Strange worry

[Vernon Windsor]

I'm following a huge dump truck full of gravel. There's a fifty-three
foot trailer behind a Kenworth on my right side, and a Peterbilt with an
over-sized load on my left side. Guess what I'm afraid of...that cute
little Toyota Prius in my rear-view mirror.

[darroll]

Ok,
You won this one Vernon...........

[larry kremis]

You're right, trucks are intimidating but there are strict laws governing their mechanical safety. The drivers of these trucks have undergone much more driver's education, especially in the area of safe operation. I fully understand the "panic mode" these Toyota drivers experienced when the throttle stuck. I can speak for myself and probably most other truck drivers, had that happened to me in a Toyota, I certainly would have attempted to put it in neutral, if for some strange reason the gear shift was stuck, I would have turned the key off. I was amazed when I saw the first news report, that people weren't doing this. BTW, if this happens to you, only turn the ignition back one click in order to avoid risk of locking the steering wheel. Your power steering will be inoperable, but you can still turn the wheel to get it off the road and stopped.

[Mother Sanity (JackieRodzinski)]

Not for long. This'll be the end of Toyota.

[Vernon Windsor]

I've been a Honda guy for a long time. My current squeeze (Toshihiro Tsukahara) is creeping up on 250,000 miles.

Toyota had a good rep for a really long time. I think their working conditions in their japan plants are pretty draconian. I would be surprised if those conditions and the attitude of management hasn't contributed to their current troubles. Maybe one of their engineers had an axe to grind.