From OrlandoBusinessJournal -- The U.S. Department of Transportation concluded a 10-month study of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles with a report stating electronic flaws did not cause sudden vehicle acceleration problems
After exhaustive research by NASA engineers, NTSB engineers, and countless investigations into each of the 83 deaths previously attributed to "sticky gas pedals", this report concluded that it wasn't Toyota's fault.
In every case, the operators had misplaced the floor mats, stepped on the wrong pedal, or improperly large floor mats had been placed in the cars by someone besides the owner, i.e. a detailer, dealer, or mechanic. And that's what led to the pedal getting stuck on the floor mat.
The Obama administration called congressional committee hearings and applied as much pressure as possible to Toyota through threats of punitive fines and the feckless American media gleefully pitched in with some of the worst nonfactual, hysterical reporting I've ever seen. Never has a President attacked a private company this way, but why? Because he had just taken ownership of GM and Chrysler and badly needed them to succeed. Toyota had just taken over the #1 sales ranking in the world. Obama had to destroy his competition and he seized on the mysterious "sticky pedal" nonsense to do it. He didn't care if it turned out to be phoney, the damage he needed to Toyota was short term so who cares if it turns out to be the stupid carelessness of the drivers that caused the sudden accelerations?
For that reason, I will never buy a GM or Chrysler product....ever! I will buy Toyota's or if I buy domestic, I'll buy a Ford.
7 comments:
I agree with you there. I see double and triple floor mats in cats. I had one customer tell me about some bizzare things that her cars does and then brought up the toyota recalls. At that point I took her to her car and showed her that her aftermarket floor mat completely covered then gas pedal. That info went in her one ear and out the other.
It's the culture in America, no matter how stupidly we behave, any negative consequences are somebody elses fault.
Ray LaHood, one of the nominal Republicans in the "O" administration, has ZERO credibility. Last year he jumped on the anti-Toyota bandwagon with both feet and now says they're "safe." He shows the same totalitarian tendencies of Sibelius and Napolitano, saying such things as "we're going to force people out of their cars." The House GOP caucus is better off without him in it.
True that....it's a dark day in America when presidential administrations attack unfairly and without evidence, private companies for political gain.
What was warranted in this situtation was upgraded wetware, i.e. replace the driver with with an IQ.
Exactly, David. For some reason, it's called "delicate" and "uncomfortable" for the auto makers and government to say the words "driver error" so they call it "pedal misapplication." When an aircraft crashes, they never seem to have any problem with calling it "pilot error."
Although, at some point, doesn't the rejection of a global economy justify marginalizing the Japanese economic threat?
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