What Took Toyota So Long?
Nicolas Loris /
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) still cannot determine what caused the unintended acceleration of a Toyota Prius last week in which a police officer was able to assist in bringing the vehicle to a stop without injury to anyone. In fact, when Members of Congress grilled Toyota representatives in several hearings, one of the reoccurring questions from Members was: Why didn’t you address the problem sooner. A legitimate question given the volume of complaints over the years but there are some trends that may shed light into what some are calling a serious lack of response. Theodore Frank, president and founder of the Center for Class Action Fairness writes that:
“The Los Angeles Times recently did a story detailing all of the NHTSA reports of Toyota “sudden acceleration” fatalities, and, though the Times did not mention it, the ages of the drivers involved were striking. In the 24 cases where driver age was reported or readily inferred, the drivers included those of the ages 60, 61, 63, 66, 68, 71, 72, 72, 77, 79, 83, 85, 89—and I’m leaving out the son whose age wasn’t identified, but whose 94-year-old father died as a passenger.
These “electronic defects” apparently discriminate against the elderly, just as the sudden acceleration of Audis and GM autos did before them. (If computers are going to discriminate against anyone, they should be picking on the young, who are more likely to take up arms against the rise of the machines and future Terminators).”