One week it’s out-of-control Camrys, this next it’s unstoppable Priuses. Seems the hits for Toyota just keep on coming. And yet developing evidence indicates that maybe, just maybe, Tuesday’s incident involving a speeding Prius, California Highway Patrol, and a happy ending could be a scam.
The day before California Prius-gone-wild, a suburban New York City driver also experienced a hightailing hybrid. Her 2005 model sped down a driveway and impaled itself on a stone wall. See a picture/story here.
Toyota’s engine computers are equipped with data-logging software that is equated to the “black boxes” found on aircraft. Data extracted from these computers can provide clues to conditions prior to a crash such as, were the brake and accelerator pedals being depressed at the moment of impact? How fast was the vehicle traveling? The problem is that Toyota has kept the decoding process of these data proprietary. Now they’re being called into account, and the Japanese-based company is sending appropriate decoding laptops and software stateside.
As investigations continue, and pressure builds on Toyota, it’ll be interesting to see what black-box data reveal. But I have my own speculation. Maybe I’m way out in left field. Maybe I’m thinking like a conspiracy theorist. But where are those Toyota engine-control modules built? Where is the software scripted? Even an American-built Toyota (and many are) has parts sourced from all around the globe. And with close proximity to China, who knows who’s working in Toyota’s engineering department? Maybe it’s even an inside job.
From tainted food to lead-poisoned toys to “investing” in our government’s debt to buying up an AM-General icon (Hummer), don’t think the Chinese aren’t sitting on their haunches and laughing at we foolish Americans. They produce many of our consumer goods, and to put it in simple terms, I think they’re out to get us. If these computer systems are so proprietary to Toyota, who knows what kind of wireless devices, ill-timed software bugs, and other such nuances are programmed into them. What better way to target Americans than to screw with several of the best-selling automobile models?
The timing on some of these Toyota incidents leaves me scratching my head. It’s just too coincidental: Toyota releases information that they’ve found a link in the problem chain and have begun steps to solve it. Then another batch of Toyotas goes awry.
Generally I give the benefit of the doubt. I’m not much of one for conspiracy theories. I don’t think every hotel room is bugged by the government. I don’t think those highway over-head signs that report up-to-the-minute traffic data are really speed cameras in disguise. But I do wonder why this is all happening at once for the once-darling of the auto industry.
Will there be frauds and scams by artists seeking to milk Toyota recalls for all they’re worth? No doubt. Perhaps the next theory is that this is tampering by GM, as the General fights his way back to the top of worldwide automakers. (GM is actually quite popular in China where I’ve read Buicks are to the Chinese what a Mercedes is to Americans.) Whatever pans out, I plan to keep following the Toyota debacle closely.
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