It's been nearly 3 years since the first Lexus - luxury division of Toyota - car crash, prompting massive Toyota recalls & calling into question the safety of the Toyota Prius.
Why haven't we heard the definitive answer: what caused the crashes? My 2008 Prius, Lucy's still purring like a sleeping pussy (cat). #alliteration
The news media ran with the story for over a year, but for the past 6 months, it's as if the story never existed. Don't you love that? Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. Granted, that's just my perception.
Question: So what was causing those crashes? Answer: Floor mats.
I wondered how this story - the possibility of electronic malfunctions in Toyotas - first got started and began researching the original crash. I came across this CBS news video.
This crash that sparked the Toyota recall controversy is a very odd crash. Odder than the crash itself is the way it was initially presented to the public. The conspiracy theorist in me wanted to believe the worst - that this was a staged incident with manaquins or something crazy (probably hatched by the forever heartless Dick Cheney himself) - but truthfully the story's not that crazy - just odd.
This is the same car crash that prompted Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to go on national television telling Toyota owners to "stop driving immediately" and get to a dealership right away (I actually did - and it wasn't busy). He later said he misspoke and said just get to the dealership when you get a chance.
It was the same crash that prompted Japanese automaker Toyota's CEO Toyoda (any relation?) to go before Congress pledging to Americans to get to the heart of the crashes. One of the victims testifying was Rhonda Smith (1:06:20 in video), who at one point in her testimony says her 2006 Lexus "turned itself on" & she was unable to stop the car, but was able to throw it into reverse. And to think, all this hubbub over floor mats!
Mark Saylor - 45 year old alleged driver of the car - was an enlisted member of the U.S. Air Force and a 20 year veteran of the California Highway Patrol, who was trained to perform vehicle safety checks.
For all I know, the official story of the original crash is completely true so that's what I will tell you about here. These are the facts, as of March 25, 2012:
Aug. 28, 2009: San Diego Lexus Crash Prompts Toyota Recalls
-911 Call made by Saylor's brother in law where the passenger of the car says: "hold on guys.. pray.. pray.. "
-September 30, 2009 NHTSA crash report: "draws no conclusion about the cause" of the crash
-on the pedal: "Upon removing the pedal from the vehicle, the rotating motion of the pedal assembly was confirmed to still be operational. The return spring action was smooth and unencumbered."
-Initial news report includes police officer saying b/c of the crash & subsequent fire: "it's unknown if we'll be able to get anything from the car" (scroll down to first video)
-Car was a loaner Lexus ES350 sedan, from dealership Bob Baker Lexus in El Cajon, CA
-Toyota blames crash on dealership for improperly installing floor mats
-Bob Baker Lexus claims they don't install floor mats in loaner cars, blames crash on Toyota - possible problem with electronics
-Saylor's mother-in-law Fe Lastrella testified before Congress on February 24, 2010 but refused to talk about the accident itself. She also said her daughter Cliofe took a week off of work, prior to the crash, to help her daughter get ready for 9th grade & also that she told the police she would not go to the coronor to identify the bodies of the crash victims
-this is a picture of the floor mat taken from the car (I believe from the crash site) where you can clearly see the pedal is still "bonded" to the mat
Other little tidbits:
-Prius chat forum on the original crash (August 29, 2009 - day after crash)
-Video of news report on bankrupt California real estate agent Jim Sykes, founder of website AdultSwingLife.com, who faked unintended accelerator in Toyota Prius (March 11, 2011)
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