Toyota Shim or Sham

As an attorney who handles vehicle defect cases I see unnecessary injuries when companies fail to disclose problems. But take a look at Toyota’s relationship with the National Highway Safety Administration (NHSTA) and its success in keeping defects out of the press and getting corrected.

Four unintended acceleration investigations of Toyota vehicles by the NHSTA were ended with the help of former NHTSA regulators hired by Toyota, warding off possible recalls, court and government records show.

Christopher Tinto and Christopher Santucci worked to persuade the NHSTA to end or limit probes.

“Toyota bamboozled NHTSA or NHTSA was bamboozled by itself,” said Joan Claybrook, an auto safety advocate and former NHTSA administrator in the Carter administration. “I think there is going to be a lot of heat on NHTSA over this.” See Bloomberg.Com. The point is if a vehicle isn’t recalled, don’t assume it is maufactured correctly.

Frontline To Discuss Colgan Air Crash

The Buffalo News reported today that “Flying Cheap,” which will air on WNED-TV in Buffalo at 9 p.m. tonight which features interviews with three former pilots with Colgan Air who voice their complaints about the company’s operations and their potential impact on safety. The program will discuss safety issues with Colgan that existed long before the Clarence plane crash.

Quoting congressional investigator Clay Foushee regarding the crash, the article stated “It’s become the symbol of everything that’s wrong with the [airline] industry….For this decade, it is the watershed accident.”

This program will examine Colgan’s priority of placing profits over safety concerns, in addition to inadequate pilot training and fatigue issue. Regional airlines now account for more than half of all commercial flights and therefore the concern for the safety of regional airlines should be grater than ever.

Toyota Prius Recall Imminent

Toyota decided Saturday to recall its latest Prius model in Japan, Japan’s largest newspaper, the Yomiuri, reported. An announcement in the US is imminent.

It is likely the recall would not have occurred now, but Toyota is concerned about another repair- its reputation for safety.

Many dangerous products don’t get recalled because they don’t get news coverage. The Detroit Free Press is following the unfolding story well.

Prius Problems

Concerns have been around for a while regarding 2010 Prius brakes, but the story hadn’t received much traction in the news. Amid the huge publicity of the sudden acceleration dangers in other Toyota models, the Prius problem has surfaced in the press.

“Users are noticing defects and there have been accidents,” the Japanese transport minister, Seiji Maehara, said today. “This leads me to believe Toyota has not put consumers first.”

It is believed the Japanese government has ordered Toyota to investigate the Prius brakes and is pressing for a recall. Thursday the NHTSA announced it would open an investigation into the car’s brakes.

FAA CRITICIZED FOR COLGAN CRASH RESPONSE

The Buffalo News reported today that “Government inspectors harshly criticized the Federal Aviation Administration for its response to the Colgan Air crash in Clarence a year ago, saying the agency’s effort to get airlines to voluntarily fix safety problems had not addressed the problems the accident raised.” It was reported that the FAA has fallen behind in developing tougher rules on pilot training and fatigue, and has inadequately reviewed training programs at the airlines. The inspectors found that FAA initiates are falling behind or not reaching their goals. Although Colgan would like to focus on human error as the cause of the accident, proper pilot training and overworked pilots are at the source of the problem. By failing to voluntarily address the safety issues properly, Colgan has shown that it main concern is not the safety of its passengers, and that it places business concerns above all else.

Toyota finally acknowledges deadly effect

As a products liability lawyer I often see people who refuse to believe Corporations always put safety over profits.

Since at least 2002 Toyota has known of a deadly defect, sudden unstoppable acceleration. After government investigations and at least 2000 complaints Toyota is beginning a massive recall.

It would have been much cheaper for the corporation to address the product defect sooner. Shouldn’t protecting the public be more important? The NYTimes has a good article.