There’s something inherently sleazy and suspicious about an WH administration mouthpiece that unequivocally states that Toyota owners should simply “stop driving” their cars until they’ve taken them to a dealership. In the wake of such an unprecedented fear mongering campaign, the mud slinging began, and within days, Transportation Sec’y Ray LaHood, was softening his harsh blow.
But “just words” matter, and one of the nation’s most popular vehicle manufacturers saw their shares fall as much as 8% on the heels of LaHood’s explosive remarks. Obama’s pet, Goldman Sachs, downgraded Toyota from a “buy” to “neutral”. If you use AutoBlog’s figures, it’s 16.7 % over the past five days.
But the Chicago thuggery style of this WH is abundantly clear when LaHood also revealed that the reason Toyota halted manufacturing and commenced the massive recall was at the insistence of the Obama administration.
Much seems to be overblown considering that the gas pedal sticking has occurred in fewer than 300 vehicles. Or, per an IBD op-ed, “Out of 1.8 million cars manufactured each year in the U.S., Toyota has 100 complaints, a handful of injuries, and in two cases deaths are alleged.”
In fact, the sudden acceleration events in both Toyota and Lexus models in the past decade resulted in 815 crashes since 1999… eleven years, averaged out at 74 annual events. Two resulted in fatalities. Of the 2000 complaints received in the same time, only five percent – or 100 of them – were attributed to gas pedals potentially sticking.
What’s more, NHTSA has conducted eight investigations into Toyota accelerator problems in the last seven years. None have been found to be a faulty sticking pedal as the cause.
“The way the sudden-acceleration problems are occurring in reported incidents doesn’t comport with how this sticky pedal is described,” said Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, a Rehoboth, Mass., auto safety consulting firm. “We know this recall is a red herring.”
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