The Gas Pedal Sticks, the Market Works, the Hyperventilation Increases!

I’ve been thinking about making an appointment with my old high school pal, Skip Shaffer (he’s an optometrist), but I already know what he’d tell me:

“Ralph, your eyes are glazed over.”

Yeah. Thanks.

It’s from reading all those articles in the press and on the Web about Toyota Motor Corp.’s “pedal problems.”

The auto maker’s “sudden acceleration” woes have been all over the media in reports ranging from mild wonderment that Toyota could have a quality problem to sinister-sounding “What-did-they-know-and-when-did-they-know it?” investigatory forays. The authoritative Automotive News carried things to a new height with its front page this week, featuring a glowering headline in giant type: “TOYOTA’S CRASH AND BURN.”

Toyota’s Crash and Burn? Can “Oh, the humanity!” be far behind?

Well, no. It’s already here, arriving on a cloud of lawyers. In U.S. District Court in Palm Beach County, Florida, where it often appears as if each citizen over age 70 is issued a white Toyota Camry sedan (with its turn signal permanently engaged), a public-spirited attorney filed suit against the automaker on behalf of consumers who, he says, “are scared, they’re frustrated, they want answers.” The answer, of course, is a class action lawsuit and a fat fee for him.

We already have the likes of Henry Waxman (D-NY), Bart Stupak (a Democrat from, oh, who would have guessed? Michigan), and other congressmen “demanding answers” and rushing to warm their hands at the conflagration that supposedly bids to destroy Toyota’s vaunted quality reputation. The Obama administration, no doubt hoping to refurbish its street cred with the United Auto Workers, has put Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on the scent.

Look, this is a serious recall—a real safety issue that has apparently cost some lives. But the market works. The message has been received and the consequences are unfolding. Toyota has reacted and is obviously trying to fix the problem. There is little evidence that it is being any more recalcitrant than any other corporation or large entity—including the government—whose initial reaction to some charge is a mixture of denial, doubt, and defense. Under ordinary circumstances, this whole affair would have cost the company millions, if not billions. But it is taking a much bigger hit because they are perceived as the New York Yankees of the automobile business. Let’s get the big guy!

Yes, by all means, let’s get to the bottom of the problem. But can’t we dispense with all the end-zone dancing?

Ralph Bennett writes the Automobility column for American.com.