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 1 of 8)
DJ 10:04AM (3/08/2010)
*really!?!*
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Sean 11:02AM (3/08/2010)
It looks like the big check from Toyota just arrived to Autoblog. It is kind of difficult to film both the tach and the driver so they ah..have to do that...it was pretty obvious that is what happens when the car...um..accelerates. It is..um...Infotainment.
Way to go Autoblog!! Run Toyota into the ground until you get the big check and then do a heel turn when the money shows up in your mailbox. Somebody has to keep the lights on right?
Luis 11:11AM (3/08/2010)
@Sean: Really? You really think, with all the negativity towards Toyota on this board from both the writers and commenters that your accusation carries any weight?
nrb 11:24AM (3/08/2010)
I partially agree with Sean. This is hardly a big deal. It's production.
What is a big deal is that they don't bother to explain this mysterious "short" that can cause the car to accelerate out of control.
Randy 11:31AM (3/08/2010)
You say "Really!?" as if this were a surprise!
How on earth is ABC going to re-enact a problem in 8 million Toyotas that kills people when TOYOTA can't even figure it out or duplicate it!
Grain of Salt People!
Sean 12:26PM (3/08/2010)
@Othersean
ABC needs ratings just as much as autoblog needs hits, probably moreso. Frankly, I have an easier time believing ABC faked something to make it more dramatic than I do believing autoblog tossed its integrity out the window at the first sign of a check.
i-rate 12:30PM (3/08/2010)
In no way does this inoculate Toyota against what amounts to a massive failure on their part to address their faulty engineering. If anything, Gilbert's findings illustrates how Toyota can coverup their shoddy craftsmanship with electronics that do not record the critical failures of the mechanicals.
So, who to trust? An independent academic of automotive technologies, or a group funded, at least in part, by Toyota?
Invisible 12:38PM (3/08/2010)
This so called University gets lots of funding from Government Motors. They even employ Government Motors engineers.
Let' review, if Government Motors can rig a Toyota with external hardware, reprogram the software, rewire the Toyota and invite the All Barrack Channel(ABC) to show it........
hummmmm.
naggs 1:18PM (3/08/2010)
what do you expect
its Disney news
RickyBobby 1:41PM (3/08/2010)
This is a non-sensical post. Taking a cutaway shot does nothing to debunk the ABC story, and this post is embarassingly defensive of Toyota.
seneca627 8:42PM (3/08/2010)
They couldn't have used 2 cameras and showed a split screen? Ahh....morons.
Roy 9:27PM (3/08/2010)
NO SUPPRIZE.THEY HAVE BEEN LYING ABOUT OBAMA FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS NOW.TELLING PEOPLE HOW GREAT HE IS WHEN ALL HE IS,IS ANOTHER POLITICIAN WHO DON'T KNOW WHEN TO TELL THE TRUTH,AND PUSH HIS OWN AGENDA DOWN OUR THROATS.
eyenowhatuwant 7:38PM (3/10/2010)
This is getting out of hand! There are many fail safes involved to prevent unintended acceleration and toyotas are one of the safetest autos around. there quality is some of the best built products around, besides if you have to use and hook up a computer and splice wires and such to prove you can make it accelerate(which no one can do and want to) you have too much time on your hands! 80% from the past 20 years are still around not because they build bad cars.
GB 10:34PM (3/08/2010)
Not suprising really, after all, the major networks are in the back pocket of the current administration. This makes perfect sense, since we were force fed the obligation of paying a bailout to GM and Chrysler, with Toyota being their largest competitor. This entire recall farce was orchestrated by the government in order to attempt to bring profitability to two dinosaurs of the auto industry...
B Bonds 7:15AM (3/09/2010)
Don't take network news too seriously. They are in the tank for this government and with the government owning GM and Chrysler, of course they are trying to pile on Toyota. Honda should look out next.
Marknn 10:06AM (3/08/2010)
You have to be out of your mind to buy a Toyota/Lexus product..
Even GM suffered from Toyota's lack of quality/reliability..It's Cobalt steering unit is made by Toyota !!!
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gerrrg 10:47AM (3/08/2010)
Your brain was made by Yugo.
MannyS2K 11:11AM (3/09/2010)
Don't defame Yugo.
MachinaDC5 10:06AM (3/08/2010)
Of everything wrong with that report, this is a little like pointing out inconsistencies in Top Gear, rather than the actual news report.
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AMcA 10:07AM (3/08/2010)
Toyota PR is working overtime, picking meaningless nits.
The ABC report was totally up front: we're wiring the car to accelerate. And the whole point of that demonstration was highly legit - they showed that if there's a sudden acceleration problem, it's not going to register on the car's computer system such that we could diagnose it later.
Toyota hasn't refuted that point. It's still true: a sudden acceleration isn't going to register on the car's computer, so it's hard to say that no, it's definitely not happening.
ABC didn't push this any further than that. Autoblog: you guys need to stop lapping up Toyota PR when all they're feeding you is meaningless nit=picking.
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