protectionist b.s.

The difference is, if a driver losses control of his car, it is already on
the GROUND LOL

 

The problem we have in this country is that we allow people that do not know
how to drive, to teach others how to drive.

As the state with the highest number of bad drivers, Massachusetts wins
hands down.

 

Get real, there have been 19 people killed, and an untold number of people
injured driving runaway Toyotas, in the US alone.

If I were driving a Toyota today, I would drive with my left foot poised
over the brake pedal

 

I remember a month or two after the overturning Ford Explorer fiasco hit the
press there was suddenly an epidemic of SUVs of all makes and models
flipping over on their sides at every intersection. Before all the
publicity, I don't remember ever seeing an overturned SUV. Strange things
happen when people start thinking they can cash in.

 

Except that four of the reported five deaths involved a highly-trained
policeman.

 

You're aware that Ford accounts for 28% of SUA incidents?

What are they doing about that?

 

Who told you that, your Toyota dealer

 

The Wall Street Journal.

Now answer the question, smiley.

 

Let's look at some facts:
- 2,300,000 vehicles operated daily without incident.
- Two fatal incidents, five deaths (four of them in one incident).
- Twelve actual documented cases of stuck gas pedals.
- 0.00052% rate of incidence for stuck gas pedals.
- The NHTSA has currently 40 "defect" investigations going on. Three
involve Toyota. 37 involve other automakers.
- Ford accounts for 28% of all SUA incidents, but not a peep is heard about
that.

I'm reading the paper this afternoon, and it appears there may be just a
tad more to this SUA issue than actual malfunctions...

As is well known by now, the Obama administration is very much beholden to
trade unions. Obama even admitted in an interview during the election
campaign that he owes a lot to the unions and would do whatever they
wanted.

Well, Toyota just closed a large and unionized plant in California. It
seems the UAW is now exercised about that. Plus they're looking for sales
for GM and Chrysler, which are now partly union-owned and are losing market
share.

What better way to get what they want than to nudge the Obamistas into
slagging those successful little yellow (non-union) foreigners? You think
LaHood is his own man here? Nope.

 

You're in the wrong country... We need you here!

Come on down to TX, get your concealed carry permit and have fun. First
trip to the range will be on me...

JT

 

Yeah, but we all know that cops are not selected as the best and
brightest.

OTOH, if they got smacked by the Toyota, nothin's poifect!

JT

 

You expect us to believe you read the Journal?

 

It's the fault of the Unions? I thought it was the fault of President
Bush

 

dude, at this stage it's mob hysteria. fact is, frod have defects that
have killed thousands of americans. but rather than spend money on
proper design and execution, they instead show up in d.c. with lobbyists
and spend hundreds of millions of dollars making "contributions" to
[which is MUCH cheaper b.t.w.] our representatives so they can stay off
the political/legal radar screen.

toyota, naively, just make great cars under the false impression that
they're selling into a meritocracy that plays fair. and they are so
wrong. but toyota, inadvertently, are shining the harsh light of
reality on the utter debasement of american values with this bullshit
from politicians that are prepared to take the dollar and turn a blind
eye to manslaughter rather than stand up for the lives and values of
citizens that elected them. it's an utter disgrace.

 

well said.

 

OTOH,it might be just that the media began NOTICING the SUV rollovers,and
reporting nationally on every one that happened,instead of just local
reporting.

Kinda like reaching critical mass.... ;-)

Now,I've been reading that the Obama administration's -reaction- to the
Toyota recall may be due to union influence,considering Toyota is NON-union
and a "foreign" automaker. (although it's cars have more domestic content
than many "American" vehicles,that may be made in Canada or Mexico.

On the Prius brake/cruise control problem,considering that car is a hybrid
electric(with integral computer control of throttle/braking),I can see
software bugs cropping up. Sometimes it takes a while to encounter a SW
bug,particularly under unusual conditions. Like what happens if a ROM's
data is corrupted;lose a byte here or there,in the wrong place,and you have
a potentially hazardous condition waiting to be discovered.There's all
sorts of reasons memory data could get corrupted,AFTER the car is shipped
and sold.
At least aircraft have redundant systems.


that's why I'm not so hot on drive-by-wire autos;SW glitches.


--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

 

You mean, like the Japanese version of protectionism that, in 2008,
exported over 2 million vechicles to the US, while at the same time,
only allowing 12 thousand American nameplates to be imported
there??????


Or the type of protectionism that Japan displayed when they had their
own "cash for clunkers" program, but excluded the handful of American
nameplates that WERE sold there from the program???????


Sounds fair to me, I guess, if I were from Japan.

Amazing statement.

For over three decades, the media has lamblasted American autos for
everything from interior light bulbs burning out, to weather stripping
dry-rotting after 10 years. They hammered away repeatedly at the "lack
of American reliability until many, who did not check things out on
their own, began to believe them.


Now, the worm is beginning to turn, and there are those who believed
what the media said for thirty years, are accusing them of the same
things they did against American nameplates.


Maybe turn-a-bout IS fair play!

Kinda funny how it took about 20 MILLION Toyota recalls over the past
3 or 4 years before it became politically motivated, or a "hysterical
xeonphobia."


Hell , a good chunk of the MILLIONS of recalls happened well before it
became "chic' to knock Toyota.


The sludging engines, or rusting supensions were known well before the
US government began ownership in GM or Chysler, so there was nothing
to be gained by the US pressuring Toyota into making recalls. There
goes the 'conflict of interest" argument.


And BTW, if you believe Toyota has NOT been spending bundles of money
lobbying Washington, then YOU are more naive than you claim Toyota is.

Really, you didn't make a single factual statement at all in this
paragrah.


Matter of fact, just the opposite of what you stated is actually true.

 

That does not mean that Toyota does not have problems with sticking
accelerators.


Fact#1

Toyota is selling products in which sometimes, the accelerator sticks
open, creating a safety hazard.


Fact:#2

There are some people who will try to take advantage of the situation
for monetary gain.


Fact# 3

Fact number 2 does not mean Fact number 1 does not exist.

 

Almost forgot about the 'staged' event that was made for the sole
purpose of hurting GM truck sales.

Just another example of the extremes the media would go to in order to
slam American nameplates.

However, sticking accelerators, sludging engines and rusting
suspension parts on Toyotas made over the past 6 or 7 years are very
REAL!

 

well, i drove a prius extensively this past summer, and found it to be a
smooth, finely engineered vehicle - no glitches, flaws, or mistakes in
performance anywhere. responsive too. wouldn't hesitate to recommend
one for driveability.

i also drove a chevy hhr, and if there is an example of "fly-by-wire"
done wrong, the hhr is it - what a piece of crap. whoever decided a
vehicle needs a 3-second delay on mid-throttle response needs a good
kicking in the gonads.