Was San Diego 'Runaway' Prius Faked? New Lawsuit

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1. Magazine Asks: "Was the San Diego 'Runaway' Prius Faked?" A story posted today on the U.S. News and World Reports' website says a number of questions are being raised about the actions of the San Diego driver who claimed his Prius accelerated out of control Monday. To read the full story, click here.

2. Orange County, CA, District Attorney Files Lawsuit Against Toyota Orange County, CA, district attorney Tony Rackacklas announced today he was filing a lawsuit against Toyota Motor Sales USA “to enjoin them from continuing to endanger the public through the sale of defective vehicles and deceptive business practices. In response, the company issued the following statement: “Toyota has not received the complaint and is not in a position to comment on pending litigation”

3. Unintended Acceleration Expert Provides His Perspective in the New York Times In a column in Wednesday’s New York Times, Richard Schmidt, professor emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles and the author of a well known study on unintended acceleration, provided his perspective on this issue in response to reports that the federal government may require brake override systems on new vehicles. Approaching the issue from a historical perspective, Prof. Schmidt noted: “From the mid-1980s until 2000, thousands of incidents of sudden acceleration were reported in all makes and models of cars (and buses, tractors and golf carts). Then, as now, the incidents were relatively rare among car crashes generally, but they were nevertheless frequent and dangerous enough to upset automakers, drivers and the news media. But when engineers examined these vehicles post-crash, they found nothing that could account for what the drivers had reported.”

To read the full column, click here

4. Congress Considers NHTSA Reforms at Capitol Hill Hearing Yesterday At a hearing before the House of Representatives’ Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee in Washington yesterday regarding oversight of NHTSA, lawmakers made it clear that they are considering plans to provide more money and authority to support the Agency’s efforts on recalls. The Detroit News also noted that members of Congress indicated that they are considering requiring electronic data recorders (EDRs) as well as brake override systems in new vehicles. (Toyota vehicles currently include EDRs and the company has announced that all models will include brake override systems by the end of this year.)

Discussing the Agency’s work on recalls, NHTSA Administrator David Strickland told the Subcommittee, “We have been a very active agency." The Detroit News noted that automakers regularly issue nearly 500 recalls per year. That is nearly 10 per week. In his remarks to the Subcommittee, Dave McCurdy, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said that “The trend in recalls is for manufacturers to evaluate concerns sooner and respond quickly with voluntary initiatives when needed. Most recalls occur before there have been any fatalities, injuries or crashes which may be attributable to the defect being remedied.” He noted of auto recalls that “70 percent, were undertaken by manufacturers without any NHTSA involvement.”

To read more about the yesterday’s hearing, click here

5. Two Professors Say Satisfied Toyota Customers Protect the Brand Two Rice University management professors say in an op-ed piece in the Houston Chronicle that the media frenzy on Toyota has “focused on vivid yet highly unrepresentative events that ignore the most important constituents: Toyota’s current customers.” Vikas Mittal and Utpal Dholakia note that Toyota has a large base of unwavering loyal customers who “drive their Toyotas day in and day out and experience reliable and trouble-free performance.” That positive experience, accumulated over decades, “insulate” the brand from long-term damage. “When customers are highly satisfied and consistently so (and consistency in the key), they are prone to see the occasional performance lapse as an anomaly.” They go on to say Toyota has that “brand insulation effect” and can recover from its current difficulties.

To read the full column, click on the link below: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6909344.html


6. Toyota Didn’t Pay Stanford Professor for Unintended Acceleration Analysis In light of recent press reports, Toyota issued a statement Thursday making it clear the company didn’t compensate Stanford University professor Chris Gerdes for his analysis of unintended acceleration claims made by Southern Illinois University professor David Gilbert. News reports have implied that Toyota’s support of Stanford’s Center for Automotive Research may have influenced Gerdes’ analysis, which challenged Gilbert’s claims. Yet, Toyota is only one of many auto manufacturers that support the center. Toyota also supports other automotive programs, including the Division of Automotive Technology at Southern Illinois University, where Gilbert teaches. Such support is common in the auto industry and does not mean that independent professors will naturally side with corporate donors. To read the entire statement, click on: http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota-update-regarding-dr-chris-155054.aspx.