This is a perfectly good example of the touchy-feely world we live in where perception has become the reality of choice for many people.

Throw in a few hundred thousand trial lawyers circling in the tank, looking for someone to sue, and so-called experts spouting the latest psycho-babble, and you have the American society of today.

So, "runaway Toyotas" that can't be verified with science, no real facts that support the allegations, and you have a damaged company building some of the most fuel-efficient cars in the world spending their time doing PR damage control.

Amazing.....

And, as Sonny and Cher would say, "And the beat goes on....."

 

I watched some TV news tonight to see if these NTHSA results merited a little coverage. Alas, no. I wasn't surprised. Scare stories, now that gets prime coverage. Evidence that exposes the scare stories as factless hype, nope, no story there.

 

The media is more intent on pursuing an agenda than they are in providing fair and unbiased reporting. Considering the scope of the fraud, Climategate, to a large extent, was similarly ignored as a non-story.
A handful of web site, bloggers and forums are becoming a valuable tool in the sharing of information that the traditional outlets feel contradicts their version of the story. Of course, where would we be without talk radio? Unfortunately, these non-traditional outlets only reach a limited section of the population.

 

Front page, and above-the-fold, article in the Wall Street Journal this morning, headlined, "Early Tests Pin Toyota Accidents on Drivers," led off with "The U.S. Department of Transportation has analyzed dozens of data recorders from Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles involved in accidents blamed on sudden acceleration and found the throttles were wide open and the brakes weren't engaged at the time of the crash, people familiar with the findings said."

 

"...A spokeswoman for NHTSA declined to confirm the results from the data recorders. She said the agency was continuing to investigate the Toyota accidents and wouldn't be prepared to comment fully on the probe until a broader study is completed in conjunction with NASA, which is expected to take months..."

What exactly does NASA have to do with this??? LOL

 

There's a chance, a greater chance, that NASA will have someone on staff that can understand the firmware source code and be able to detect/find/discern potential coding flaws/mistooks.

But I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

My boss (senior AF officer) bought a '10 Prius just as this was breaking. He knew I was also looking at the Prius (ended up buying a Camry hybrid) and asked what I thought.

I asked him if he did the accelerator/brake teste (empty parking lot, floor the acc, push on the brake, see what happens) and he said his car stopped just fine. I told him then that this smells like a fake story. Bottom line: he kept his car, more than doubled his mileage over his Lincoln LS and is very, very happy.

Repeated this story with a lot of other people owning Toyotas. As far as I can see, the only people who got rid of their cars were those just looking for an excuse to get a new car anyway.

Joe

 

Absolutely...but outside of FoxNews and WSJ, the 'main stream media' (CNN, CBS, 60 Minutes, MSNBC, etc.) largely ignores such stories. Or if they report it, they don't get much emphasis, merely repeating stories from the AP wire.
I can't live without the WSJ, but, many (most) do.

 

NASA execs have a lot of time on their hands these days and are asked to take on odd tasks.

 

Much ado about nothing I guess. We sure like to knock people (and now things) off their pedestals.