Toyota: Unintend Acceleration

Given that the USA Today, CNN, NewYork Times and multiple other publications have released information that the problem with the gas pedal and acceleration has still gone unchecked is a warning sign for Toyota. The continued blame on customers will create disloyalty and people will slowly no longer buy those cars. According to Paul A. Eisenstein from MSNBC:

A two-year study looking for possible causes behind Toyota’s rash of unintended acceleration issues has put primary blame on driver error — but the review by the National Academy of Sciences also cautioned that some problems may have been caused by inadvertent interactions involving vehicle electronics — an issue frequently cited by the automaker’s critics.

When did this problem crop up? It started in the summer of 2009 after an accident that resulted in the death of a California Patrol Officer and members of his family. They had been driving a borrowed Lexus at the time. According to Toyota this accident was caused by a problem with carpet entrapment. In January of 2010, however, "it added millions more due to a potentially sticky accelorator linkage" (Eisenstein.)

After having a Toyota myself (1998 Toyota Camry) and experienced an accident while driving I know that they are safe, particularly during collisions. The recent news of the unsolved mystery of the acceleration cases has me questioning whether I would even consider purchasing a Toyota in the future. At the current rate, I will stick with either Volkswagen or Volvo.

Further Reading: Toyota Memo Acceleration Concerns, Drivers Again Faulted Over Toyota Acceleration, OPINION: Toyota's Acceleration Problem, Driver error found in some Toyota acceleration cases, Toyota Acceleration Problem is Still Unresolved

Toyota Recalls:
Safety Recall
Pedal Recall