We do not know what Toyota did when the complaints of runaway vehicles
began coming in. We know that now it has hired an “independent”
outside company, Exponent, to do an “impartial” investigation
of the sudden acceleration problem. Every auto defect litigator in the
country knows Exponent. It has been paid at least tens and likely hundreds
of millions of dollars by the auto industry to disprove defects.
For instance, Exponent statistically “proved” that weak, collapsing
roofs do not increase injury risk to people in cars that roll over, several
years before government researchers proved the opposite. Exponent is famous
for conducting tests in which a failure does not occur, and claiming this
proves the failure cannot occur. The company chooses the conditions of
its testing to assure the failure will not occur.
As Professor David Michaels states in his exposé on how regulatory
agencies are being undermined by unethical corporations and the scientists
who work for them, “I have yet to see an Exponent study that does
not support the conclusion needed by the corporation or trade association
that is paying the bills.” David Michaels, Doubt Is Their Product:
How Industry’s Assault On Science Threatens Your Health, 47 (Oxford
University Press 2008).
- Stuart Ollanik
More Toyota posts:
“What was Toyota Doing About Unintended Acceleration Five Years
Ago?”, Product Liability Law Blog Mar. 23, 2010
“Big Day for Auto Recalls: Toyota Recalls 437,000 Lexus and Prius
and More than 7,300 Camrys while Honda Expands Previous Airbag Inflator—Related
Recall with Another 437,000 Vehicles,” Product Liability Law Blog
Feb. 9, 2010
