Report: ABC News faked at least one part of runaway Toyota report
Late last month we wrote a lengthy post about problems with an ABC News report that purported to show a Toyota Avalon racing out of control without setting a diagnostic fault code. While we primarily focused on the technical side and analyzed whether the problem was realistic, the crew at Gawker took a hard look at the video in question and noticed something fishy.
It appears that an editor or producer at ABC felt they could pull a fast one on the audience and used some B-roll in the report showing the tachometer needle sweeping rapidly from near idle to over 6,000 rpm. That clip was injected at the precise moment when David Gilbert triggered his simulated sudden acceleration. As you can see from the screen cap above, the shot of the tachometer clearly shows the warning lights for the parking brake on, the doors open and the transmission indicator in park. The camera operator shot this segment separately so it could be used to illustrate a point in the report, and ABC claims that getting a steady shot during the test would've been both difficult and dangerous.
The B-roll shot doesn't indicate anything conclusive one way or the other about the validity of the test and certainly doesn't stand as proof of anything being rigged. However, the lack of transparency by ABC and Mr. Gilbert regarding the specific procedure doesn't add to the credibility of either the claims or the report, and the lack of clarity by Toyota in its response to Gilbert's assertions doesn't do the automaker any favors, either.
[Source: Gawker]
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Reader Comments (Page 8 of 8)
summerchaser 7:27AM (3/09/2010)
IT unreal....... This is politics against the leading automaker......... the one who got the bulk of the clucker monies......cause everyone knew its a great vehicle and it was a great savings to get their hands on........ and the automaker that has pissed off.... the unions in the usa.......
Any one whom owns a toyota....... knows the truth....... its a well made vehicle......
shame on you ABC......... cablevision DONT PAY THEM........ WHO NEEDS THEM.... LET THEM PAY THEIR CEO.......... THE BIG BUCKS......
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Brenda 7:46AM (3/09/2010)
I have never seen any other recall (remember Pinto?) that has gotten as much negative coverage as this, including the "hearings" at the capital. Of course, it is due to Toyota selling many more cars than American cars (government motors) and not being unionized, and as Obama is in the unions pockets, this is what we are seeing. We have bought nothing but Honda and Toyota since 1982 and have loved them.....reliability, quality, good mileage.....all the things the American cars gave up when the unions got too big and asked for too much. If the economy weren't so bad right now, I would buy a new Toyota in a heartbeat to replace our 04 Camry, which, by the way has never had a problem. But since I believe the economy will collapse in the next year or two (deliberately by Obama), we don't want to have any debt. You couldn't GIVE me a GM car......I wouldn't take it!!
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digit93 7:47AM (3/09/2010)
This is completely consistent with the relentless witch hunt that has been conducted for the past two months against Toyota. The fact is, there are millions of Toyotas on the road and have been for almost 50 years. They typically last well past 200,000 miles with no problems. I know of no one who has ever had a bad Toyota....no one. This is an attempt to knock the "King of the Mountain" off the top. Interesting to note that the congressional hearings had no testimony from any engineers or mechanics that had actually examined the dozen or so cars in questions. If they had, we would have heard things like, "It is impossible to pull the parking brake and NOT have the car stop, that is a separate mechanism from the accelerator. Your tires would've shredded, but the car would stop.", or "We could find no evidence that there is anything wrong with this vehicle." No. Instead, we were treated to emotional testimony from "victims" and from
experts paid by litigators (that means the lawyers hoping to cash in on a class action suit.) It was and remains a ridiculous smear campaign.
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Charlie Burch 8:05AM (3/09/2010)
Let me see, who has lied more to me and the general public, ABC or Toyota? ABC wins hands down.
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Avinash machado 9:41AM (3/09/2010)
It is really tiresome to see that so many are blaming this on Obama.
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