|
Jury's in on Toyota Sudden Acceleration
On Tuesday, February 8, the US department of Transportation announced the findings of their investigation into Toyota's unintended acceleration issues. They found that electronic systems and electromagnetic interference didn't have anything to do with the incidents of unintended acceleration.
The study done by NASA & NHTSA found there were three main causes of unintended acceleration. Two of them were the previously identified issues of floor mats getting jammed up with the pedal and "sticky" throttle pedal assemblies that didn't release quickly enough. The most common cause by far was drivers hitting the gas pedal when they thought they were hitting the brakes. The Department of Transportation has labeled this "Pedal Misapplication". I guess operator error is too simple a term. The Wall Street Journal stated that Roy LaHood, the Secretary of Transportation, got testy when a reporter called it driver error.
The really discouraging part of this event is the way the media and the government blew it out of proportion. Congress held hearings. Akio Toyoda, president and CEO of Toyota had to apologize to Congress saying he was deeply sorry. Toyota was fined $48 million (previously the highest fine was $1 million to GM in 2003). Keep in mind the US Government owns 60% of General Motors. When judges have a conflict of interest they recuse themselves. This is not to say the government shouldn't investigate or hold hearings, but they should not grandstand or speculate before the facts are in.
U.S. News reported in May, 2010 "89 Deaths Caused by Unintended Acceleration in Toyota Vehicles". CBS News quoted the same figure and the New York Post quoted 52 deaths. Toyota stock dropped 14% in the last week of January 2010. After all this sensationalism, the real number of deaths was a tiny fraction of what the press was reporting. The NHTSA report states: "NHTSA believes that only one of the reported instances (and one unreported fatal accident) is traceable to a vehicle-based cause." (p38) That's 87 fewer deaths than US News and CBS reported!
Think about it. How could the same problem occur in multiple models both conventional and hybrid as the news reported and covering model years 1998-2010? Even after NHTSA found no electrical causes, they are still talking about requiring brake override systems and event recorders to be added to all new models that will, of course, increase prices. The event recorders could prevent frivolous lawsuits but it should be up to the automakers if they want to install them.
It seems to me that in this case the voices of reason did not prevail but sensationalism and publicity became more important than common sense and facts.
What do you think? Email it to jim@addisonauto.com.
| 
