You might want to watch out for me on the road. Seriously.
Although I consider myself a good driver (minus the slightest case of road rage), I am also one of millions of people driving Toyotas all over this country. Every time I jump on the Interstate, I wonder if this will be the day that my car decides to play Toyota Roulette and careen out of control.
In college, I had a friend who liked to drive down a big hill on campus with his windows down and yell “NO BRAKES!” just to freak people out. It was pretty hilarious. And although I still laugh at that prank, I never thought I might have to revisit those words in a real-life situation. It’s been in the back of my head as one of those things I might resort to if my Prius decides to become a death trap.
Beyond the obvious engineering lapse, my biggest complaint is that Toyota has utterly failed to communicate with car owners about these problems. A few months ago, I received a letter telling me that the floormats were to blame for “acceleration issues” and that I should remove them. However, in the several instances of out-of-control cars that have been publicly reported, most experts point to the computerized braking system as being the probable cause. Toyota also says the safety issue is only limited to later models, although the cars that are affected seem to run the gamut from 2005 to current models.
Like any company enduring a PR nightmare, Toyota needs to learn the tough lesson that the truth is always the best defense. In the name of both safety and salvaging its brand, Toyota needs to admit the full scope of its failure and not mislead its consumers with half-information. While they might lose money in the immediate future, coming clean and taking full responsibility will help build confidence and trust in the company again.
In the meantime, perhaps Toyota will consider changing their tagline to moving forward…and forward…and NO BRAKES!
