Are Toyotas Safe?
As much as I have enjoyed making fun of Toyota and Lexus owners in recent days for driving - supposed - death traps the reality of the situation is that Toyota makes safe, reliable, automobiles; albeit they're only as exciting as the kitchen sink.
As much as I dislike Toyota I can't deny their safety, reliability, and durability achievements. Even the guys at Top Gear couldn't destroy an old (and I mean old) pick up; and considering Top Gear, that's quite an accomplishment.
Should you get into an accident your Toyota will likely protect you. The Camry has a 5 star crash rating in every single category. That's pretty gosh-darn safe!
I emphasized should for a reason. The real Toyota question should be:
Are Toyota Drivers Safe?
No.
As it turns out Toyota owners rank the absolute worst when it comes to "safe driving;" that is to say, they get into the most vehicle crashes.
Out of the, rather large, Toyota driver pool, there is one segment that seems to be particularly prone to sudden acceleration incidents: old people.
Lets look at some very real statistics about driver age from the kind folks over at OutLawyered.com
Drivers age where available or inferred in cases of sudden acceleration:
18, 21, 21*, 20s**, 32, 34, 36, 44, 45, 47, 56, 56, 57, 58, 60, 60, 63, 60s***, 66, 68, 71, 72, 72, 75, 75, 77, 77, 79, 83, 87
*Driver was with 21-year-old friend
**Driver had girlfriend and young daughter
***Driver was picking up 67-year-old friend for church.
A few things to point out: first, the median age in that group is 60. Second, a majority of those individuals are at - or over - the median age. Third, in two of the cases where 20-somethings are involved friends are in the car. Statistically, young people are more apt to crash with friends than older drivers.
Something everyone should note is that sudden acceleration of vehicles isn't rare, isn't exclusive to Toyotas, and - I can't stress this enough - is primarily caused by human error.
General Motors and Audi have both faced sudden acceleration issues in the past. In both "major" previous cases the NHTSA explicitly stated the problem was not with a defect but rather "pedal misapplication" - which in layman's terms means stepping on the gas instead of the brake.
But then, there is the smoking gun; the perfect piece of evidence proving Toyota has a really big problem: Jim Sikes's runaway Prius. I'll just leave off with these.