Toyota lashed out at instructor during big recall . . .

[f1reverb]

Detailed story . . .

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100710/D9GSFCG80.html

"Toyota lashed out at instructor during big recall

Jul 10, 6:37 PM (ET)

By JIM SUHR

CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) - It's the kind of publicity any university might dream about: An instructor uncovers a possible flaw that's causing some of the world's most popular cars to accelerate suddenly. His ground-breaking work attracts interest from Congress and reporters worldwide.

But as Southern Illinois University's David Gilbert sought to show that electronics might be to blame for the problem in Toyotas, the world's largest automaker tried to cast doubt on his findings. One Toyota employee even questioned whether he should be employed by the school, which has long been a recipient of company donations.

Electronic messages obtained by The Associated Press show the automaker grew increasingly frustrated with Gilbert's work and made its displeasure clear to his bosses at the 20,000-student school." . . .

[Muskrat]

And Dr. Gilbert was being mis-leading with what he found.

1) He hot-wired the accelerator pedal to send a signal that caused the ecu to open the throttle and cause the vehicle to accelerate out of control. It deliberately fooled the redundancy safety measures in the accelerator pedal circuitry. The way he wired it up was so complex the likely hood of it happening was about 0. AND it would leave signs to be discovered by investigators. None of that was reported by the media until Toyota got on him about it.

2) He claimed this could not be replicated on any other make of vehicle, which was false, and Toyota proved.

I have no sympathy for Dr. Gilbert. He was basically out to vilify Toyota, and make money for the lawyers who hired him, and himself. He wasn't up front and honest about what he found, he only told part of the story. This is not good science, this is pushing an agenda.

[robspeed]

And Dr. Gilbert was being mis-leading with what he found.

1) He hot-wired the accelerator pedal to send a signal that caused the ecu to open the throttle and cause the vehicle to accelerate out of control. It deliberately fooled the redundancy safety measures in the accelerator pedal circuitry. The way he wired it up was so complex the likely hood of it happening was about 0. AND it would leave signs to be discovered by investigators. None of that was reported by the media until Toyota got on him about it.

2) He claimed this could not be replicated on any other make of vehicle, which was false, and Toyota proved.

I have no sympathy for Dr. Gilbert. He was basically out to vilify Toyota, and make money for the lawyers who hired him, and himself. He wasn't up front and honest about what he found, he only told part of the story. This is not good science, this is pushing an agenda.

reminds of the old oddie/60 minutes "scandal" (only put in quotes because it SHOULD have been a widely reported scandal but wasnt)...