Page 112 - Toyota Under Fire

THE RECALL CRISIS

popular auto industry blog; and David Champion, senior manager
at Consumer Reports, there has never been a proven case of sudden
unintended acceleration caused by EMI or a software defect in the
electronics of a vehicle. This bears repeating: there has never been
a single documented case of sudden unintended acceleration caused
by EMI or a software defect in the electronics of any vehicle from any
manufacturer. That’s a 20-year record without a single confirmed
incident. In all instances of safety defects affecting electronic sys-
tems, the root cause has been a physical defect that could be easily
replicated: faulty sensors, wiring problems, or the like.
The fact that electronic systems continue to be blamed,
rather than more prosaic causes like driver error or floor mats
trapping pedals, is a testament to our mistrust of these systems.
It’s deeply ironic that the source of arguably the greatest improve-
ments in vehicle safety—the electronic systems that allow vehi-
cles to correct for driver error and for environmental hazards like
slick roads—was once again the scapegoat for safety issues. The
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has concluded that elec-
tronic stability control (which requires electronic throttle con-
trol) would have prevented more than 15,000 fatal crashes in
just six years if it had been implemented in all vehicles in 2002.
Meanwhile, the highest estimate of fatal accidents allegedly
caused by SUA in Toyota vehicles over 10 years was around 100
deaths, more than 80 percent of them reported after the recall
crisis hit the news.

Speculation Runs Rampant

Electronic systems have remained scapegoats for some obvious
reasons. For one thing, it’s always easier to blame vehicles, par-
ticularly vehicle electronics, than drivers. The 2008 book Traffic,

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