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Thursday, July 10, 2014

Toyota remains mum as Honda admits to electronically-induced unintended acceleration

Update 10/17/2014 - Amidst Honda's current airbag scandal, another accident suggesting unintended acceleration is making headlines. "Hai Ming Xu was pulling his 2002 Acura TL into a parking spot when he accelerated and crashed into a wall after striking several other vehicles, according to a police report of the September 2013 accident."

Update 7/29/2014 - Speaking of sudden unintended acceleration in Hondas, this just in regarding a serious crash in Florida. This corporate-controlled government doesn't care how many deaths or injuries occur due to its well-orchestrated efforts to help the auto industry conceal defects.

Amidst growing public awareness of evidence of electronic defects associated with unintended acceleration, Honda has now admitted to a software defect causing 175,000 of its hybrids to speed out of control. This could be the beginning of the end for Toyota-style blabber about floor mats, sticky gas pedals, and "driver error."

For years, the auto industry, this corporate-controlled government, and mainstream media stooges have thrown out every dirty trick in the book in an effort to protect corporate interests from having to install fail-safes on par with what was mandated long ago for the airline industry. Thanks to some courageous plaintiffs, the Beasley Allen law firm, an embedded systems expert named Michael Barr, and the determined efforts of a handful of small-time media publications, the truth has gotten out in spite of police-state efforts to keep incriminating evidence quiet.

It all goes back to that guilty verdict last October in an Oklahoma courtroom, whereby Toyota was found guilty of reckless disregard for public safety in the design of its electronic throttle control. Facts emerged after embedded systems expert Michael Barr spent a whopping 18 months taking an exhaustive look at Recall King Toyota's much-ballyhooed source code, and then told it like it is to one very attentive jury. From the article "Toyota's killer firmware: Bad design and its consequences, here are the findings that threw Toyota, the auto industry, and their friends in government into panic mode:

* Toyota's electronic throttle control system (ETCS) source code is of unreasonable quality.

* Toyota's source code is defective and contains bugs, including bugs that can cause unintended acceleration (UA).

* Code-quality metrics predict presence of additional bugs.

* Toyota's fail-safes are defective and inadequate (referring to them as a 'house of cards' safety architecture).

* Misbehaviours of Toyota's ETCS are a cause of UA.

The Oklahoma case was the first time anyone had dared to allege that electronic defects caused unintended acceleration, and the facts sent Toyota into settlement mode not only for the Oklahoma case, but also for hundreds of remaining unintended acceleration cases, along with forking over $1.2 billion in payola to end a federal criminal investigation. Silence became golden as the government - epitomized by the Department of Justice - called out all the stops in an effort to keep things quiet.

As Honda admits to electronic defects causing unintended acceleration, acknowledged crook Toyota continues to be allowed to ignore Mr. Barr's findings. This police-state government couldn't care less that vehicles are speeding out of control in epidemic proportions - especially from parking lots into storefronts - while exhibiting common denominators indicative of electronic failure. So what if people are injured or killed? So what if drivers are unjustly charged? As long as corporate interests are protected, everything is A-OK with ol' Uncle Sam and his crooked cohorts like Toyota and GM. Depend on it: Toyota-style, our illustrious "Just Us" department will make sure that nobody at GM or NHTSA goes to prison over the ignition switch scandal.

I'd be willing to wager that Honda wanted to get the jump on other automakers in an effort to make themselves look good by being the first to admit that electronic defects caused unintended acceleration. Growing public awareness of the facts has shown that the days of blaming "pedal misapplication" are all but over, and it's now a case of the devil takin' the hindmost regarding which automakers would step forward and come clean.

Meanwhile, NASA physicist Henning Leidecker's warning about electronic defects increasing the risk of unintended acceleration in '02-'06 Camrys is ignored not only by Toyota, but also by NHTSA. Never mind, of course, that '02-'06 Camrys have exceptionally high rates of unintended acceleration complaints. Also, never mind NHTSA's murderous complicity in GM's ignition-switch scandal.

Really, folks.

How much longer are Americans gonna put up with the kinda bloodthirsty, profits-over-people nonsense that's being dished out by this tacky little corporate-controlled police state?

Update 7/13/2014 - The National Carwash Association has been documenting cases of unintended acceleration, at least one carwash owner gives his employees - no, they're not elderly - a list of vehicles proven to be prone to speed out of control, and insurance companies are addressing the carwash UA problem in safety seminars. These facts came to light amidst yet another runaway vehicle at a car-wash. Car-wash settings include common denominators for such events: extremely low speed, parking, and driver's foot likely on the brake pedal. What a hoot: A carwash association is better than NHTSA is at discerning defective vehicles.

Update 7/17/2014 - See 7/13 update. If any brand is notorious for runaway vehicles at carwashes, it's Jeep (do a Google search). Yesterday in Beaverton, Oregon, there was yet another runaway "SUV" - caught on video - rusulting in injuries, and almost some fatalities. Isn't it strange how carwashes cause folks - especially those driving Jeeps - to confuse the accelerator with the brake? Admitted crook Toyota, of course, is notorious for runaway vehicles period, along with a mysterious increase in such events as soon as the Recall King introduced its electronic throttle control.      

Update 7/23/2014 - As word spreads about evidence of electronic defects in throttle controls, this 7/21/14 article, "Drivers vulnerable to unintended acceleration," confirms that the auto industry's crooked tentacles extend far beyond our borders. Over the past few months, I've discovered that there are literally too many crashes to keep up with that point to electronic defects in throttle controls.  

Update 7/24/2014 - Picketing has continued pretty regularly. Always a pleasure to confront an admitted crook like Toyota. 

Update 5/11/2015 - Jeeps speeding out of control at carwashes has prompted this article from the Philadelphia Inquirer.