Why Are Germans Able to Stop their Toyota's But Americans Can't? | der Spiegel

While the U.S. media continues to pile on Toyota, a competing meme is developing abroad. 

On BBCTV an industry analyst said it was curious the Toyota defects got so much more attention than much greater safety problems posed by American SUVs. He noted that automotive deaths happen all the time, but this problem became a major media issue only after the U.S. took control of GM. Similar speculation is featured throughout Europe and Japan. 

In the U.S. skepticism seems to be allowed only in the trades and blogosphere; Car and Driver magazine did a test showing that a Corolla going at 70 MPH, with the gas pedal floored, could still be braked to a full stop in a shorter distance than a Ford Escort with the pedal up. The "Opinionator" author Robert Wright points out the math showing the extremely low risk  from Toyota flaws. Wright's theory is that American's are math illiterate and thus lack the ability to evaluate this risk. 

Last night television repeatedly showed us a terrified driver who couldn't stop his Prius -- until the State Police pulled up next to him on the freeway and told him to use the brakes, then they worked. To believe some of the stories -- presented unquestioningly on U.S. television -- you have to accept that the accelerator stuck at the same time the brakes failed, and at the same time the transmission refused to shift. 

This article from Germany's der Spiegel magazine, asks why Germans are able to use their brakes to stop their Toyota's, but American drivers' can't. Good question:

"The US has Toyota at its mercy -- and the schadenfreude is hard to miss. For years the model company from Nagoya was the American auto industry's most powerful rival, and Toyota's success was Detroit's downfall. Now CEO Akio Toyoda has embarked on a pilgrimage of penance, bowing before Congress and giving his condolences to the families of accident victims.

"Nevertheless, it remains unclear as to whether the cars involved in those accidents were actually defective. The same cars exist around the world, but no accidents of this type have occurred anywhere outside of North America. There were also cases of stuck Toyota gas pedals in Germany. The drivers braked successfully, and notified their car dealerships. None of them met their deaths.

Searching for the Holy Ghost

"The debate in the US, meanwhile, is hardly helping to establish the truth. The public is presented not with solid analysis of the problem, but with images taken from startling eyewitness reports. Since Toyota announced its recalls, the number of those who believe their accidents occurred for the same reason has risen rapidly.

"One of those to testify in hearings before Congress was retired social worker Rhonda Smith, who tearfully described her "near death experience" three and a half years ago in a Lexus ES 350. Smith says that as she was driving along Highway 66 to Knoxville, her vehicle suddenly accelerated on its own to 100 mph.

"Smith asserts she did everything in her power to stop the car -- braking, putting the car in neutral, then even in reverse. Nothing worked, she says. It would seem three of the car's functions all froze at once, only to inexplicably return to normal shortly thereafter.

"At almost exactly six miles, God intervened," Smith testified. The car's speed dropped, and she was able to park it on the median.

"The NHTSA has shown an extraordinary willingness to investigate the case. The agency purchased the vehicle in question -- which had functioned well for its subsequent owners -- and plans to have it analyzed.

"Whatever they may find under the hood, it seems safe to say that the Holy Ghost is long gone."

via www.spiegel.de