Toyota Agrees To Pay $16.4 Million Fine To U.S. Government

Toyota has agreed to pay a record civil fine of $16.4 million levied by the U.S. Government, which says Toyota "knowingly hid a dangerous defect".

The trouble for Toyota isn't so much the money (2% of its projected net income this year) as the precedent it sets for possible future fines and lawsuits.

Full story from Automotive News (free registration required).

Wisconsin Camry Crash Driver Error (UPDATED 5:25 PM PDT With Surveillance Video Link)

76 year old Myrna Marseille swore she was standing on the brake pedal of her 2009 Toyota Camry when it crashed into the Sheboygan Falls YMCA on March 29.

Nope.

The Sheboygan Falls Police Department and the Wisconsin State Patrol held a news conference this morning in which they announced the results of their investigation: Driver error. Myrna was on the gas, not the brake, and the brakes were found to be in perfect working order.

Witnesses who Myrna said told her they saw brake lights? Well, they did...but surveillance video (click here to watch it from WISN-TV) from two cameras (the Y and the Sheboygan Falls PD share a common parking lot) shows they came on after the car hit the building. And the police say those witnesses told them that's when they saw them.

The video indicates the car moved at the same constant speed (estimated by police at 10-15 miles per hour) across the parking lot, into the parking space, over the berm and into the building.

Police Chief Steven Riffel says NHTSA (whose report won't be ready for four months) has told him there was nothing in the vehicle diagnostics to contradict the conclusion of driver error.

No decision yet on whether Myrna will be cited.

So the streak continues. The one where unintended acceleration events are investigated and found to be a case of the driver standing on the wrong pedal.

Full story including a link to the complete video replay of the news conference from The Sheboygan Press.

Again...This Is The Brake...This Is The Transmission

Common sense is breaking out all over. Hot on the heels of Car and Driver's John Yanca with the intelligent answer to the Lexus GX 460's alleged stability issue comes John McCormick from The Detroit News with how to deal with it if your vehicle ever does something strange on its own. You know, like unintended acceleration.

Older, Younger: Who's Worse At The Wheel?

While we wait for word on the cause of a 76-year old Wisconsin woman's alleged runaway Toyota Camry incident,  here are some interesting statistics on age and accidents.

TheAutoInsurance.com finds that more teens per capita are involved in fatal crashes, but more elderly drivers are at fault.  Graphic and facts here.

NHTSA, Wisconsin State Patrol To Do Joint Inspection Of Alleged Runaway Toyota Camry

It's been almost two weeks since 76-year old Myrna Marsellie said her 2009 Toyota Camry accelerated on its own, crashing into the Sheboygan Falls YMCA.

So what happened? We don't know yet.

Sheboygan Falls Police Chief Steven Riffel tells me the car is still in his department's custody and there will be a joint NHTSA/Wisconsin State Patrol inspection of the vehicle and search of the car's databases sometime this week.

The department is also in the process of enhancing surveillance video (the police station is across the parking lot from the YMCA and its cameras are thought to have captured the crash).

What about Toyota, which usually gets inspectors on these things quickly (given that most cases of unintended acceleration upon investigation are proven to be driver error...standing on the gas instead of the brake)?

Well, the chief says Toyota's asking, but he's got a search warrant...and he doesn't want too many folks inside the vehicle. NHTSA and the state patrol get first dibs. And he tells me he'll be looking for NHTSA's input as to whether to release the vehicle to Toyota for its inspection, or back to Myrna.

NHTSA, of course, is the agency alleging that Toyota hid dangerous defects and should pay record fines.

This is not Toyota's week for catching a break, it seems.

Toyota Timeline Widens: Documents Show Knowledge Of Floor Mat, Gas Pedal Problems Four Years Ago

Not good. Not good at all. NHTSA releases documents showing Toyota knew about problems with floor mats and gas pedals in 2006....bolstering the agency's claim that Toyota "knowingly hid a dangerous defect".

Full story from Automotive News (free registration required).

Solve Unintended Acceleration, Win One Million Dollars

The California Highway Patrol (at least in one case) says floor mats. Toyota says gas pedals...a university professor says electronics (but Toyota says it couldn't work the way he says in real life)...the feds say maybe radiation from outer space, Jim "Runaway Prius" Sikes said the brakes don't work (but Toyota and the feds' investigation said otherwise) and at least one driver says demonic possession.

So what's really causing unintended acceleration? Find the cause, prove it and get rich. As in a million dollars. Edmunds.com is running the contest. Details here.

Gentle reminder: Most fully-investigated cases have shown drivers were standing on the gas when they thought they were on the brake.

GM To Add Brake Override Systems To All Automatic-Transmission Vehicles

General Motors says it wants customers to be confident in its vehicles, so it will make brake override systems standard in all of its vehicles with automatic transmissions by the end of 2012.

Toyota plans to do the same next year, and the government is considering making it mandatory for all vehicles with automatics sold in the U.S.

The idea, of course, is to reduce the risk of unintended acceleration...press on the brake and the power to the engine is reduced. But, when data shows that the majority of those cases are actually drivers standing on the wrong pedal, the effect is likely to be minimal.

Full story from The Detroit News.

Record Civil Fine Proposed For Toyota

The gloves have come off. The United States government is accusing Toyota of  "knowingly hiding a dangerous defect" that caused its cars to accelerate unintentionally.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood proposes the maximum possible fine: $16.4 million.

Full story from Automotive News.

Toyota, Police Investigating New Unintended Acceleration Claim

76 year old Myrna Marseille of Wisconsin was parking her 2009 Toyota Camry at the local YMCA when she says it accelerated suddenly...into the Y's wall.

She insists her foot was on the brake, not on the gas.

Toyota tells WISN-TV it's investigating. Potentially helpful...the Sheboygan Falls Police Department is right across the parking lot from the Y....and has security cameras that may have caught the entire event.

Watch the story from WISN-TV here.

NASA To Help Investigate Unintended Acceleration

Gee, maybe it is rocket science.

Despite decades of experience and data indicating that the vast majority of unintended acceleration incidents fully investigated end up being cases of drivers standing on the gas instead of the brake, the Obama administration has decided to launch not one, but two investigations...one by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) with the help of The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) and the other by The National Academy of Sciences...to get to the bottom of the unintended acceleration incidents that have been plaguing Toyota and other manufacturers.

How long? 15 months.

How much? $3 million.

Full story from The Detroit News.

NSFW (Not Safe For Work) Safe Driving Promos

If you told me the above was a documentary about what's behind a lot of sudden acceleration claims from Toyota Prius drivers, I wouldn't argue.

But it's actually one of several safe driving spots from Australia, targeting young, distracted drivers and being just a bit rude to cut through the clutter. See the rest here.

Toyota Death Toll: 102

The Los Angeles Times says its review of public records indicates 102 people have been killed in Toyota vehicle accidents linked to unintended acceleration.

Two things to remember when reading the piece: One, that the number of reports increases when a problem is reported and many of those reports are later found to be unrelated to the problem. And two, that in the vast majority of cases fully investigated where a cause can be found, unintended acceleration incidents end up being a case of drivers standing on the gas pedal when they believe (and have reported, if they survived) they were standing on the brake.

Full story from the Times here.

Consumer Reports Demonstrates Stopping Distance Difference With Brake Override

Brake override cuts the gas when you apply a certain amount of pressure on the brake. There's a push to make it mandatory, thinking that it will help end cases of unintended acceleration. Never mind that most of those cases thus far have shown that the drivers weren't on the brake at all, but instead standing on the gas pedal.

Well, Consumer Reports says whether your acceleration is unintended or not, brake override cuts the stopping distance of your car...which is a good thing.

And, because they know we worry...CR also says brake override won't affect "enthusiast driving".

Jalopnik Calls BS On CNN's TSB

One of the best things about new media is that we acknowledge the existence and work of others in the same field and help it reach a wider audience. In radio and TV, where I began my career (and still work), the "other guys" are never mentioned, unless it's in connection with videotape of one of their reporters and a barnyard animal dressed in the outfit on page 38 of the Victoria's Secret catalog.

Well, Jalopnik scores again...taking dead aim at CNN's story about a 2002 Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) that purports to show Toyota's known about electronic causes of unintended acceleration in its vehicles for eight years.

I've been a Jalopnik reader and fan for a lot of years (the Samuel L. Jackson Maybach piece still has me laughing three-plus years later)...reporting like Matt Hardigree's reinforces that.

Full story here.

Consultants Say Toyota's Looking In The Wrong Places For Electronic Interference

Three British consultants meeting with U.S. investigators tomorrow say Toyota's never found evidence of electronic interference in acceleration because they don't know where to look and it's very difficult to detect.

Full story from Automotive News.

CNN: 2002 Technical Service Bulletin Suggests Toyota Knew Of Electronic Acceleration Surges

The TSB from eight years ago was provided by attorneys for plainiffs in class action suits. They say it proves Toyota knew it had a problem, and knew it wasn't floor mats, at the beginning of the last decade.

Toyota calls them "baseless allegations" and "unfounded claims".

Unanimous: Harrison, NY PD Agrees: Driver Error, Not Unintended Acceleration

The one on the right is the gas pedal. The one on the left is the brake pedal. The chief of the Harrison, New York Police Department says, yep...the 55 year old woman who crashed her Toyota Prius hybrid into a stone wall two weeks ago...the one he said couldn't have been driver error at the time.....was, well, driver error, the most common cause of fully investigated unintended acceleration incidents.

Captain Anthony Marracccini says his department's investigation confirms what Toyota and the NHTSA's found...that the throttle was wide-open at the time of impact...with no sign of any application of the brake.

AP story via The Detroit News here. Conversations among Prius drivers on the PriusChat forums.

Toyota Sued By Shareholders Over Unintended Acceleration

Three class-action lawsuits alleging securities violations have been filed against Toyota by shareholders who say Toyota "failed to disclose ongoing safety issues"  including faulty gas pedals.

Full story from The Detroit News here.

Memo From 2007 Details Toyota's "Game Plan" For Dealing With Feds About Floor Mat Issue

A three-year old document just released by a Congressional committee gives insight into Toyota officials and their self-described "game plan" for dealing with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's growing concerns over floor mats interfering with accelerator pedals.

Interesting reading, to say the least. Full story from The Detroit News here.