[Denatonium]

Not to mention that in an emergency, you can always turn the key to kill the engine, and then put it back into pre-igntion (to unlock the steering column). You won't have power-assisted braking or power-steering, but with a bit of adrenaline-fueled strength, it is definitely preferable to being in a car that is stuck accelerating.

[PhotonHunter]

The service brakes of anything short of a supercar are sufficient to stop a car at WOT.

[joecool1029]

Well, they didn’t here, also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_fade

[mmooss]

That's a lot of thought and action in a unexpected and very fast-moving situation. I don't think that's a realistic expectation, except perhaps for trained personnel like airplane pilots.

[LanceH]

Stomp on brakes is pretty basic, and all that was ever needed for overpowering a prius's engine/motor.

This "scandal" was never about mechanical failures. It was almost certainly about driver error and mass hysteria.

As for Toyota settling, had this been Ford or Chevy, the government wouldn't have had the appetite to go after them for what was always a non-issue. It was just less expensive for Toyota to fix floor mats and pay a billion to put it all behind them.

[helterskelter]

Key?

[chneu]

Long press the start/stop button.

[laweijfmvo]

shift into neutral

[ehnto]

It was a 2005 model, so it should have been possible. However the article isn't super clear on where exactly the software is running, and the transmission controller and engine control unit can be interlinked in various ways. Especially more modern vehicles, it would be entirely possible to write code that disallowed shifting if it was an automatic. We have no idea just how poorly orchestrated this system was and what features were affected.

I don't know enough about 2005 Camry's though, so I wouldn't speculate much further than that.