The politics behind the Toyota recall ...

In 2008 in America there were 34,017 fatalities as a result of motor vehicle accident. This was a good number because in 2005 it had been 39,252. In fact from over the decade from 1999 to 2008 according to the DOT in America there have been 377,292 deaths that can be attributed to motor vehicle accidents. You can find the statistics here. Guess what, that's almost as many Americans died in World War II.

Now who is responsible for all these deaths? For the most part I agree with Walter Block that this is death by government. The government manages the roads and like most things managed by the government, they don't do a particularly good job. But discussing this would go beyond what I wanted to say here, so I'll have to simply refer you to Mr. Block's article, Deaths by Government: Another Missing Chapter.

Now here is some recent news:

The US House of Representatives has announced an investigation into Toyota’s faulty accelerator pedals and other problems that may have caused 19 deaths over the past decade and triggered a global recall of nearly eight million vehicles.

Okay, so 19 deaths out of nearly 400,000, maybe. I mean, yeah, if a car company is making a car that will cause someone to die, that's really wrong ... but I mean how perfect can you make a car, anyway? We're talking about how many millions of cars being driven under who knows what conditions ... and we're saying that no other car manufacture has any similar problems? There aren't currently any problems with any other company's cars that might be attributed to about one or two deaths every year? Really?

Just for another comparison, remember the air bag fiasco. In order to protect lives, the US federal government mandated that air bags be installed in the passenger seats of every car. What happened, here's some thing from an older news story (the bold is mine):

Air bags are killing fewer children than they did five years ago, government data show, and safety experts give most of the credit to parents who are keeping children 12 years old and under out of the front seat. In 1996, passenger-side air bags were in about 22 million vehicles and they killed 35 children, according to the National Safety Council, a private nonprofit organization. Air bag use was growing, the council said, and so were fears about more deaths. ''We had an impending crisis,'' said Chuck Hurley, a council spokesman. Every month more than a million cars with passenger-side air bags were being put on the road and the number of child deaths were projected to double annually, Mr. Hurley said, ''until we were killing several hundred children a year with a federally mandated safety device.'' But in 2000, even though the number of cars equipped with passenger-side air bags had tripled, the number of children killed by them fell to about 18.

So in the year 2000 the federal government by mandating air bags in the passenger seat killed 18 children, and Toyota *might* be responsible for 19 deaths over a decade, while meanwhile people are being slaughtered in by the tens of thousands every year. Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

Am I beginning to make any sense?

One headline I saw this morning was this, Obama Administration Says It Is 'Not Finished With Toyota'. The article notes:

The Obama administration toughened its stance toward Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday, saying it is still reviewing possible safety defects in the company's vehicles and weighing other actions. "We're not finished with Toyota and are continuing to review possible defects and monitor the implementation of the recalls," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. Another DOT official said the agency is considering a civil penalty against the Japanese auto maker.

I mean, is this a vendetta or something?

Let's review some recent history via Wikipedia:

On December 19, George W. Bush announced that he had approved the bailout plan, which would give loans of $17.4 billion to U.S. automakers GM and Chrysler, stating that under present economic conditions, "allowing the U.S. auto industry to collapse is not a responsible course of action." Bush provided $13.4 billion now, with another $4 billion available in February 2009. Funds would be made available from the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. General Motors will get $9.4 billion and Chrysler $4 billion.

and

On the 18 February 2009, General Motors and Chrysler, again approached the US government in regards to obtaining a second bridging loan, of $21.6 billion (£15.2 billion). $16.6 billion of this would go to General Motors, while Chrysler would take $5 billion. General Motors requested the loan inline with agreements they would shed 47,000 jobs, close five plants and axe 12 car models. Chrysler agreed to cut 3,000 jobs, cut one shift from production and axe three car models.

and

On 30 April 2009, Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankrutpcy after talks with lenders broke down. On the 14th May 2009 Chrysler announced it was to close 25% of its US dealerships as part of its resturcturing process.

and

On the 1st June 2009, General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after failing to successfully negotiate deals with bond holders. On the day the application was made, General Motors was largely a nationalized institution (the US government owning 60% and the Canadian 12.5%), the remaining private stakes mainly being owned by employees.

Are things becoming a little clearer?

Another headline I saw this morning reads, Toyota's Pain, Detroit's Gain. The article notes:

U.S. auto sales were generally higher in January as the economic recovery continued to take hold, but a strong month for Ford Motor and General Motors came at least partially at the expense of a rocky performance from Toyota, which was plagued by a recall and suspended sales on several top models that resulted.

Now are things beginning to clear up?

I'll note that in 2008, total contributions from the auto industry to various politicians amounted to $2,655,645. I supposed that's quite paltry compared compared to what the financial sector donates, but you get what you pay for, bailouts for the automotive industry have not been nearly as generous as what the financial sector has been getting.

I'll note one more headline, U.S.: Toyota footdragged on recall and is 'a little safety deaf', the article states:

Toyota was "a little safety deaf" and had to be prodded into recalling vehicles over its sticky pedal issues, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the Associated Press. It wasn't until a Transportation official took a trip to Japan to talk to Toyota officials directly that the automaker acted, stopping sales of eight models and recalling 2.3 million cars.

Let's bad mouth the competition, shall we? Hold your breath, because it ain't about safety, it's all just politics.

What can Toyota do but bow their heads and apologize and express remorse, again and again and again.

Finally, I'll have to note that what goes around comes around.