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Ford Explorer roof pillars were initially spec'd with a fairly high-grade steel. Citing costs, management refused to use the high-grade steel and instead used a weaker steel.

Result? Lots of roof-cave-ins on a vehicle that was prone to roll over.

http://www.autosafety.org/memo...

you really underestimate the depth and scope of human stupidity.... i could definably see 30, or even 300 people trying something like this, however im not accusing them of doing it intentionally. And the logger would also happen to show that exact combination if that's actually what really happened, someone got scared, almost in a wreck, stomped the gas instead of the brake, and went flying, and didn't realize their mistake. It hasn't just happened with Toyota, it has happened with other makes and models for many years now. Toyota just got a huge amount of press for it, and it became a national sensation as many irrelevant things seem to become these days (ie Obama's Birth Certificate, Arizona's Kidnapping "Problem", and just about anything Sara Palin does...). Also Toyota has never blamed this on the driver, they have simply said they can not come to any other conclusion they have never said that the driver is at fault.

Sources:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/sudden-acceleration-kentucky-driver-defends-account-runaway-chevrolet/story?id=10943811
http://www.safetyforum.com/sua/
http://www.autosafety.org/srr/SAEURO.pdf
or just about anything else:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=sudden+acceleration+-toyota

I have seen nothing in any of the reports that talked about any computer system malfunction. All reports of malfunctions were mechanical: mats and stuck pedals.

You haven't been looking, then:

• Data point to Toyota's throttles, not floor mats, From November 2009.
• Specifically, NHTSA is investigating the electronic throttle control system...

Is there evidence of a problem?

As a consumer, if there was no regulation, then I would want to be able to know what testing was done on the software of a safety critical component. They tell me all about the impact resistance of the frame and do all sorts of crash tests of the car and make that public; why not the software/firmware/hardware?

I used to own a 2005 Matrix! I noticed this problem, but just like everyone else, I thought it was a sticking mat. But then I realized that the mat was not in the car!!! So I thought it must have been a sticky pedal.

--jeffk++

We cannot go after them for breaking rules that did not exist, but we could require companies going out of business to restore land to salable levels.

http://www.autosafety.org/gm-gets-dump-its-polluted-sites
If the government isn't forcing a company they have control over to live up to its responsibilities,
what makes you think they'll chase after private corporations

It's a myth, but I can believe it is a natural outgrowth of our tendency to think bigger-is-better.

Your study is just about vehicle collisions, and no surprise, when you hit a small thing with a big thing, the big thing comes out on top.

But big things are harder to drive, and when they roll over, all alone on the freeway, as they have a higher propensity to do, the people in them tend to die.

Hence, the higher overall fatality rates for SUVs.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the capacity to go boom almost innate in any form of chemical fuel storage? Gasoline is always a spark away from exploding-- would hydrogen be any worse?

Fire as a result of car crashes is rare. http://www.autosafety.org/article.php?scid=96&did= 533 3 out of 1000 crashes. I guess gasoline is only going to catch fire if it leaks out after a wreck.

What would a fuel cell be like in a crash? I guess we will have to find out.

Funny you mention GM and their car paint in the same sentence, along with them not repairing the problem. That, in fact, is a lie.

GM has repaired car paint issues before. For example, a quote from this website:

An expensive defect on 1985-92 J-Cars is peeling paint. At CAS' request, GM agreed to pay for complete repainting for paint peel and delamination through six years and unlimited mileage but, in March 1995, GM cut this back to 5 years.

This is definitely not the first case of an auto manufacturer repairing paint jobs due to defects in their paint work. It happens all the time. I'd reccomend a bit more research.

Thank God for unregulated free enterprise. Bring back lead-based paint and cars that explode when you rear-end them!

Quote: These are business plans, schematics, insider corporate strategy NOT speech - these items are CAD drawings, supplier contracts ... NOT speech .... so no speech was abridged ... and besides Congress didn't make a law. A judge ruled and enforced the law.

Crap. I don't know about other engineers, but, as a programmer, my work is definitely speech.

"Insider corporate strategy" is not in the public's interest. That's what leads to the exploding Pinto cover up, cigarette manufactures researching and suppressing information while doing on-going marketing to kids. Even a flopped product, like Apple's trade secret upcoming "iCrap", is harmful to the public because it causes higher prices and wasted resources. Sunshine won't necessarily prevent a company from releasing a bad product, and occasionally Trade Secrets might even be beneficial to a particular person or company with no little or no ill effect on society, however, in many cases trade secrets cause harm. More harm, in my opinion, than the perceived benefits from companies execs (there's more than one way to market a product other than "Surprise!") or bad (evil) schemes where trade secrets are essential.

Here in NZ, our tax law is quite clear. There are very few loopholes, and corporations are taxed at the exact same rate as human beings. Yet still they manage to thrive and multiply. In fact, R&D is not considered a pre-tax expense. It's just a cost of doing business, yet still we innovate (e.g. WETA Digital)

Despite the US making loads of mouth-music about "Free Trade" it props up its Corporations with the most generous corporate welfare of any other country (currently adds up to $150 billion) as well as tarrif protections and price controls.

If corporations have the same rights as an individual (Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad), they should have the same obligations -- but they don't, do they? They are taxed less, they can't be arrested or do jail time even if they knowingly and willfully kill purely to protect already their over-inflated profit margin (Ford Pinto).

<sarc>Obviously we can't ask these "people" to share the burden while they reap all those benefits. They are too poor, too weak, too frail, too moronic to compete on a level playing field with the rest of the world.</sarc>

While I am sure the guy is full of shit, I do know that in Houston (and possibly elsewhere) there have been reports of "Sudden Acceleration." I am highly skeptical myself, but this story brings it to mind.

Here is a link to some info about a study of "sudden acceleration" and here is a link to a story in Houston.

And, if your reading this Mr BlackCider, they did recall a few things already (making your bad-recall-press rant in your Open Letter a bit moot), like the powersupply for the G3 and the replacement plan for noisy G4's. Hopefully they address this and all you iBook users out there with this problem get a solution, soon.

Why should joe user, have to pay for the latest RPC hole?

I have to say although the article lost me from about the first line I loved this :

We aren't trying to penalize everyone for not being up-to-date or security savvy, but the level of attacks which continue to occur daily after any en-masse attack is enormous.

Uhhh yes you are...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but arn't fines a 'penality'? Sorry, but flat out this is elitism. These people don't get how great the knowledge gap is from the average user, to anyone who might know what bugtraq is...

Think about it for 1 clock cycle.

Simply make the fine a percentage of the amount of revenue made on that product. That should put the onus back on the software company that leashed the security horror that is out there. Meanwhile, free software is protected.

Also $400 eating out /mo? ouch!
And $250 of computer toys /mo? damn.
Sorry I didn't mean to come off sounding mean, it's cool to see people with numbers that are different from mine.
But you could cut down that $400 groceries if you're single. Mine is like $125/mo.

Adding it up you could possibly save $1100/mo :)
You're making twice what I make per month surely you can save even a little. If you dun wanna save, give your kids some spending money or give your ex some more child support, she probably needs it :)

Fortunately though, the locks on my Ford work from Day 1.

You sure about that? "Door locks inoperative at freezing temperatures 1993-94" (Mustang and Probe).