Older Drivers May Be to Blame, Not Toyota

Toyota malfeasance may actually be 'driver errors' by senior citizens
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 13, 2010 4:22 PM CST
Older Drivers May Be to Blame, Not Toyota
The Toyota logo.   (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

The knock against Toyota goes something like this: Greedy executives ignored evidence of serious acceleration problems, putting profit ahead of their customers' lives. "Maybe so, but I doubt it," writes Megan McArdle. Building on the work of Ted Frank at the Washington Examiner, she took a closer look at the 56 reported accidents: Most of the drivers were old, and most of the accidents occurred while parking, leaving a parking spot, or in stop-and-go traffic—when it's not that hard to hit the wrong pedal.

"When you look at these incidents all together, it's pretty clear why Toyota didn't investigate this 'overwhelming evidence' of a problem," writes McArdle at the Atlantic. "They look a lot like typical cases of driver error. I don't know that all of them are. But I do know that however advanced Toyota's electronics are, they're not yet clever enough to be able to pick on senior citizens." (More Toyota stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X