Washington Post (February 8)
The results of the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration into sudden acceleration found no link to a supposed software flaw in the Toyota Prius. “In short, human error, mechanical errors that Toyota repaired and a dose of politically induced hysteria were to blame.” The hearings by Congress lacked restraint and placed Toyota officials “in an impossible situation, since blaming Toyota customers – though this was true in many cases – would have been a public relations disaster.”
Forbes (July 22)
The media falsely created “the runaway-Toyota scare.” Fact checking is now showing there were very few actual cases of sudden acceleration. And most of these were caused by sliding floor mats or drivers mistakenly hitting the gas pedal. The media alarmed car buyers and Congress, reporting that anywhere from 52 to 93 crashes had been caused by sudden acceleration. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now believes only 5 deaths were linked to an acceleration defect.
