Toyota fine, no evidence of flaws

CARS - Something fishy is going on in the automotive industry, and it all began when people started complaining about stuck accelerator pedals on Toyota vehicles. However an U.S. government investigation into the complaints and the machinery/electronics shows there was nothing wrong with the vehicles that crashed.

According to examination only 1 out of 58 crashes in which flawed electronics/accelerators were blamed was actually accurate, in which the pedal became stuck under a floor mat. Otherwise the pedal never became stuck on its own and was never slow to spring back. The investigation was helped by data recording devices which was installed in 2007 and newer models.

And then there is that incident of the man on a California freeway who later admitted he had faked it.

So if only 1 of the incidents was real, does that mean the other 57 drivers were faking it? It all seems awfully suspicious.

Toyota recalled almost 9 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles worldwide to fix problems involving floor mats and sticky pedals... and furthermore checked for malfunctions in the cars' electronic throttle control system due to complaints of sudden acceleration.

The government investigation is still ongoing, but the raw findings thus far show Toyota was not at fault. The one incident where a pedal got stuck under a floor mat was the fault of the driver having moved the floor mat forward too close to the pedal, and thus is hardly Toyota's fault either because that could happen in any car.

Another possibility, supported by psychologists, is human error. Some people just accidentally pressed the gas pedal when they meant to step on the brakes.

Toyota's private investigation has found nothing wrong with every car they've tested. The government investigation is likewise supportive.

Thre is over 3,000 complaints of sudden acceleration for Toyota vehicles, and 93 related deaths, but the cause of the complaints has yet to be found. Investigators are starting to wonder if drivers were just faking it in a case of mass hysteria and the 93 deaths was just normal car accidents due to human error.

In other car news...

General Motors IPO

General Motors is planning to go public once more and the U.S. and Canadian governments are poised to sell off their shares in the company, making back the money which both governments had paid for the company during its recession credit crunch when banks were refusing to lend money for car loans.

GM recently posted a $1.33 billion USD second quarter profit. Auto sales in the USA have nearly recovered to 2008 levels and are continuing to show signs of growth. Chrysler and GM both received buyouts, but are well on their way to standing on their own feet. The IPO, which will likely happen in 2011, will allow the governments to get their money back and eventually the companies will be standing on their own two feet again.