MARCH OF THE FRAUDULENT CLAIMS – AT 9:03 A.M. ET:  As readers know, we've been following the Toyota saga.  We've watched as an overheated initial reaction to claims of unintended acceleration turned to skepticism.  The skepticism is justified.

Now we have one more claim that's been debunked.  The action occurred about six miles from where Urgent Agenda is written.  From Fox:

According to Police Captain Anthony Marraccini, driver error caused the crash of a Prius on March 9th 2010 in Harrison N.Y. and not faulty brakes.

In an investigation of the incident, Harrison Police Captain Marraccini said the brakes had not been applied, a finding that contradicted claims from a 56 year old woman who told police that the car had accelerated as she drove down her employer’s driveway and hit a stone wall. The woman told police that she had hit the brakes but the car did not respond.

A number of people have "come forward" to claim faulty Toyotas after the original publicity, but this police officer has done his job.  From his statement:

"The vehicle accelerator was compressed and there was no brake application. We looked at data extracted from the car’s computer system. We looked at the vehicle diagnostic trouble code and we have video taped every key stroke that Toyota made while they extracted the data so we know the data is reliable and trustworthy..

"...Sensors on the gas pedal showed that the throttle position was depressed fully by the driver. The data indicates the accelerator was depressed. There was no pressure applied to the brakes at the time. The shift sensor was in drive and the accelerator sensor indicated that accelerator was fully depressed. There is no indication that the brake lamps were on."

COMMENT:  There is now a move on to install "black boxes" in all newly manufactured cars.  It should be done.  We will learn a great deal about actual accidents, and authorities will be able to debunk false statements made to the police.

March 23, 2010