vinyl flooring in my truck a lot more because of this.
firstwagon says:
08:46 PM, 01/14/10
Floor mats are more trouble then they are worth. Save the money and just vacuum your carpet now and then.
huyracing says:
01:32 AM, 01/15/10
one more reason why i love my V dub... floor mats have a velcro-like design on the bottom AND two tabs that essentially lock the mat in place.
hank39 says:
05:53 AM, 01/15/10
Nice shoes!
brn says:
07:46 AM, 01/15/10
"Floor mats are more trouble then they are worth."
Proper floor mats that latch in place are no trouble at all.
lightning73 says:
08:23 AM, 01/15/10
So I'm reading this post, thinking "Hmmm my A3 has those tabs huyracing mentioned... and have had other cars that have them, too." Why wouldn't all manufacturers just do this? The tabs can't add much cost... then I remembered - many people just don't want to pay $100 for the floor mat 'option' when they buy a new car, so having those tabs with no mat would look silly.
bkochuk says:
09:11 AM, 01/15/10
why are you driving in your slippers?
cr_driver says:
10:17 AM, 01/15/10
Yeah, why?
sealclubb3r says:
10:27 AM, 01/15/10
I thought only top hinged pedals were vulnerable to the "unintended acceleration" via floor mat problem?
brn says:
10:28 AM, 01/15/10
lightning73, I've never seen a Ford product that didn't have a hook/latch/tab/something. I suspect others do it too. What bothers me is that it's very difficult to find after market mats that are compatible.
athens says:
01:06 PM, 01/15/10
Driving my 2003 Infiniti G35 coupe for 6 years now there is not a single time I have managed to dislodge the driver's floor mat (either carpeted or rubber - winter) off the floor anchor without using both hands and using a fair amount of force. That anchor is at least 1/2 inch tall. And the backing of the floor mats has rubber needles that are about 1/4 deep. Assuming Infiniti continues to use the same floor mat supplier and/ or uses a similar setup, someone at Inside Line must have damaged the anchor or enlarged the aperture in the mat for either carpeted or rubber mat to come unhooked and move forward as described.
As an aside while washing the winter rubber floor mats for my Infiniti G coupe the other day I bothered to read a warning - for the first time since I bought the car new.
The warning - for anyone that bothers to clean their own floor mats - conspicuously states that the winter rubber mats are NEVER to be placed atop of any other floor mat.
Obviously manufacturers even as far back as 2002 realized that consumers were too lazy to remove any other floor mat before installing the rubber mats.
In years past I distinctly remember at more than one family member whose driver side contained a rubber mat atop a carpeted one.
As intelligent beings we have to realize at some point that the accelerator pedal in any car is not likely to have much clearance above the floor to accommodate the length of the average adult human foot - male and female.