February Festival of Deceit Award Winner:Toyota

Congratulations Toyota!

Contenders for February's FOD Award included 'The Party of No' (aka the Neo-Con-Job enslaved US Republican Party), Adobe Systems Inc. (for their poor installer and security consciousness), and the US federal government (for dumping grain on the Haitian market thereby destroying the native grown grain market). But the winner by a landslide was Toyota Motor Corp. for their remarkably deceitful hiding of deadly faults in millions of their cars over the course of several years. The deaths of many Toyota owning people can allegedly be attributed to Toyota's deceit, always an award winning strategy.

Let's review Toyota's deceit, how it was discovered and its ramifications.

Toyota faces criminal probe, lawmakers' ire

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A 2009 document obtained by congressional investigators that was released on Sunday showed Toyota's Washington D.C. staff trumpeting over $100 million in savings from convincing regulators to end their 2007 probe of sudden acceleration complaints with a relatively cheap floor mat recall.
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"Unfortunately, this document is very telling," said department spokeswoman Olivia Alair in an emailed statement.

Another Smoking Gun in the Toyota Saga

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Toyota apparently bargained with U.S. regulators to limit the scope and cost of a recall. The recent discovery may do as much harm to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as it does to the Japanese car company.
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"Wins for Toyota Safety Group," says the firm saved $100 million by convincing the NHTSA to limit an accelerator recall to 55,000 Lexus and Camry models.
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Gov't: 34 deaths alleged in Toyotas since 2000

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Complaints of deaths connected to sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles have surged in recent weeks, with the alleged death toll reaching 34 since 2000, according to new consumer data gathered by the government.
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Toyota Motor Corp. has recalled 8.5 million vehicles globally during the past four months because of problems with gas pedals, floor mats and brakes, threatening the safety and quality reputation of the world's No. 1 automaker.
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The new complaints reflect the heightened awareness of the massive recalls among the public and underscore a flurry of lawsuits on behalf of drivers alleging deaths and injuries in Toyota crashes.
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This is a particularly sad award announcement for me as I was a very happy owner of a 1991 Toyota Corolla. I might well still have it on the road if not for a deer having used it to verify The Law of Reflection. The deer ended up 25 feet away at an angle of reflection exactly equal to the angle of incidence. Both my car and the deer were sadly totaled during the experiment. I nearly bought another Toyota to replace it. These days I drive a Suburu, which turns out to be a vastly superior automobile. Thank you to my brother for finding the Suburu for me and not listening to my requests for another Toyota.

Seriously. The FOD award is a flippant exercise in satire. But I have to extend my sorrow to the friends and family of Toyota owners killed by Toyota's deliberate lunatic deceit. May justice be served. While we wait, imagine CEO Toyoda wearing his FOD Award: