YOU MEAN, THEY MAY NOT GET CASH FROM THE COMPANY?  BUT THIS IS AMERICA! – AT 8:37 A.M. ET:  Do you remember the Toyotas that took off by themselves?  Wait.  If you're a little older, do you remember the Audis that took off by themselves?

We get these stories periodically.  They lead to big-time TV coverage and woe-is-me interviews with drivers who insist that they were just sitting there thinking of ways to serve the world when they were sudden victims of "unintended acceleration."  Months ago there was a flood of stories of Toyotas doing just that.  But there are tens of millions of Toyotas on the road.  What happened in the months since those stories?  Did the cars magically improve themselves?

No.  Science happened, and some law firms might be disappointed.  Reader Michael Emerson alerts us to this report, from The Wall Street Journal:

The U.S. Department of Transportation has analyzed dozens of data recorders from Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles involved in accidents blamed on sudden acceleration and found that the throttles were wide open and the brakes weren't engaged at the time of the crash, people familiar with the findings said.

The early results suggest that some drivers who said their Toyotas and Lexuses surged out of control were mistakenly flooring the accelerator when they intended to jam on the brakes.

But the findings—part of a broad, ongoing federal investigation into Toyota's recalls—don't exonerate the car maker from two known issues blamed for sudden acceleration in its vehicles: "sticky" accelerator pedals that don't return to idle and floor mats that can trap accelerators to the floor.

The findings by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration involve a sample of the reports in which a driver of a Toyota vehicle said the brakes were depressed but failed to stop the car from accelerating and ultimately crashing.

We wrote here at the time of the initial stories that we were skeptical.  The Audi was accused of causing unintended acceleration, and its American market decimated for a time by a critical story on "Sixty Minutes."  It later turned out that the tales of horror could be traced to driver error, although a European-style placement of the foot pedals was a contributing factor.

The Toyota findings appear to support Toyota's position that sudden-acceleration reports involving its vehicles weren't caused by electronic glitches in computer-controlled throttle systems, as some safety advocates and plaintiffs' attorneys have alleged. More than 100 people have sued the car maker over crashes they claim were the result of faulty electronics.

The fact is that all modern cars have braking systems that can overcome even a roaring engine.  And it's remarkable that all those aggrieved people didn't understand that turning off the ignition would stop the car at any rate.

If Toyotas were inherently defective there would be many, many more stories of unintended acceleration, and they wouldn't be bunched in one time period.  Once again we had a rush to judgment.

Of course, those filing for court-ordered winnings aren't satisfied.  Get this gem from a woman claiming to be a "victim":

Ms. Marseille sticks by her story. "It makes me very angry when someone tells me, 'She probably hit the gas pedal instead,' because I think it's a sexist comment, an ageist comment," she said.

Yup.  Let's haul out sexism and ageism.  Those are the culprits!

A recognized transportation expert informs me that he knows of only one case of unintended acceleration – when a limo in the White House motor pool was loaded with powerful electronic equipment that interfered with the auto's computer system.  The problem was quickly solved by an adjustment.

July 14, 2010