Last week we reported on the story of Marlene Taylor, a Kentucky woman who claimed that her Chevrolet Equinox experienced sudden unintended acceleration while traveling on Interstate 64 on May 27th.  Taylor drove at speeds approaching 90 miles per hour with her two toddlers in the car, swerving in and out of traffic for 40 miles until law enforcement officials stepped in and managed to slow her vehicle using a squad car.

New details have since surfaced that raise doubts about Ms. Taylor’s story.

We spoke with GM spokesperson, Alan Adler who explained that Ms. Taylor’s vehicle was subject to an extensive investigation on May 31st and June 1st which ultimately discovered no electronic or mechanical problems.  GM believes that there is nothing wrong with the vehicle and is standing firm on the issue.

According to Adler, the investigation revealed that no diagnostic trouble codes were recorded by the vehicle’s computer during the incident.  The team uncovered 2.5 seconds of data from the vehicle’s event data recorder which showed that the vehicle was traveling at a steady speed of 87 miles per hour with the cruise control engaged.  The brakes were not depressed during those 2.5 seconds.

The GM team did find an aftermarket floor mat placed on top of the standard Chevrolet floor mat.  As popularized during Toyota’s recent recall scandal, floor mats can sometimes entrap the accelerator pedal if they are not properly secured or if they are not shaped correctly to fit in the footwell.  The constant 87 miles per hour revealed by the event data recorder suggests that the accelerator pedal in Ms. Taylor’s car was not stuck at the time, however.

Further, GM found only normal wear and tear on Ms. Taylor’s brake rotors and brake pads.  “If the driver tried to apply the brakes and cruise (control) did not disengage,” notes GM senior engineer, Vic Hakim, “I would have expected to see some over-heating and there was none of that.”

Adler also reminds that Ms. Taylor placed two calls to OnStar during the incident and that 911 authorities instructed her to apply the brakes, place the transmission in neutral, disengage the cruise control system, and shut off the ignition.  She was unable to use any of the four suggestions to slow the vehicle.

For her part, Taylor claims that the brakes did not slow the vehicle and that the pumping action she used at the time explains why there was no evidence of heat buildup or unusual wear on the brake rotors.  She further claims that the transmission lever was stuck and that she was afraid to shut off the ignition for fear that she’d lose control if the steering wheel locked.

Taylor claimed immediately after the incident that she simply wanted for GM to investigate the vehicle and provide the public with some peace of mind.  She nonetheless hired an attorney to represent her.

Adler notes that the attorney, “sought a significant cash payment  and a replacement vehicle,” soon thereafter.  The firm is no longer on the case, though.  Taylor claims that she never authorized her attorneys to demand the settlement and that she later dismissed them.  She demands that GM continue to investigate the vehicle.

Here is a video of a follow-up interview from Louisville’s WHAS Channel 11 News: