Toyota hysteria: Reaction to its cars' safety records is way over the top
Michael Fumento | LA Times (MCT)
Issue date: 3/17/10 Section: Op/Ed
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That was 1992. While Mary was still in the hospital, I discovered Toyota was replacing the model because, according to one car magazine, expert drivers reported that it suffered "radical, often terminal oversteer." The model was never recalled, but it was quickly replaced. We settled out of court, with Toyota making no admission of liability.
You might think I'd be prejudiced against Toyotas after that. But I'm not. I later bought another one, and my wife owns one now. But what I am worried about, with the current avalanche of unintended-acceleration complaints against the company and the congressional hearings, is the hysteria promoted by sensationalist headlines and pompous government officials.
Every accidental death is a tragedy. But the imagery of Toyotas running amok like something out of a Stephen King novel is simply false. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration frequently receives "speed control" complaints; a recent New York Times analysis found the agency received almost 13,000 over the last decade.
Yes, that analysis found that Toyota had the second most complaints and by far the most incidents connected to crashes - even before publicity sent the number soaring. This and other sources seem to indicate that Toyota has an exceptional problem. But when compared with the vast number of cars Toyota sells, the current reaction is wholly out of proportion.
Sudden acceleration in Toyotas over the last decade has been linked with - which doesn't mean "caused" - 52 deaths, according to NHTSA. It was just 19 before the current publicity. A Los Angeles Times investigation brought it up to 56, including those culled from lawsuits. Whatever the count and cause, that's too many. But it's also out of 20 million Toyotas sold, and out of the 420,000 Americans NHTSA says died in motor vehicle accidents that decade.
And although Toyota had almost 17 percent of total U.S. car sales in 2008, it accounted for merely 8 percent of total claims for deaths and injuries in the first quarter of that year, according to NHTSA. Edmunds.com found that while Toyota was third in U.S. car sales from 2001 through 2010, it was 17th in NHTSA complaints. Thus, even if every sudden-acceleration complaint proved valid, Toyotas are among the safest cars made.
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