A Toyota attacks Frederick

It's happened again - this time right here in Fredtown.

A man said his 2010 Toyota Corolla accelerated out of control on U.S. 15 North just south of the West Patrick Street exit shortly after 4 p.m. Friday.

Taneytown resident Frank Santoro, 62, said he was in the middle lane in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The Toyota started accelerating as he pulled into the fast lane.

"The first second or two it wasn't bad, (but) then it took off," Santoro said. "I was going to hit the car in the front of me, so I veered into the left shoulder."

The speed shot up to around 60 mph and he couldn't slow down for about 15 seconds, he said.

"The whole time I had my foot on the brake," he said. "It didn't feel like the brake was doing anything."

Santoro said he passed cars in rush-hour traffic until the engine eventually returned to normal, and cruised to a safe stop.

I have a question for Toyota drivers. Have any of you dipwads ever heard of the concept of shifting the vehicle into neutral when the engine accelerates? Toyota needs to start a national advertising campaign that simply repeats these words over-and-over: Put the effing car in neutral!

Honestly, I think xfloggingkylex's Toyota drivers hypothesis is being proved as accurate more and more every day.

Das Überwachenden in the news

It's been a while since I had a good story about Das Überwachenden. They've been fairly quiet lately. Or perhaps it might be more accurate to say that they've been less visible. Das Überwachenden never sleep.

So what are our Big Brother wannabees up to now? As one of Il Duce's henchmen said some months ago, "Never let a good crisis go to waste." Toyota is having bigtime problems with their vehicles. Not quite a crisis, but good enough for Uncle.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief David Strickland told a congressional hearing on Thursday that the regulator is considering whether to make "black boxes" mandatory for all new vehicles.

The devices can capture data on speed, braking effort and other details which can be vital in reconstructing accidents.

They can capture speed? They can capture speed?!?!?!?!? Oh God no!

As the chagrined recipient of well over 30 speeding tickets in almost 37 years of driving, the LAST THING I want is Uncle Sam or Aunt Maryland keeping tabs on how fast I drive. They implement these black boxes and I might as well turn in my license.

Okay, all joking aside, I'm never surprised at the lengths government will go to in order to spy on its own people. Any flimsy excuse will do.

"Land of the free, home of the brave"? I think not.

Toyota troubles continue

Toyota has had a rough time of late. On the heels of an accelerator pedal problem that actually caused Toyota to suspend production of 8 popular models, another recall was issued for its popular (among tree-huggers and Hollywood asshats) Prius model because of a braking problem.

Since bad news tends to set upon us in groups of three, Toyota got hit with yet another potential recall - this time on the Corolla.

A growing number of complaints over steering problems with Toyota Corolla vehicles has sparked a federal investigation, and may result in yet another Toyota recall. The troubled auto-maker has already recalled millions of vehicles in recent months over defective gas pedals, floor mats and problems with brakes.

It just keeps going from bad to worse, from worse to awful, from awful to "Oh s***!". I wouldn't wish what's happening to Toyota right now on anyone. Okay, maybe on Oracle, but no one else.

To summarize the situation:

• Sudden acceleration problems
• Braking problems
• Steering problems

Top that off with xfloggingkylex's hypothesis that Toyota drivers are predominantly made up of the very worst drivers on the road, and you have the perfect storm.

All in favor of banning Toyotas from the roads for the foreseeable future, say "aye".

Quoth the Vulture: "AYE!"

Let them eat cake...or take mass transit...or something. Just stay off the roads. Please.

Toyota troubles

Toyota has a reputation for building quality, reliable vehicles. Make that "had".

At least six deaths have been linked to faulty gas pedals. One safety firm says there are more than 2,000 reports of sudden acceleration in Toyotas.

How bad is the damage to Toyota and its corporate reputation? Bad. Really bad.

In a stunning setback, the automaker has stopped selling eight popular models in the U.S.
...
It's the latest move from the world's largest automaker in damage control: Toyota said it will take a hit to its bottom line by not selling the cars, even announcing it'll halt production in an effort to save lives.

Ouch! Never. Let me repeat - NEVER - has an automobile manufacturer had to resort to this drastic a measure. This is huge.

Can Toyota survive this? Probably. Since their previous reputation was so immaculate, they've got cred to fall back on. If this was, say, Chrysler having these problems, it would be "Turn out the lights, the party's over." That is, barring government bailout.

Does this mark the day that Toyota's manufacturing has fallen to the level of its products' drivers?

God, I hope not!

Toyota Drivers

xfloggingkylex has been down on Toyota drivers for years. He has postulated that wherever there is a traffic backup, a Toyota driver is sure to be the cause. I used to discount this, but experience and a heightened awareness built on his observations have led me to conclude that in about 95% of cases, he's absolutely right.

He has pointed out that it appears that the Toyota Prius ships from the factory with an Obama '08 sticker on the bumper. I can't argue this; I don't believe I've seen a late-model Prius that DOESN'T have an Obama sticker on it.

If a Toyota doesn't have an Obama sticker on it, the next most likely bumper sticker it will have is "Coexist", possibly the most smug, self-righteous, and wrong-headed bumper sticker ever.

xfloggingkylex believes the drivers of Camrys and Toyota vans are the single biggest hazard on the road today. After today, I can't dispute his point.

Today I saw first-hand the single strangest thing I think I've seen in all of my years commuting the I-270 tortureway and the Capitol Beltway. Naturally, a Toyota van was involved.

As you can see in the picture (below), the van is toodling down I-270 oblivious to the fact that their driver's side passenger door is wide open. Wide. Freakin'. Open.

When I say that the driver was oblivious, I mean O-B-L-I-V-I-O-U-S. Completely unaware. I was only able to observe the vehicle for about 1 mile (I had to get over for my exit onto the Capitol Beltway), but at no time in that 1 mile did the driver show ANY awareness of the situation. I had to snap a picture - who would have believed it otherwise?

That does it! I'm tired of relying on a HURT-ing phone camera for pictures. I'm bringing my digital camera with me to work every day. Too many strange things happening on the road these days (see this for confirmation). I don't want to miss even one.

What's the moral of this story? The problem with stereotypes is that sometimes they're based on reality.

Click on picture to see full-size.