NHTSA witholding documents on Toyota recalls

[SteamWake]

I'm sure you remember a few months back Toyota being taken to court and raked over the coals for floormats and sticky accellerators.

It has recently come to light that some of these 'accidents' were not accidents at all rather they were attempts at insurance fraud by individuals.

Then today I noticed this nestled way down on the news items.

DETROIT—Senior officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation have at least temporarily blocked the release of findings by auto-safety regulators that could favor Toyota Motor Corp. in some crashes related to unintended acceleration, according to a recently retired agency official.


http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2010/08/02/ex-official-says-nhtsa-blocking-release-toyota-docs/

Most curious.

[The Third Man]

Since I own a part of GM I'd say let the government cover up the fact that Toyota did nothing wrong, and that it was false reporting. We have to spread some of that money around.

[Platapus]

Anyone remember the "problems" with the Audi 5000 back in the 80's?

[Zachstar]

I'm sure you remember a few months back Toyota being taken to court and raked over the coals for floormats and sticky accellerators.

It has recently come to light that some of these 'accidents' were not accidents at all rather they were attempts at insurance fraud by individuals.

Then today I noticed this nestled way down on the news items.




http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2010/08/02/ex-official-says-nhtsa-blocking-release-toyota-docs/

Most curious.

Is there a reason you are coming to the defense of a foreign company? Just more hatred of US auto companies. (Tho I suspect that much pro-foreign after GM got its act together is more of a vicious Anti-UAW and overall anti-union attitude)

Edit: And of course you quote Fox News. That REALLY helps your argument indeed :P

[NeonSamurai]

That doesn't necessarily mean there is not some truth to this, even if I don't personally trust Fox news.

[SteamWake]

Is there a reason you are coming to the defense of a foreign company? Just more hatred of US auto companies. (Tho I suspect that much pro-foreign after GM got its act together is more of a vicious Anti-UAW and overall anti-union attitude)

Edit: And of course you quote Fox News. That REALLY helps your argument indeed :P

I'm just pointing out the fact that the average citizen doesent get the whole story. Also the apparent fact that neither did the adjucators.

I had my own suspicioins when there reports of pepole slamming into walls in Toyotas all of a sudden. Is it Toyota's fault that some pepole saw a chance for a little bit of insurance fraud and went for it?

I am just saying that when you adjucate on something like this its usually a good idea to have the entire picture.

[August]

Is there a reason you are coming to the defense of a foreign company? Just more hatred of US auto companies. (Tho I suspect that much pro-foreign after GM got its act together is more of a vicious Anti-UAW and overall anti-union attitude)

Edit: And of course you quote Fox News. That REALLY helps your argument indeed :P

Geez somebody sure has a chip on their shoulder. :)

[mookiemookie]

Geez somebody sure has a chip on their shoulder. :)

:haha:

[Zachstar]

Hey you post Fox News it is like casting a 50 percent debuf on your attacks in an MMO. Its pointless and people laugh at it. :P

Considering there is countless other news outlets.

[August]

Hey you post Fox News it is like casting a 50 percent debuf on your attacks in an MMO. Its pointless and people laugh at it. :P

Considering there is countless other news outlets.
What? :doh:

[UnderseaLcpl]

Hey you post Fox News it is like casting a 50 percent debuf on your attacks in an MMO. Its pointless and people laugh at it. :P

Considering there is countless other news outlets.

Like the Wall Street Journal? For which a link is included in the article?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703999304575399523349443634.html?m %20od=googlenews_wsj

Forbes?

http://blogs.forbes.com/docket/2010/07/13/report-toyota-gas-pedals-might-not-be-culprit/

It was on Bloomberg this morning, too.

The main reason you're not hearing more about this is because the case is pending in court and Toyota doesn't want to release statements about their case until after they've dug their way out of this huge pile of frivolous lawsuits made by litigous idiots. For the record, though, the onboard computer data shows that the drivers concerned hit the gas instead of the brake.

Of course, this is also not the first time something like this has happened. Remember how the Corvair was "unsafe at any speed", and was then exonerated by the NHTSA six years later. Platapus mentions the Audi. Then there was that horse-crap deal with Ford in the 90's. I forget which vehicle it was. Fraudulent jackasses sue automakers and everybody else over completely non-existant issues all the time. Coming to the defense of a Japanese automaker that just happens to provide jobs for thousands of Americans and cars that millions of Americans apparently want and billions of dollars' worth of taxable revenue is not necessarily an indication of hatred of the US auto industry or unions (though I hate them, too). It's just an indication of hatred of suit-happy jerks.

Now, I'm sure you're tired of my walls of text by now, and I think I owe you an apology for being on your case all day. If I had noticed before now, I would have apologized earlier. But please allow me to illustrate my point just a bit further. I drive trains for a living. Perhaps you've seen some. They're the 5,000 foot long, 120-decibel, 10,000-ton things that have an annoying tendency to block the roadways with both themselves and striped gates accompanied by flashing red lights and bells.

Well, believe it or not, people manage to get hit by those things. In fact, they even occasionally manage to drive their cars into the side of those things. This is because they are idiots or bad drivers or both. Even so, they and their families sue us. The problem is so bad that we had to install cameras on every single locomotive to prove to juries that the people we hit (or who hit us) were both aware of the fact that the train was there and that the grade crossing systems we installed were working properly. Y'know why? It's because some people will lie their asses off to get money out of us. Failing that, (usually because the cabcams caught them both looking at the train and then accelerating) they'll just drag the case out to the point where settling will cost us less than the legal fees. Are you seeing where this is heading? In case you don't, the point is that people often sue companies for no reason, and they are total asses about it. Such things happen when there's "easy money" at stake.

So now that we've established that, let's re-examine this Toyota case. Apparently, a car designed by automotive engineers using the same systems that have worked just fine for other automobiles, and are, in fact, mandated by state authorities, and inspected by the same, accelerates for no reason, despite what the computer data says? Even sarcasm is not a sufficient literary device to express my doubt.

But then, that's not really what you had in mind, was it? Your real beef is with non-US automakers, and apparently, with non-US automakers who make automobiles in the US. In that way, you're being a lot like the people who sue Toyota, or railroads, or anyone else for no good reason. What you really mean is that you have an agenda to advance, and you don't care what or who stands in your way or why. Even worse, you don't appear to understand why you want to advance "your" agenda.

Don't strain your brain thinking about it. I wouldn't want to be held liable.

[The Third Man]

Hey you post Fox News it is like casting a 50 percent debuf on your attacks in an MMO. Its pointless and people laugh at it. :P

Considering there is countless other news outlets.

I know. Fox news is saying nothing other news folks are saying. How can we change that?

It will be hard because Fox has viewership out the a$$. Do they tell folks what they want to hear/truth?


The problem being MSNBC and CNN have tried to match Fox's format without sucess. No one watches those outlets.

Many are looking for non-hemogenized, miss leading stories. How can we, the media change the trend?

[Zachstar]

What? :doh:

Twas a joke. Point being that Fox News = Not news in my opinion and that of many others. Find a more neutral source please. What is wrong with AP or various newspapers out there?

[The Third Man]

Twas a joke. Point being that Fox News = Not news in my opinion and that of many others. Find a more neutral source please. What is wrong with AP or various newspapers out there?

It may be "Fox News = Not news in my opinion ", but it is carrying and driving the news. I blame that on Obama for critisizing Fox. Obama brought them to the top of the news. It shows how reckless and ameteurish Obama is.

[Skybird]

It's not just Fox, it is foreign media as well. German media brought the story already weeks ago. And according to them, the report says that it is not just some cases of drivers mistaking pedals, but a very big share of them did. Sometimes it even was said that this was no exception from the rule, but that it was the rule, and that there is no systematic technical problem with the pedals at all.

Which means it all is just a conspiracy to get rid of a highly unwanted superior rival on the US car market, after the US car makers fumbeld so badly.

there is nothing better than some occasional bit of protectionism and manipulating the competition of the oh so free market, right? By withholding vital information for customers that help their buying decision, for example. and once the dohb t got spread, it is hard to put it back into the box again, even if it was false alarm. which actually may have been the intention behind this story being blown up.

[CCIP]

Now let's avoid the Fox News "red herring" here.

The real question is... does being a 'foreign company' make it okay for them to be subject to what's possibly a very unfair and illegal action? Isn't that contrary to America's supposed ideal of free enterprise? :hmmm: