Toyota Corollas probed again...What is TOYOTA HIDING?

This nice lady is Noriko Uno.

Noriko Uno tried to STOP HER RUNAWAY TOYOTA.....

Instead of TOYOTA correcting their TOYOTA/LEXUS PROBLEMS, they toss their gaggle of attorneys .......

Toyota Corollas probed again

 

By Jerry Hirsch

Los Angeles Times

September 30, 2014

 

 

Federal safety regulators are looking into complaints that Toyota Corollas can surge unexpectedly even when a driver is pressing the brake pedal.

 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is examining 163 complaints from drivers of the small car to determine whether there is a problem that warrants the opening of a formal safety investigation.

 

The agency said it is responding to a petition for an investigation from Kathy Ruginis of Bristol, R.I., who claimed her Corolla surged forward into a Jeep even though she was braking as she parked the Toyota. Safety Research & Strategies Inc., a Rehoboth, Mass., consulting firm that frequently prepares testimony in auto-defect litigation, said information from the Corolla's event-data recorder backs up the woman's claim.

 

NHTSA said it will look to see if there is an unintended acceleration problem in as many as 1.7 million Corollas from the 2006 through 2010 model years.

 

Toyota said in a statement that "it will cooperate fully with any inquiry."

 

The automaker has faced previous probes into problems with unintended acceleration. They started after a horrific 2009 crash of a Toyota-built Lexus outside San Diego that took the life of an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and his family. That crash was thought to have been caused by floor mats jamming the gas pedal.

 

Toyota subsequently recalled millions of vehicles to replace floor mats and fix a mechanical problem that might have caused gas pedals to get stuck on their own. 

 

 

Earlier this year, Toyota admitted deceiving regulators [TOYOTA ADMITTED THEY LIED!!]and consumers about the two defects linked to unintended sudden acceleration and agreed to pay $1.2 billion, the largest penalty ever imposed on an automaker. The deal settled a four-year federal criminal investigation into whether Toyota properly reported safety complaints about sudden acceleration.

 

Toyota was formally charged with one count of wire fraud, but the Justice Department will dismiss the charge after three years if the automaker abides by the settlement terms.

 

As part of the agreement the Justice Department appointed David Kelley, a former U.S. attorney, to serve as the independent safety monitor at U.S. operations of Toyota Motor Corp.

 

Ruginis and her husband, Bob, have met with Kelley's staff to discuss their Corolla's crash, said Sean Kane, the president of Safety Research & Strategies, the firm that reviewed the collision data.

 

"The Toyota monitor has an obligation to address safety and whether Toyota is accurately addressing it," Kane said.

 

Toyota examined the car, gave it a test drive and reviewed the information from the event-data recorder and decided there was nothing wrong with the vehicle.

 

Ruginis had previously had the Corolla repaired for both the floor-mat and gas-pedal recalls but reported the vehicle still had a history of "briefly surging." She said it happened two to four times a month.

 

In the five seconds before the June 8 crash into the Jeep, the data recorder in the Corolla indicated that the accelerator pedal was untouched, the brake pedal was depressed and the speed of the car and engine power increased, Kane said. He said that was evidence of unintended acceleration.

 

However, Toyota said information from the data recorder shows that Ruginis was not braking until just a fraction of a second prior to the collision.

 

Last year, an Oklahoma City jury found that faulty electronic systems caused a Camry sedan to suddenly accelerate and crash, killing one woman and injuring another.

[THIS IS THE JEAN BOOKOUT. BARBARA SCHWARZ TRIAL - links at right.]



IF TOYOTA WAS RIGHT, WHY DID THEY SETTLE WITH A CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT?

IF TOYOTA WAS RIGHT, WHY DID THEY PREVENT EVIDENCE FROM BECOMING PUBLIC?

WHAT IS TOYOTA HIDING?

WHY IS TOYOTA TRYING TO SILENCE A WHISTLEBLOWER IF THEY HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE?

 

Toyota, however, has maintained that there was no electronic flaw that might cause its cars to accelerate unexpectedly.

PLEASE NOTE: EVERY SINGLE ARTICLE INCLUDES THIS TOYOTA PROPAGANDA WHICH IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE!
 

A 10-month investigation, conducted primarily by NASA engineers, found no evidence that electronic defects or software code errors could have caused the thousands of sudden-acceleration incidents reported over the last decade.

 

 

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140930/BIZ/409290315/-1/NEWSLETTER100

 

JUST MY OPINION....AT THE MOMENT!

RSN: Congress Cuts $8.7 Billion in Food Stamps, But Finds $22 Billion to Fight ISIS

Frame this however you choose, if you support the MORALLY BANKRUPT REPUBLICANS who promote the New American Century of World Domination and can't feed your own citizens, fight kicking and screaming because you refuse to address Universal Health Care, yet believe bombing a Second World Country back to the Stone Age.......maybe you should THINK!

Who is WAGING PEACE?

It's Live on the HomePage Now: 
Reader Supported News

---

FOCUS: Juan Cole | Congress Cuts $8.7 Billion in Food Stamps, But Finds $22 Billion to Fight ISIS 
 
Juan Cole, Informed Comment 
Cole writes: "The GOP Congress's assault on the American working class has been waged with the pretext that the Federal government has no money (what with being in debt and all). This despite the money being owed to the American people on the whole, and despite the long tradition of deficits in government budgets, which have seldom in history been balanced." 
READ MORE

VOTE! No Excuse! RSN: The Election Is a Month Away. F---ing. Vote.

It's Live on the HomePage Now: 
Reader Supported News

---

FOCUS: Carl Gibson | The Election Is a Month Away. F---ing. Vote. 
 
Carl Gibson, Reader Supported News 
Gibson writes: "If tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong are bravingpepper spray, tear gas, batons, and mass arrests, and are even willing to take over a major highway, sleep on it overnight, and refuse to leave in the middle of a tropical downpour just for the right to have free and fair elections, then we have no excuse here to not participate in our elections." 
READ MORE

RSN: Corporations and the Rich Viscerally Oppose the Common Good

North Dakota sells its ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION to Dirty Energy.....curious trade!

It's Live on the HomePage Now:
Reader Supported News

---

Noam Chomsky | Corporations and the Rich Viscerally Oppose the Common Good

Noam Chomsky, AlterNet
Chomsky writes: "Whether public education contributes to the Common Good depends, of course, on what kind of education it is, to whom it is available, and what we take to be the Common Good."
READ MORE

CDC Confirms First Ebola Case in U.S.
Javier E. David, CNBC
David reports: "The United States now has one confirmed case of Ebola, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday, marking the first domestic appearance of the deadly virus that has ravaged swaths of continental Africa."
READ MORE

Hong Kong Democracy Protests Swell as Chinese Celebrate National Day
Tania Branigan, Guardian UK
Branigan reports: "Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests will hit their highest numbers yet as China celebrates its National Day, the student leader who helped precipitate the demonstrations has said."
READ MORE

White House Exempts Syrian Airstrikes From Tight Standards on Civilian Deaths
Michael Isikoff, Yahoo! News
Isikoff reports: "The White House has acknowledged for the first time that strict standards President Obama imposed last year to prevent civilian deaths from U.S. drone strikes will not apply to U.S. military operations in Syria and Iraq."
READ MORE

An Environmentalist's Calculated Push Toward Brazil's Presidency
Paulo Prada, Reuters
Prada reports: "Once considered a leftist radical, the pioneer of Amazon conservation and icon of the global environmental movement has over the years marched steadily to the political center."
READ MORE

North Dakota Considers Using $5 Billion in Oil Revenue to Provide Free College Education to Residents
Neil Carlson, Valley News Live
Carlson reports: "Could free college tuition for students be in North Dakota's future?"
READ MORE

SLIDESEVEN
AUTHORSEVEN
COMMENTSEVEN
READ MORE

Toyota/Lexus/Land Cruiser Protect Middle Eastern Owners, but Not Americans?

This Toyoda Phony Baloney comes to the US, pretends ignorance of the FACTS, COMPLAINTS, INJURIES and DEATHS caused by TOYOTA'S DEFECTS.......

TOYOTA acknowledges their LIES and DECEPTION......

....pays a $1.2 BILLION FINE and life is DUCKY!

OR IS IT?


The DOJ Settlement .... TOYOTA'S Get Out Of Jail Free Card included an INDEPENDENT MONITOR.....

BELOW, are just a few of TOYOTA'S HORRIFYING TALES!

When it has suited TOYOTA, they have ignored CONSUMERS or settled with Confidentiality Agreement.....filling court dockets, clogging the courts, AG's files, prompting Class Action Lawsuits [i.e. for oil sludge]....


TOYOTA has wasted everyone's time and resources defending TOYOTA PROBLEMS that were KNOWN!


At the bottom on this page is an article indicating TOYOTA RECALLS to protect TOYOTA DRIVERS from KNOWN TOYOTA SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION PROBLEMS!


PLEASE NOTE THOSE TOYOTA RECALLS are all OVERSEAS!


WHEN WILL TOYOTA CORRECT U.S. VEHICLES WITH THE SAME PROBLEMS?
WHEN WILL TOYOTA/NHTSA INC. TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT AMERICANS?

WHERE IS THE INSISTENCE OF THE INDEPENDENT MONITOR THAT U.S. CONSUMERS ARE ENTITLED TO THE SAME PROTECTION?



+ 37,900 complaints ignored by Toyota

Playbook: Chapter 4: Dehumanize Fatalities: 'Souvenirs from NHTSA.'

 

 

You didn't know them.....

...just an American family on an outing....in a RUNAWAY TOYOTA.

An August 28th 2010 crash near San Diego of a Lexus ES 350 sedan driven by the off-duty Highway Patrol officer, Mark Saylor resulted in tragedy.

Mr. Saylor was driving his wife, their 13-year-old daughter, and his brother-in-law on a family outing when their car "began to accelerate on its own" and sped out of control despite Saylor’s attempts "to apply the brakes and otherwise do everything possible to stop" the car.

The car reached speeds of up to 120 miles per hour before it struck another vehicle, plowed through a fence, hit a berm and flew through the air, then rolled several times into a field and burst into flames.



The HORRIFYING 911 call and loss of this California family FINALLY forced attention to be drawn to TOYOTA's FAILURES.


After praising itself for $$$$ saved by avoiding RECALLS and ignoring U.S. statutes, the sad loss of the Saylor Family called attention to TOYOTA.


TOYOTA settled cases with GAG ORDERS [confidentiality agreements], silencing public discussion, just as they did in the Saylor settlement....well....except TOYOTA blamed the dealership that removed the silence.


TOYOTA settled the Saylor Family lawsuit for $10 MILLION. You simply don't do that unless you know you're wrong.



You didn't know Noriko Uno. She died trying to stop her RUNAWAY TOYOTA.

This is Noriko Uno's car:

She even pulled the hand brake to stop her car.


This is her family, torn apart by her loss.

Noriko Uno: Last Minutes Filled With Terror As Toyota Camry Sped Out of Control

TOYOTA has settled unknown cases to silence families, quiet public queries.

Paul Van Alfen's RUNAWAY TOYOTA:

The crash on Nov. 5 killed Paul Van Alfen, 66, and his son's fiancee Charlene Lloyd, 38; Van Alfen's wife and son were also injured in the wreck. Unlike similar crashes in Toyotas later blamed on drivers mistaking the accelerator for the brake, police say Van Alfen's Camry left skid marks as it exited Interstate 80 near Wendover, Utah. presumably from holding down the brake pedal. The Utah Highway Patrol said Monday that based on statements from the passengers who survived, the Camry's gas pedal appeared stuck.

Van Alfen's Camry had been covered by three recalls relating to sudden acceleration problems, including floor mats and sticking pedals. While investigators believe Van Alfen had brought his Camry in for the repairs, it's not clear what fixes had been performed. Toyota has also said it was upgrading 2008 Camrys to include brake override systems designed to cut engine power if the brake and accelerator are pressed simultaneously; and once again, it's not clear whether that upgrade was performed.

Over 141,000 Toyota and Lexus cars recalled over dangers of sudden acceleration

Over 141,000 Toyota and Lexus cars recalled over dangers of sudden acceleration

2.55

Published September 30th, 2014

 

The vehicle models recalled include the Land Cruiser (79,972) followed by Camry (43,207), Lexus LX 570 (9,589), Avalon (7,382) and Sequoia (857).

 

The recall of as many as 141,007 Toyota and Lexus cars has been initiated in the sultanate to install Smart Stop Technology, a brake override system, in their vehicles to curtail dangers associated with sudden acceleration.

Saud Bahwan (Automotive), the dealership for these brands began the recalls on September 22 under the guidance of the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP).

On September 24, PACP had stated that this campaign is to install an intelligent software update in Lexus LX 570, Land Cruiser 200 and Sequoia models of 2008-11 make, in Camry (2007-11 models) and in Avalon 2005-11 models.

The vehicle models recalled include the Land Cruiser (79,972) followed by Camry (43,207), Lexus LX 570 (9,589), Avalon (7,382) and Sequoia (857).

The company has said that it will be installing the smart braking system in all the cars recalled to have better control of the vehicles. This system overrides the throttle input while braking and makes sure that the car is able to stop.

In a similar campaign in Saudi Arabia, the country’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced the recall of over 320,000 Toyota cars, the Saudi Gazette reported earlier this month. That recall was due to the malfunctioning Smart Stop system and to address problems in cruise control.

The models were the same as being recalled in Oman. In another PACP-led campaign, the Al Muhannad al Hashar Company has announced the recall of Aston Martin 2007-13 models in Oman for replacing the fuel pedal due to suspected electrical connection failure. The company said that the cars were recalled for safety reasons and only 33 were affected. Owners have been requested to contact the company for appointments starting October 1.



http://www.albawaba.com/business/over-141000-toyota-and-lexus-cars-recalled-over-dangers-sudden-acceleration-608885





JUST MY OPINION .... AT THE MOMENT!
 

Corporate Welfare

Bernie Sanders's photo.

 

 

Bravo! Offshore winds soon to power Cape Cod

Thanks to the Dirty Energy Koch Brothers, this project has been delayed for years....It's TIME!  [CLICK ON LINK TO SEE FULL GRAPHICS!]

Offshore winds soon to power Cape Cod: Part I

"America benefits from some of the greatest offshore wind reserves in the world"

Article | Op Ed | September 30, 2014

 

 

European wind farm photo courtesy Siemens and Cape Wind.

 

 

Editor's note: This piece originally appeared on "The Blog" at HuffingtonPost.com. It is reprinted here with the author's consent. The second and third parts will follow.

By Stacy Clark

Cape Wind, North America's first offshore wind farm, will soon install 130 windmills off the coast of southeastern Massachusetts to provide roughly three-quarters of the electricity required by the residents of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket.

The landmark project has been fourteen years in the making. By comparison, 224 offshore wind turbines were fully grid connected in Europe in just the first six months of 2014. European waters are home to 64 operational offshore wind farms in an industry that employs 58,000 people. European Wind Energy Association CEO Justin Wilkes confirms that offshore wind "remains the fastest growing power sector in Europe" and Germany's ambitious offshore wind initiatives have led many experts to conclude that doubling worldwide renewable energy generation by 2030 is realistic.

By 2020, fifty percent of Americans are expected to live directly by the coast. Along the northeast shoreline, where urban populations are dense, America benefits from some of the greatest offshore wind reserves in the world. From New England to North Carolina, the technology required to convert the wind to clean electricity, and then deliver the power to coastal residents, is becoming increasingly scalable.


[Map Source: National Wildlife Federation Map Data: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2012); U.S. Energy Information Administration electricity sales data (2014); U.S. Census Bureau Population Data (2011)]

So, with such an abundance of inexhaustible, clean power just waiting to be tapped, why has the U.S. delayed its development of offshore wind power?

A Generation of Preparation

In 2001, when I first read of Cape Wind's plans to harness the brisk winds of Nantucket Sound to supply 360 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Cape Cod residents, my son, now in his freshman year of college, was just beginning preschool in Dallas. It was when young children were still invited by pilots to sit in the cockpit of a commercial plane and pose for photos wearing the Captain's hat, an oversized headset, and the airline's logo pin. Yes, it was before the national heartbreak of 9-11, before the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and before the subsequent Great Recession of 2008. It was before NASA scientists began publicly reporting the rapid melt of the polar ice caps and before the Pentagon concluded that climate change presented a threat at least as great as terrorism. It was before 100,000 gallons of bunker oil spilled in Cape Cod's Buzzard's Bay and it was before BP's catastrophic malfeasance in the Gulf of Mexico.

It's been a long time

It's fairly well known that through Cape Wind's long and determined journey, well-funded fossil fuel interests have challenged the project with schemes to dismiss the project's integrity and to contrive any number of weightless objections to the America's first commercial-scale offshore wind farm. For example, among the opposition's many failed efforts to discredit Cape Wind, when much of Europe was busy building the clean energy infrastructure that would sustain their economies long-term, was a feigned concern for migratory birds. The Mass Audubon Society surprised the opposition by publicly supporting Cape Wind and cited sources of bird deaths (including the burning of coal) far more controversial than windmills. Nevertheless, the opposition to Cape Wind continued to confound the public's understanding of clean energy's mighty potential by using many millions of dollars in "dark money" donations to cast doubt on all forms of renewable energy and on the science of climate change. Why? Because with access to the wind and the sun, and the technologies required to convert them to clean, emissions-free energy, who needs fossil fuels?


[Image Courtesy of U.S. News & World Report]

Since Cape Wind's detractors are motivated by profits, rather than an affinity for wildlife or the long-term sustainability of the planet, it's hard to reconcile how spinning sea breezes into clean electricity could actually become as contentious of an issue as it has here in the U.S. over the past fourteen years. But here's the key: project opponents have long understood that human nature resists change, even when its clearly articulated benefits outweigh its perceived risks.

Behavioral change therapist Carol Kinsey Goman writes in Forbes that human beings avoid change primarily because the challenge to process new information stimulates our "flight or fight" response. In other words, we simply prefer what is familiar because it's less stressful than having to analyze new information, even if that information delivers a simple and persuasive message.

Cape Wind's well-funded detractors have designed, funded, and deployed strategic campaigns designed to prey on this innate, hard-wired aspect of human nature. Their message has been simple--harnessing the wind to make clean electricity is just "too complicated and/or too unreliable." What they don't reveal, of course, is just how popular and successful wind power has been abroad. An International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) report estimates that as of 2013, there are currently over 800,000 jobs in the wind industry worldwide.


[Image: IRENA 2014 Annual Review]

The well-honed and oft repeated bite-size negative messaging of wind power "doubters" (a.k.a. the fossil fuel lobby) has played well to our collective desire for predictability and consistency--that is, until recently.

As the price of renewable energy has dropped precipitously over the past fourteen years, wind power has enjoyed increasing public backing. Just last month, energy expert and writer Silvio Marcacci reported in CleanTechnica that a bi-partisan survey revealed 87 percent of the poll's respondents support wind power for three major reasons: 1) employment opportunities; 2) energy independence; and 3) national security benefits. And according to a 2014 Navigant poll, 72 percent of Americans support more wind power development.

Public opinion surveys on Cape Wind have found strong statewide support for the project, which also enjoys the endorsement of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Earlier this month, at a Boston press conference, the Governor declared:

"Massachusetts intends to become the hub of the offshore wind industry emerging along the east coast of the United States."

Additionally, Cape Wind has the support of the Massachusetts State House and among the Commonwealth's congressional delegation in Washington. In Part three of this series, MA Representative William Keating from Massachusetts's 9th District shares his optimism for "Massachusetts-made wind power." Stay tuned!

So, despite the tedious and tenacious opposition to America's first offshore wind farm, Cape Wind is gearing up to install its first steel beam in 2015. Cape Wind is tenacious too. It has won an impressive string of 26 legal victories in which a judge recently described litigious project opponents as an "obdurate band" that were engaged in a "vexatious abuse of the democratic process."

The Obama Administration has been very supportive of offshore wind in general, and of Cape Wind, in particular. The U.S. Interior Department approved Cape Wind, concluding a ten-year permitting review, and on July 1, 2014, the Department of Energy announced a $150 million dollar loan guarantee to assist the financing of the project.

So, as Cape Wind begins installing its foundations in 2015 (adding the wind turbines in 2016 and commissioning the project in 2017), Cape Cod and the country will have entered a new generational landscape--one defined by an awareness of climate change reality, a rapidly growing public demand for clean energy solutions, and the desire to embrace change because the outdated energy model of the 20th century--with all of its social and environmental costs--simply isn't working anymore.

Could energy in America be growing up?

Cape Wind's Communications Director, Mark Rodgers, thinks so:

"I would say that there's tremendous value in having America's first-in-the-nation offshore wind installation located in Nantucket Sound. It's an area of the country--like so many others--that is faced with great challenges, but because of our access to an abundant clean energy supply, it holds even greater opportunities that can help preserve our environment and way of life for generations."

 

[Cape Wind's Communications Director Mark Rodgers Courtesy: American Progress and Cape Wind]

Part two of this story on Cape Wind's historic evolution focuses on an up close and personal interview with Mark Rodgers, who, along with Cape Wind's President, Jim Gordon, has been the public face of the company for nearly a generation.

Stacy Clark is an environmental geologist, clean energy writer and teacher. She’s a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and the National Association of Science Writers. Follow here on Twitter.

 

 

 

 

http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2014/09/30/27158-offshore-winds-soon-power-cape-cod-part-i