Commentators Critique Toyota’s Critics
In a sign that public frenzy over alleged unintended acceleration (UA) in Toyota vehicles may actually be abating, two commentators this week have each issued withering critiques of what they see as a rush to judgment.
Writing in Forbes magazine on Wednesday, Michael Fumento questioned why journalists have been so quick to accept the number of deaths attributed to UA based on unverified complaints in the NHTSA’s database. He also noted that when the Los Angeles Times cited one such incident, the reporters failed to disclose the driver had been charged with vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence.
Meanwhile, Jason Vines, a former head of communications at Ford, Nissan and Chrysler writing in the Detroit News on Monday, compared Toyota’s situation to earlier claims of runaway Audi and Jeep vehicles. He then noted that NHTSA had taken a deeper dive into many of the Toyota complaints and found driver error, not a defect, was to blame.
Check out the full articles:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0809/opinions-toyota-cars-acceleration-brakes-93-and-counting.html
http://detnews.com/article/20100719/MIVIEW/7190414/1469
