Less big gov't more industry self regulation = deaths.

$100,000,000 saved, that's alot of free speech!

Toyota North America top lawyer Dimitrios Biller.
who represented the company in liability cases from 2003 to 2007, said Toyota hid damaging facts from the government and customers.

"This is a company that doesn't have any respect for the laws in the United States," Biller recently told Reuters. "This is a company that has no qualms about violating court orders, concealing or destroying evidence."

"The evidence involved would have allowed plaintiffs to take their cases to trial," he added. "This was all done in the interest of saving money."
==================

Those pesky lawyers and their frivolous law suits

"Possible Orchestration of Anti-Toyota Campaign Makes DOT Spokesperson's ACORN-y Background 'Very Telling'

So in Barack Obama's America, what happens to a person who:

* Served as presidential candidate Barack Obama's regional communications director for Ohio for Change?
* Was also cited as "an Obama spokeswoman in Ohio"?
* Also served as "a campaign spokeswoman" for fleeting presidential candidate Joe Biden in early 2008?
* In October 2008, registered to vote in the Buckeye State, even though she was not a resident, and apparently obtained an early-voting ballot?
* Along with a dozen others, avoided a threatened felony prosecution that month by signing "a form letter asking the Franklin County elections board to pull their names from the rolls."

Why, you get hired by Uncle Sam at what is probably a six-figure salary to be a Transportation Department spokesperson. Isn't that obvious?"

Nice deflection kaboom.

Care to comment on the article?

"As Toyota braces this week for its first round of congressional hearings, the automaker and its affiliates have assembled a formidable lobbying force to build support on Capitol Hill and leverage longstanding relationships with key lawmakers.

... the firm has hired crisis-management experts from Quinn Gillespie & Associates, a bipartisan lobbying firm, and from Glover Park Group, a Democratic public affairs and lobbying operation. The teams join a force of 32 lobbyists already working Capitol Hill on behalf of Toyota and the Toyota dealerships' political action committee, Gulf States Toyota."
===================

They have congress surrounded, out numbered, and out moneyed.

This is a company that doesn't have any respect for the laws in the United States

Oxymoron alert.

what kind of retard driver can't keep his floormat off the gas pedal?

Oh, wait, a Liberal retard wanting to blame someone else for every stupidity in his/ her life

"My child died when my Toyota crashed, because I'm a retarded (liberal) driver! Time for Toyota to pay off a lottery-size winning for me!"

Vern, are you really stupid enough to believe that the deaths caused by the floormat glitch in cerain Toyotas were part5isan related? Wow.

Conversely, are you also really selfish and despicable enough to not give a damn about these deaths because it does not involve anyone you know, and feel that you somehow would never fall prey to such a glitch?

No matter how ya slice it, you are a real jerk.

Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Toyota's safety problems, the company acknowledged Monday as it prepared to answer questions on Capitol Hill about its widespread vehicle recalls.

The Japanese automaker said it received a subpoena from a federal grand jury in New York seeking documents related to unintended acceleration in its vehicles and the braking system of its Prius hybrid.

Toyota also said it received a subpoena and a voluntary document request from the Los Angeles office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC is seeking documents related to unintended acceleration as well as to its disclosure policies and practices, Toyota said.

Emerging evidence of flaws in Toyotas could help free a Minnesota man who was convicted of vehicular homicide despite his claims the brakes did not work as his Camry suddenly accelerated and slammed into another car, killing three members of one family.

There was no evidence of alcohol or drug impairment in the case, which occurred on a Sunday afternoon in June 2006 as Lee returned home from church with his pregnant wife and other members of his family.

Lee's car hit the other car at a speed estimated between 70 and 90 miles per hour. Lee testified he shouted to his family, "Brakes, brakes not working," moments before the fatal crash.

"...the brakes did not work as his Camry suddenly accelerated and slammed into another car..."

Incredible bit of bad luck to have the Camry's cruise control "acceleration of death" bug and the Prius' "brake don't work" bug happen at the same time.

Not to mention the "tranny locked in drive" bug on top of the "ignition stuck in 'run'" bug.

2007.

That would jibe with the Cheney Administration's practice of putting industry lobbyists in charge of the federal departments that regulated their industries.

I'd like to think things have changed under President Obama, but I don't have any evidence so far.

At least that Murdering Motherfucker Mine Owner is no longer in charge of mine safety. That is one change everyone can believe in.

No matter how ya slice it, you are a real jerk.

Jerk? Maybe.

Moron? Definitely.

Verm failed to realize the "floormats" was the deception to hide the more serious and costly fix to the accelerator system.

But he will go about apologizing and defending corrupt corporations until the day he dies.

Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Toyota's safety problems

Good.

However I do predict that nothing of any consequence will come of it.

How can you imprison a corporation?

you are supposed to double the bribe BEFORE the scandal hits the news not after morons.

Its estimated that since 1998 there have been
about 2,000 complaints about sudden acceleration
in Toyotas. That's less than 200 complaints per
year. I would like to know how does this compare
to other manufacturers? Is it unusually high or is
it on par, per capita, with other car companies?

Send Toyota packing and take the Krauts with'em.
Shit, didn't we fight both these c*cksuckers in a war?

Republican flag wavers, hide your flags and stick your noses up Japanese ass...Traitors.

When Toshiba sold state of the art 6-axis milling machines to Russia for superquiet submarine propellor manufacturing, our ability to track those vessels was set back 50 years. Congress cried foul and threatened to halt all Toshiba imports. The lobbyists rushed in, filling campaign warchests and an ugly silence befell the town.

Vern, are you really stupid enough to believe that the deaths caused by the floormat glitch in cerain Toyotas were part5isan related? Wow.

#8 | Posted by moder8

I don't know about verm but you must be too stupid to put the damn thing in neutral, step on the brakes, and pull over to the side of the road.

Oh, wait, a Liberal retard wanting to blame someone else for every stupidity in his/ her life

Gee, I thought only republicans were smart enough to afford a new car and all libs could afford was a run down Hugo? Your slip is showing again vern.

Toyota learned how to do business the American way by observing how the tobacco and drug companies do it. They do however have more conscience then the Americans. At least they have the honor to admit they were wrong as opposed to just lawyering up and lying like threadbare rugs the way big pharma does every day.

"Possible Orchestration of Anti-Toyota Campaign Makes DOT Spokesperson's ACORN-y Background 'Very Telling'

So in Barack Obama's America, what happens to a person who:

* Served as presidential candidate Barack Obama's regional communications director for Ohio for Change?
* Was also cited as "an Obama spokeswoman in Ohio"?
* Also served as "a campaign spokeswoman" for fleeting presidential candidate Joe Biden in early 2008?
* In October 2008, registered to vote in the Buckeye State, even though she was not a resident, and apparently obtained an early-voting ballot?
* Along with a dozen others, avoided a threatened felony prosecution that month by signing "a form letter asking the Franklin County elections board to pull their names from the rolls."

Why, you get hired by Uncle Sam at what is probably a six-figure salary to be a Transportation Department spokesperson. Isn't that obvious?"

newsbusters.org

#3 | Posted by KBM at 2010-02-22 10:11 AM | Reply | Flag:

Retard (yes, you can tell Saint Sara I used the word)

You do realize this was in 2007, no?

More BushCo corruption at work.

"Those pesky lawyers and their frivolous law suits "

Mmike would have you believe that ALL lawsuits are legitimate.

#3 | Posted by KBM at 2010-02-22 10:11 AM | Reply | Flag:

That's actually common practice, and has been for decades.

No matter how ya slice it, you are a real jerk.

#8 | Posted by moder8 at 2010-02-22 01:23 PM | Reply | Flag:

No matter how you slice it, I'm smart enough to adjust my damn floor mats. You sound like every lawyer: when something bad happens then it must someone elses' fault.

--if the sour milk gave my child a tummy ache, it is GE's fault for building a defective fridge.

--if I got drunk and shot myself in the leg, then it must be Ruger's fault for making a defective gun

--if I'm driving home from a fishing trip and a stray trout gets under the brake pedal, well the wreck must be Ford's fault. They should have installed a fish deflector on the brake pedal.

I'm suing Ford

VERNON

It escaped the news in Taiwan that floor mats had nothing whatsoever to do with the problem?

For VERNON:

Toyota Answers Customer Questions About The Solution For Sticking Accelerator Pedals

1. What is the solution Toyota announced to fix sticking accelerator pedals?

Toyota's engineers have developed and rigorously tested a solution that is both effective and simple. A precision-cut steel reinforcement bar will be installed into the accelerator pedal assembly, thereby eliminating the excess friction that has caused pedals to stick in rare instances.

2. What is the problem that could cause accelerators to stick and led to the recall?

The issue involves a friction device in the pedal designed to provide the proper "feel" by adding resistance and making the pedal steady and stable. This friction device includes a "shoe" that rubs against an adjoining surface during normal pedal operation. Due to the materials used, wear and environmental conditions, these surfaces may, over time, begin to stick and release instead of operating smoothly. In some cases, friction could increase to a point that the pedal is slow to return to the idle position or, in rare cases, the pedal sticks, leaving the throttle partially open.

#27 apparently that's only one problem. The electronic systems can go haywire too. Would you buy a car that depended on Microsoft software to get you there safely?

I have a Chevy van that gave me headaches for days until I found a simple connector had failed. It was a circuit that sent a timing signal to the coils. The connector looked perfect. It's not like the old days when you could see a corroded wire. These computer systems run on current measured in miliamps. It doesn't take much to mess a connector up, especially with the damp salty air in Hawaii. I would stay away from any car with electronic throttle or brake pedals. The hybrids are doomed to be major problems when they get older then 8 or ten years.

Chevy van? Damn, that's so 70's RingWorm.

My theory is that the NHTSA investigation was squelched by members of Congress who are in Toyota's hip pocket just as was the investigation of Madoff by the SEC. We have the best government money can buy and it works in the interest of those who pay the tariff.

Toyota might end up being the first corporation held accountable in US history.