Toyota, formerly one of the most dependable, longest-lasting vehicles on the market. At least that’s what they say. I don’t really care at this point, I don’t own a Toyota, I would though. Every company has a bump in the road somewhere

It just so happens that this bump is full-throttle and without brakes. Some say it’s not that big of a deal, just throw the transmission into neutral and turn off the vehicle. Well when you do that you lose power steering and any electronic stability controls that go along with the electrical system.

Slowing down your vehicle in the aforementioned manner isn’t too bad but trying to think about doing that at full speed in traffic while panicking seems slightly more difficult. I’ve never been in that situation and I’m really really happy that I haven’t.

 People purchase new vehicles with the hope that they will last a long time and once paid for will be a worthy investment. Most don’t contemplate what could happen if something inside their vehicle malfunctions. Toyota could have handled this situation much better but hindsight is 20/20, or so they say.

Not many people realize that companies have a “special” formula to determine whether to institute a recall or just face things as they happen. It seems like first they figure out how much it would cost for them to initiate a recall, replace the parts and deal with the negative image associated with the action. Second the company determines what they could be facing in court if they were to be sued by customers affected by the malfunction. If the recall is cheaper than lawsuits then they will start a recall. If not then you may very well be driving a vehicle that is all kinds of messed up.

Supposedly there are governmental rules and regulations in place to prevent the actions that I have just described. Just like the rules to prevent all of the other bad things that happen to people everyday. I don’t think companies are going to ever stop viewing their customers as much more than statistics supporting their bottom line, though I could be wrong.

Toyota has said they are sorry but that is a lot like someone lighting one of your family members on fire and throwing them down a cliff at 100 mph and then apologizing about it. I am being harsh on Toyota simply because someone needs to be really really harsh on them. It is one thing if a part on one line of vehicles messes up and they are forced to replace it, but it is a little different when there are tons of problems with your most popular vehicles.

A little issue with a cigarette lighter or power window is a lot different than say the brakes or gas pedal. I would much rather my window get stuck all the way down than my throttle. I would also much rather my cigarette lighter randomly not work than have my brakes sporadically stop my car.

The idea that there is no longer a physical link between gas pedals and the throttle creeps me out as is, I can’t stand thinking that there is a computer in charge of how fast I go. People often don’t think about what it takes for their vehicle to run correctly and most of the time they don’t really care as long as it does run and run well.

I mean really, hasn’t anyone ever seen Terminator? Don’t they know that machines are going to try and kill us? Maybe there are robots running Toyota. The world may never know. Perhaps they are testing their evil plan on a select few before they attack everyone else. I seriously doubt it but what if that’s the case?

That’s why something must be done to teach the car industry that we will not tolerate these “malfunctions.” I think that Toyota should be made an example of, let’s show the world that we will not tolerate anything built poorly.

Here is a company that has produced vehicles that everyone from soccer moms to grandmas have driven and I’m pretty sure that you don’t want any of them flying off of a cliff or maybe you do, I don’t know.

Cody Edgerton is a copy editor for The Port Arthur News. Contact him at cedgerton@panews.com.