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This is the my opinion regarding the supposed unintended acceleration of many different Toyota car models. To begin the conversatino I refer you to this brief but excellent article:

Toyota’s Ghost in the Machine

Jenkins points out that sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) complaints plague all manufacturers, and that strange things happen in small numbers when millions ob cars are in use.  He argues that despite not having a well-defined engineering problem, Toyota will define a problem anyway, and subsequently provide a fix for it.

I am in agreement with this author and will take this argument even further.  Does anyone find it strange that Toyota is declared the number one seller of automobiles in the world, and all of a sudden Toyota’s everywhere are ramming into bridge abutments without any input from the driver?  The conspiracy theorists out there can certainly glom onto this one:  The media has magnified SUA complaints against Toyota dramatically.  For unknown reasons they have put a hit out on Toyota to knock them off of their high perch.

If you have a recalled automobile, I would not worry one iota, unless your accelerator is actually sticking.  Sticky parts will happen in small numbers and that is why we have mechanics – to unstick them for us.  I refuse to believe there is a Hal 9000 lurking inside my own Toyota (not on the recall list) waiting to drive me into a river because of my body odor is smelling up the cabin, or because I weigh the car down with too many musical instruments on gig night.

What is difficult to understand is why the hierarchy of Toyota is playing along with this charade, the president even apologizing to the public.  A problem here is that respectful Japanese are shamed by the rumors, and feel they must fall on a sword in repentance.  Akio Toyoda, understand this:  We the American consumers are just looking for someone to sue, for any reason.  We will sue you, get a big grab bag of cash, and quit our miserable jobs, which we otherwise could never do in this post 2008 apocalyptic economy.  Keep in mind, we did the same thing to McDonalds when we spilled their hot coffee on our lap.   After doing business in the U.S. for seventy something years, you still do not have a clue about how we like to coerce money-rich corporations into funding our personal lives.   With all of your high quality cars, you Mr. Toyoda, still fall short on developing a basic understanding of the American public.

Before you go, check out this article which rightfully so rips hard on the American public.  Enjoy.

Toyota Can’t Get The Floormats Right

UPDATE:

I stand corrected by the man, the myth, the legend, Steve Wozniak.

Wozniak cites ‘scary’ Prius acceleration problem

Woz, being one of few smart people in the public limelight, seems to have discovered a problem that Toyota does not know about, or has not defined yet.  He has a Prius that is not on the recall list, and he can produce SUA in his car at will.  SOMEONE LISTEN TO THIS MAN.

March 16 Update:

Runaway Prius Tale Prompts New Probe

It certainly appears as though this Reality Show seeker kept his Prius at high speed intentionally.  Toyota notes that the brake was pressedd 250 times.  He clearly was letting up on the brake to speed the car back up.    Note also that the driver was on a freeway, at a particular time, which just happened to be so open that he could fly at 90 mph without fear of hitting anyone else. Toyota engineers will be able to note that the damage to the brakes is consistent with slight pressure over a long period of time, and not a stomping of the pedal.  Lastly, the reader should know that slightly pressing the brake over many miles will in fact destroy the brakes although this driver is going to argue otherwise.

The law enforcement of San Diego and of the state of California should immediately issue an arrest warrant for this man and press the most severe charges against him, including endangering the lives of everyone around him.  The warrant should be based solely on the objective testing returned from Toyota.  Two years in prison will signal to all Americans that we cannot destroy companies’ reputations for our own selfish purposes.  The engineering data from this case has already proven Balloon Prius Man to be a complete fraud.

Respectfully to the highway patrolman:  Just because you saw this guy acting like he was putting full force on the brakes does not mean he did it – He was ACTING, even for you, in a thoroughly pre-planned event.  Again, the car data proves this to be right, so do not let your eyes fool you.