Police Cite Driver Error In New York Prius Incident

1. Police Cite Driver Error in New York Prius Incident

Police in Harrison, N.Y. on Monday said it appears that a widely reported Prius crash on March 9 was caused by pedal misapplication.

"The vehicle accelerator in this case was depressed 100 percent at the time of collision,” Capt. Anthony Marraccini, acting chief of the Harrison police department, said at a press conference yesterday afternoon. “There was absolutely no indication of any brake application.” The Associated Press reported that the department’s findings were based on information from the car's on-board event data recorder. NHTSA announced last week that its investigators had reached the same conclusion. Toyota engineers also participated in the investigation. "Toyota has been very cooperative," said Capt. Marraccini. Capt. Marraccini noted that the driver in this incident "believes she depressed the brake.” The results of the investigation, however, were “black and white,” according to the chief. She did not try to deceive police, he said, and she faces no charges. Sharing his thoughts after the investigation, Reuters News reported that the acting police chief noted, "Quite honestly, I would have no reservations about putting my own family" in a Prius. To read more about this investigation, please click on (Associated Press) http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/8ef5320729ce4298abefc1903704c7d5/Article_2010-03-22-US-Runaway-Prius-NY/id-p514924e581634a03bf961449303fea94 or on (CNN) http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/22/ny.prius.crash.probe/

2. Kelley Blue Book: Toyota Resale Values Expected to Rise, Customer Interest in New Vehicles Increases

Resale values of Toyota-brand vehicles are expected to rise in the months ahead, according to a new forecast from Kelley Blue Book. "Toyota may finally be turning the corner," according to James Bell, executive market analyst at Kelley Blue Book. The forecast notes that Toyota's three-year resale values are expected to rise 4.2 percentage points year-over-year. While that is below the industry average of 6.2 percentage points, it’s a reversal from February, when Kelley Blue Book lowered its outlook on used Toyota vehicles. Toyota outpaced Honda and Porsche in the forecast. In addition, other data from Kelley Blue Book shows that consideration of and interest in Toyota vehicles has increased considerably in the last week, rebounding to higher levels than before the company's recent major recall announcements. According to the Kelley Blue Book report, “the latest data shows 45 percent of in-market new-car shoppers now are considering a Toyota, up 13 percentage points from last week.” This is “17 percentage points higher than Toyota's consideration was at its lowest point in the midst of the recall crisis…in early February.” To read Kelley Blue Book’s press release on this new forecast, please click on http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kelley-blue-book-toyota-residuals-increases-along-with-rise-in-industry-88803282.html

3. Local News Broadcasts Focus on Extensive Toyota Testing

More than 25 TV stations across the county – including stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Antonio, Miami, Charlotte and Detroit – ran stories yesterday about the extensive steps Toyota takes to test its vehicle electronics. Many of the reports included rarely seen video footage of electromagnetic interference testing at Toyota’s testing facility in Japan as well as excerpts from an interview with Kristen Tabar, General Manager of Electronics Systems at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. “Our testing is so extensive and so deep, I’m very confident that the electronics are not causing” unintended acceleration, Taber noted. CNN also broadcast a report featuring an interview with Tabar yesterday. To see a Toyota interview with Kristen Tabar, please click on http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/electronic.aspx?fid=97382&id=E0C19173 In addition, for dealers wishing to download Tabar’s video interview from Toyota’s news web site for airing in their showrooms, here are the instructions: Go to www.toyotanewsroom.com On the front page, go to the “Featured Video” area and click on “Top U.S. Toyota Electronics Engineer Details Extensive Testing Processes” A “Video Library” page will come up and scroll down to the bottom of the video and click on “Download Hi-Res Version (48.4 Mb)” Click on the “I accept this Terms of Use Policy” box, then click on “download” A “File Download” box will come up; click “Save” to save the file to the hard drive of your computer Once on your computer, use the computer’s system to burn the file to a blank DVD

4. Columnist Talks About Driving the ‘Dangermobile’ – a Toyota Prius A columnist in today’s Boston Globe offered his own personal perspective on some of the media coverage and public reaction to allegations of unintended acceleration in his ride of choice, the Prius. To read his column, please click on http://www.boston.com/cars/news/articles/2010/03/23/a_proud_prius_owner_says_whats_really_accelerating_out_of_control_is_toyota_bashing/