LATimes.com Opinion: Toyota hysteria; Reaction to its cars safety record is way over the top
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-fumento9-2010mar09,0,3126393.story
An opinion editorial piece written by Michael Fumento regarding his personal opinions that the media hype surrounding the Toyota recall situation has been blown completely out of proportion creating unnecessary hysteria.
Quotes from the story:
Sudden acceleration in Toyotas over the last decade has been linked with -- which doesn't mean "caused" -- 52 deaths, according to NHTSA. It was just 19 before the current publicity. A Los Angeles Times investigation brought it up to 56, including those culled from lawsuits. Whatever the count and cause, that's too many. But it's also out of 20 million Toyotas sold, and out of the 420,000 Americans NHTSA says died in motor vehicle accidents that decade.
Edmunds.com found that while Toyota was third in U.S. car sales from 2001 through 2010, it was 17th in NHTSA complaints. Thus, even if every sudden-acceleration complaint proved valid, Toyotas are among the safest cars made.
Toyota directly and indirectly employs about 200,000 Americans, and directly invests more than $18 billion in this country every year. The Toyota Camry, built in Kentucky and Indiana, is the most "American" car on the market, according to Cars.com.
