Page 114 - Toyota Under Fire

THE RECALL CRISIS

on lawsuits against Toyota, began speculating about a deeper un-
derlying cause for sudden acceleration in Toyotas.
The first media story we’ve been able to identify that raised
the old canard of vehicle electronics, by Los Angeles Times report-
ers Ralph Vartabedian and Ken Bensinger, was published on Oc-
tober 18, 2009. Even after the reporters had access to the official
police report on the Saylor accident, they continued to downplay
the evidence of the real cause. On December 6, 2009, in a story
titled, “Report Inconclusive on Floor Mat’s Role in Fatal Toy-
ota Crash,” the reporters decided that a single line in the report,
in which the investigating officer noted that because of the fire
that followed the crash, it was impossible to entirely rule out any
other cause, justified calling the evidence inconclusive.
In the meantime, the Los Angeles Times, quickly joined by
other media outlets, began running stories based on the specu-
lations of various people who were involved in lawsuits against
Toyota. While it is a reporter’s job to be skeptical of claims made
by companies, it is remarkable how little of this skepticism the re-
porters applied to statements from lawyers and their consultants.
For instance, Vartabedian and Bensinger wrote six stories about
potential Toyota problems, quoting Sean Kane, of a firm called
Safety Research & Strategies, before reporting that the firm is pri-
marily employed to provide research and testimony for lawsuits
against automakers. As of this writing, the paper continues to re-
fer to the firm as an “automotive safety consultant,” while never
mentioning that the organization has no specific expertise in en-
gineering or statistical analysis. On its Web site, the organization
lists only one person with even a bachelor’s degree in mechanical
engineering (and he then went on to become a trial lawyer). The
only personnel at the firm with advanced degrees outside of law
carry them in “Liberal Studies” and “Library and Information

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