Page 149 - Toyota Under Fire

TOYOT A UNDER FIRE

Not only are most [congressmen and women] not trained
to understand the complexities of automotive systems . . .
the possibility that even a small percentage of the unin-
tended acceleration cases might have been caused by (or
at least were not averted because of) human error was, at
best, only obliquely hinted at for the simple reason that
congressional hearings always require a satisfyingly sin-
ister scapegoat.

Just a few questions were necessary to cast doubt on the tes-
timony of these witnesses. Representative Steve Buyer of Indiana
asked Sean Kane whether his company was funded by lawyers,
and he acknowledged that five law firms, all of which were suing
Toyota on behalf of clients, had “sponsored” his firm’s report.*
Buyer then questioned Professor David Gilbert, who admit-
ted that Kane had paid him $1,800 in fees, provided $4,000 for
equipment, and promised him that he would get $150 per hour
for any future consulting.
A little research on Rhonda Smith before the hearing might
have called the legitimacy of her testimony into question as well.
The incident happened when she was driving a relatively new ES
350 (one of the vehicles subject to the 2007 recall of all-weather
floor mats) on October 12, 2006. When she took the car to the
dealer after her harrowing experience, technicians examined it
and could find nothing wrong, but did notice that the all-weather
floor mat was not fastened down and was on top of the existing
carpet mat. A NHTSA representative also investigated the ve-
hicle and could find nothing wrong with the car, suggesting in
his 2007 report that the likely cause was floor mat entrapment.
Smith had traded in her vehicle after the incident (for another

* Details of the hearings can be found via the U.S. Congressional Record.

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