Eric Thompson: Driver error usually the culprit

Many cars have data recorders that can show whether there was a malfunction. Photo / Hawkes Bay Today

Well, well, well. It looks like science and common sense has once again put Chicken Little to the sword.

You all know the story of the mad chook who went around telling everyone the sky was falling in because an acorn fell on its head. Before long, all the other mad fowl believed him and bought into the hysteria.

An initial report released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the US, after analysis of data from 58 crashes involving Toyotas, indicated driver error, rather than a ghost in the machine such as phantom acceleration caused by faulty electronics, was to blame.

Just to reiterate - the NHTSA is leaning towards blaming the driver and not the car. Something I have been saying for awhile now.

In a USA Today story, Steve St Angelo, Toyota's chief quality officer in North America, told the audience at a seminar hosted by the Centre for Automotive Research: "Look, we're engineers, we're scientists.

"We thrive on finding something wrong. I am 100 per cent confident that there is nothing wrong with our electronic throttle control systems."

The New York Times stated the NHTSA reported that while it had received more than 3000 complaints involving sudden unintended acceleration, investigators could only find 58 crashes to study.

The event data recorders in the vehicles indicated that in 38 of the vehicles, the brakes were not applied before the crash. The Times story says this suggested "the possibility that the drivers had mistakenly floored the gas pedal instead of the brake".

In 14 crashes, the brakes were applied, but in nine of those cases, the brakes were applied late. In one crash, the brake and the gas pedal were applied. In the remaining seven cases, no useful data could be found.

The magazine Popular Mechanics touched on this 'ghost in the machine' histrionics several months ago and mentioned an earlier example of mass hysteria involving a car. In the 1980s, there was also an issue with unintended acceleration with Audis that were found to be rubbish.

It's not only Toyota who has been caught up in this American malaise of finger pointing. Reuters reports Honda is recalling more than 428,000 vehicles in the US and Canada because of a defect that could cause the cars to roll away if they are parked incorrectly. Honda NZ says vehicles here are not affected and will not be recalled.

Honda said that in some situations a part known as the ignition interlock lever could fail. That device is intended to keep drivers from removing their key from the ignition when the vehicle has not been put in park.

If the ignition switch fails, that could allow vehicles to roll away when parked incorrectly, causing accidents.

That's my exact point - "parked incorrectly". Don't know about the Americans, but I was taught when I had parked the car to pull the handbrake on, put the car in gear and turn the wheels into the curb.

And one more thing to ponder - why is it that it's always the litigious who run around blaming all and sundry, rather than looking to their own inadequacies and accept some of the blame themselves?