When the L.A. Slimes L.A. Times asked Richard Schmidt, a noted automotive safety expert, about unintended acceleration back in November 09′, here’s what he had to say:
…the problem almost always lies with drivers who step on the wrong pedal. “When the driver says they have their foot on the brake, they are just plain wrong,” [...]

Now that some time has passed and Toyota has begun repairing vehicles, it’s likely the media firestorm around the unintended acceleration issue will settle down. While there will certainly be more mentions of this issue in the future, the immediate crisis seems to be over.
The issue for Toyota – once they get all of the [...]

Toyota’s rash of recent recalls – the floor mat entrapment recall, the sticking pedal recall, and now the 2010 Prius brake recall – are all symptomatic of a much larger problem we’d like to call “big companyitis.” Big companyitis is caused by:

Poor internal communication
A culture that stifles individualism
Employees and managers who aren’t held accountable

Obviously, big [...]

The executive editor of Car & Driver Magazine has written a fantastic editorial on the actual risks Toyota owners are subjected to as a result of the sticking/entrapped accelerator pedal recalls. Basically, it says what a lot of Toyota owners were already thinking: the risks from the recalls really aren’t a big deal.

Two days ago, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood made a startling and ridiculous statement when asked what Toyota vehicle owners should do about Toyota’s sticking pedal recall:
“stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it.”
A few hours after making this statement, LaHood was quick to [...]

This morning, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood told a member of congress that owners of Toyotas under recall should “stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it.”
Seriously, Ray? None of the dealers we’ve spoken too have parts yet. Some are hoping for their first [...]