I said in the middle of the “sudden acceleration” hysteria that I wanted a Toyota. Sad to say I did not get one. The news now is that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will release findings that point to driver error.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has analyzed dozens of data recorders from Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles involved in accidents blamed on sudden acceleration and found that the throttles were wide open and the brakes weren’t engaged at the time of the crash, people familiar with the findings said.
The early results suggest that some drivers who said their Toyotas and Lexuses surged out of control were mistakenly flooring the accelerator when they intended to jam on the brakes.
The media were quick to buy into the story of runaway machines. Of course, the idea of man’s inventions run amok has long been a popular theme (e.g. Frankenstein and Hal, the computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey), and news organizations will readily amplify any popular theme they find interesting.
The NHTSA report will be sad news among the plaintiffs bar, but it will probably merit little more than a footnote in the mass media. The popular theme will be back in some other guise soon enough.
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