Many long-time list subscribers will remember several years ago the
one of my daughter's friends was incinerated by a fire in a new toada
that i suspected was being fed by a fuel pump that was running after
the crash. This toada fly by wire system has now been exposed as a
major problem. Below is an article from ASQ: More reasons you
should insist your family and friends not drive toadas or any other
fly by wire system
Plenty of Missed Signs on the Road to Recall
Associated Press Financial Wire
February 8, 2010
When Peter Boddeart's Lexus lurched forward and rear-ended another
vehicle in Fauquier County, VA, earning him a police citation, he
wrote to federal regulators imploring them to look into his case
"before someone ends up seriously injured or killed." That was in
2003.
In the seven years since, there were hundreds of drivers' complaints
about unwanted acceleration of their Toyotas, six inconclusive
federal investigations, multiple reports of deaths and repeated
denials from the automaker it had a major problem on its hands.
That's just the sort of bureaucratic inertia Barack Obama pointedly
criticized as a presidential candidate. Yet his administration was
without a federal highway safety chief for most of its first year
and, like the Bush administration before it, missed signals in the
Toyota case.
After several investigations, it was only last week that Toyota
owners learned federal regulators, concerned the company was not
taking apparently dangerous defects seriously enough, traveled to
Japan in December to light a fire under corporate executives.
Meanwhile, millions of Toyotas continued to be driven by drivers
unaware of the potential scope of the problem, and the cars continued
to be sold.
Combined with a recall involving the toxic metal cadmium that arose
from press scrutiny rather than federal oversight, the Toyota episode
has raised questions about whether the government under Democrats
will be any more agile in enforcement of consumer protections than
the Bush administration was.
"When you've got a government regulatory agency, it has to be a
government cop on the corporate beat," said Joan Claybrook, who was
chief of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration during
the Carter administration. "And it's got to act like a cop."
Claybrook said that while most of the Toyota investigations took
place during the Bush administration, the absence of a permanent
administrator during Obama's first year prevented a new team from
conducting a full review of dozens of pending defect investigations
and a fresh look at the Toyota cases.
Coming to light
Toyota's string of recalls burst into the open in late September,
leaving millions of car owners unsure if their vehicles were safe to
drive and tarnishing the reputation of a company once synonymous with
safe, reliable cars. The road to the recall of millions of Camrys,
Corollas and other popular Toyota models began years ago, touched off
by warnings from Boddeart, who died in April, and others who worried
their cars might bolt forward and cause a crash.
Back in 2003, Boddeart told regulators his accident marked the third
time his 1999 Lexus LS400 accelerated unexpectedly and asked them to
investigate. Five months later, the 83-year-old's petition to the
agency was panned "in view of the need to allocate and prioritize
NHTSA's limited resources," a common refrain in rejection letters.
Several investigations followed.
In 2004, Carol Mathews, a nurse from Rockville, MD, crashed into a
tree when her Lexus suddenly accelerated. She asked the agency to
investigate. The government reviewed problems with electronic
throttles in about 1 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles and found more
than 100 complaints.
Seeking to limit the scope of the review, Toyota urged the government
to consider a "vehicle surge to be something less than a wide-open
throttle." No defect was found after 4-1/2 months of investigating,
and the case was closed.
In July 2005, Jordan Ziprin, a retired attorney in Phoenix, asked the
government to dig into the problem after his 2002 Camry XLE spun out
of control and crashed into an electric utility box. "Had there been
any vehicles or pedestrians in the street, deaths would probably have
followed," he wrote.
Reviewing Toyota models built from 2002 to 2005, the agency found
that 20% of 432 complaints reviewed involved "sudden or unintended
acceleration." But regulators said the complaint rate was
"unremarkable." The government closed the case, citing "insufficient
evidence."
A separate investigation launched in March 2007 reviewed allegations
that floor mats were interfering with accelerator pedals. Toyota said
a month later there was "no possibility of the pedal interference
with the all-weather floor mat if it's placed properly and secured."
By that August, government investigators had tied the problem to 12
deaths, and a survey of 600 Lexus owners found about 10% reported
sudden or unexpected acceleration. In September, Toyota recalled
55,000 Camry and ES350 vehicles to replace the floor mats. But that
was hardly the end of the problems.
In January 2008, William Kronholm of Helena, MT, complained about his
2006 Tacoma truck accelerating while he hit the brakes. During the
investigation, Toyota told the NHTSA it believed complaints by
Kronholm, a retired Associated Press editor, and others were
attributed to "extensive media coverage."
The automaker also said many of the problems cited by consumers,
including lurching when the vehicle came to a stop and engine idle
speed changes when the vehicle was stopped, were "minor drivability
concerns." Kronholm's case was closed in August 2008 without a defect
finding.
Deaths get attention
Then, last August, a high-speed crash near San Diego killed a
California highway patrol officer, his wife, daughter and
brother-in-law, bringing renewed attention to the problems, now the
regulatory responsibility of the Obama administration.
The highway patrol officer's loaner Lexus ES350 reached speeds of
more than 120 mph, struck an SUV, launched off an embankment, rolled
several times and burst into flames. The family frantically called
911 from the Lexus, telling the dispatcher the pedal was stuck and
they couldn't stop.
In October, Toyota issued its largest-ever U.S. recall, involving
about 4 million vehicles. The fix, which is still under way, includes
reconfiguring the gas pedal and installing brake override software on
some vehicles.
In November, Toyota said federal regulators had concluded "no defect
exists" in the case, drawing a rare rebuke from the government. The
NHTSA said the company issued inaccurate information. In December,
federal officials traveled to Japan to urge Toyota to take the safety
concerns seriously and report defects promptly. Toyota said it would
comply.
On Jan. 12, a top Toyota executive said the company was addressing
the problems. "We have learned from these mistakes, and we are
confident that we're doing the right thing for our customers," Toyota
Motor Sales USA president Yoshi Inaba said in a Detroit speech.
Nine days later, Toyota recalled 2.3 million vehicles over concerns
the gas pedal could get stuck or fail to return to the idle position.
Dealers are now engaged in an all-out blitz to fix the vehicles,
inserting a small plate into the pedal assembly to deal with friction
that could cause the problem.
Separately, Toyota also told dealers Friday it's preparing a plan to
repair the brakes on thousands of hybrid Prius cars in the United
States and would disclose details this week. More than 100 drivers of
2010 Prius cars have complained their brakes seemed to fail
momentarily when they were driving on bumpy roads.
Critics weigh in
The efforts have done little to soothe critics who have long thought
the highway safety agency was too trusting of car companies and slow
to push for higher standards. In Toyota's case, two of the company's
top safety officials in Washington are former NHTSA employees.
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who exposed auto industry malfeasance
in his 1960s best-seller, Unsafe at Any Speed, said the problems stem
from a "regulatory enforcement agency that turned itself, due to
corporate pressure and White House neglect, into a consulting firm."
The NHTSA was without a permanent administrator for most of the past
year. Obama's first choice, Chuck Hurley, CEO of Mothers Against
Drunk Driving, withdrew from consideration after environmentalists
criticized him for being too soft on fuel efficiency standards. It
was not until December that Obama put forward David Strickland, a
former counsel to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Committee, who was confirmed.
Now fully engaged, the Transportation Department has stepped up its
investigation and warned Toyota it could face civil penalties of up
to $16 million for failing to issue timely recalls. But the
government has sent a mixed message. Transportation Secretary Ray
LaHood advised owners of recalled Toyota to stop driving their
vehicles last week, then quickly backtracked and said he misspoke.
Congress is investigating, and lawmakers are planning at least two
hearings on the Toyota recalls this month. Now, some Republicans,
whose party was accused of failing to protect consumers during the
Bush administration, question whether the agency held Toyota
accountable.
"It begs the question if this is an organization that has been broken
for a long time," said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the top
Republican on the House Oversight and Government Committee. "They do
a lot of good things but are certainly not doing everything they
should well enough."
In honor of Herr Doktor Booth:
Loren Faeth, CQE, ASQ Senior member
(owns no fly by wire veeee-hicles)
_______________________________________
http://www.okiebenz.com
For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com
To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/
To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to:
http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com