And so, Toyota is finally getting the bad press it deserves for being slow to fix an incredibly dangerous problem. Make no mistake, this is not a squeaky brake caliper or some faint wind noise. In August of 2009 an off-duty policeman and his entire family perished when their Lexus ES 350 careened down the freeway near San Diego, out of control and unable to stop or slow down. To hear the 911 call go to (http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=7017760)
Toyota blamed the incident on a sticky floor mat but recently announced the recall of 4.2 Million vehicles or over 2 years worth of American production to accelerator pedals that stick wide open or are slow to return. For their next trick they will attempt to stem the anti-Toyota public relations tide. Records show that Toyota has known about, and down-played, this problem for more than two years, blaming the car’s mats and or driver error for the mishaps. Federal regulators have opened a full investigation into this issue. Before this is over, someone could be led away from Toyota headquarters in hand cuffs.
I expect in the days ahead you will see plenty of commercials explaining the Toyota position and clips of what an “American” company they are and how concerned they are for their customers blah blah blah. Let’s face it. If they were truly concerned, the first moment that they expected something wrong with the accelerator, or it’s systems, in any way shape or form, they would have acted swiftly and with purpose to protect the consumer. It’s the gas pedal, not a faulty light bulb. You can’t just let an accelerator pedal problem fester for two years. Who knows how many accidents have been caused by run-away Toyotas that we aren’t even aware of. Last October a 70 year old man in the San Francisco Bay area told investigators that his 2007 Toyota Camry simply “took off” on its own when he rammed into a Honda Accord at 100 plus miles per hour, killing the Honda’s driver in a burst of flames. No one quite believed his story at the time. The California Highway Patrol and Toyota lined up to put the blame on the driver and he was subsequently arrested and sued.
The government has received reports of over 100 related incidents including: seventeen crashes and five fatalities involving Toyota vehicles with this problem.
Consumer Reports needs to recall their magazines that tout the safety and quality of Toyota’s vehicles. Sports stadiums and advertisers need to reject Toyota’s sponsorships until they do the right thing by fixing this issue and making it right for everyone impacted by this heinous flaw.
Welcome to America Toyota. Your honeymoon is officially over.
I expect in the days ahead you will see plenty of commercials explaining the Toyota position and clips of what an “American” company they are and how concerned they are for their customers blah blah blah. Let’s face it. If they were truly concerned, the first moment that they expected something wrong with the accelerator, or it’s systems, in any way shape or form, they would have acted swiftly and with purpose to protect the consumer. It’s the gas pedal, not a faulty light bulb. You can’t just let an accelerator pedal problem fester for two years. Who knows how many accidents have been caused by run-away Toyotas that we aren’t even aware of. Last October a 70 year old man in the San Francisco Bay area told investigators that his 2007 Toyota Camry simply “took off” on its own when he rammed into a Honda Accord at 100 plus miles per hour, killing the Honda’s driver in a burst of flames. No one quite believed his story at the time. The California Highway Patrol and Toyota lined up to put the blame on the driver and he was subsequently arrested and sued.
The government has received reports of over 100 related incidents including: seventeen crashes and five fatalities involving Toyota vehicles with this problem.
Consumer Reports needs to recall their magazines that tout the safety and quality of Toyota’s vehicles. Sports stadiums and advertisers need to reject Toyota’s sponsorships until they do the right thing by fixing this issue and making it right for everyone impacted by this heinous flaw.
Welcome to America Toyota. Your honeymoon is officially over.
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