Thursday July 29, 2010 - More Information on Toyota
Thursday, 29 July 2010 09:42
Toyota: A few months ago when all the brouhaha about the Toyota unintended acceleration problems came out, I wrote to you suggesting that we should withhold judgment until more facts were available. It became quite popular at that time for the press and some of my colleagues in Congress to vociferously express their disgust and indignation at another corporate giant recklessly producing faulty products that it knew were faulty.
My caution at jumping to this conclusion was based on my experience as an Audi dealer in 1984 when that company was nearly destroyed in the US market by another instance of "unintended acceleration" publicity even though it was later proven that nothing was faulty with any of the cars. In 1984, the conclusion which was eventually reached was that driver's were mistakenly stepping on the gas pedal, thinking it was the brake pedal and causing the car to accelerate wildly. History does repeat itself. Thus far, government investigators have not found any of the Toyotas which experienced unintended acceleration where the brake had been engaged. And in all cases the throttle was wide open. Granted, the wide open throttle may have been caused by a pedal sticking or a floor mat riding up and we will know more once the investigation is complete. But no engine today is powerful enough to overcome the stopping power of a fully engaged brake.
As I have pointed out before, I was never a Toyota dealer and I don't particularly have an affinity for the brand. But often in today's society, the art of accusation gets tons of publicity and then the exoneration gets none. I will try to correct the imbalance here, but I certainly don’t mean to imply that there was an absence of fault on behalf of Toyota Motor Company in this case, but I am simply pointing out that before we set up the proverbial firing squad, we ought to have all the facts first. I have attached a link to this story here.
I remain respectfully,
Congressman John Campbell
Member of Congress
