89 Dead In The NHTSA Complaint Database? It's A Sham

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

This week, NHTSA came out and said that after a recount of their complaints database, they found 89 dead bodies in their computers, allegedly killed by evil runaway Toyotas. The MSM ate it up. If it bleeds, it leads. Even if it smells. In this article, we will show you the secrets of the incredible killing machine at NHTSA.

Of course it was one of those devilish coincidences that on the same day the House Energy And Commerce Committee convened and passed an amended version of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act. The act, if approved, gives sweeping powers to NHTSA. Maximum fines to automakers rise from $16.4m to 200m. Black boxes become mandatory in all new cars. Funding for NHTSA is doubled to $280m over 3 years. Drivers will pay a “vehicle safety user fee.” As far as the NHTSA is concerned, the 89 people in their computer died for a good cause: The advancement of the NHTSA. But did they really die?

It is an open secret that the NHTSA database is an invitation to fraud. There is no fact checking. Anybody can file on-line complaints at NHTSA without a VIN number. Anybody can file any bogus report with any number of deaths. It will stay in the database and will be counted.

For a closer look, I downloaded the complete NHTSA complaint database to my computer, all 400 Megabytes of them. With the help of Microsoft Access, I pulled all records for incidents with Toyotas since the year 2000, and where the culprit was “VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL.” I counted the deaths: 5727 complaints yielded 100 deaths in 78 cases. Didn’t the NHTSA say 89? Oh well, maybe the NHTSA overlooked some. They had made mistakes before. One third of the alleged deaths occurred in a vehicle with no reported VIN number.

I started looking at the reports.

First report, 4 dead, no VIN. Description: “LEICESTER, MASS. — POLICE SAY IT APPEARS THE FOUR TEENAGERS WHO WERE KILLED IN A CAR CRASH IN LEICESTER WERE WEARING THEIR SEAT BELTS, AS WAS THE LONE SURVIVOR. LEICESTER POLICE CHIEF JIM HURLEY SAYS NEITHER ALCOHOL NOR DRUGS WAS A FACTOR IN THE CRASH.” Unintended acceleration?

Next one, no VIN, 3 dead, allegedly: “THREE PEOPLE WERE KILLED WHEN A CAR LOST CONTROL IN WHITTIER AND SLAMMED INTO A TREE. … IT WAS NOT CLEAR WHAT CAUSED THE CRASH, BUT DRIVERS OFTEN COME DOWN THE HILL AT DANGEROUSLY HIGH SPEEDS, SALAZAR SAID.” Unintended acceleration?

Next one, no VIN. 2 dead, allegedly. Happened May 31,2003. Reported to NHTSA 7 years later on April 1, 2010: “1994 TOYOTA CAMRY. CONSUMER STATES DISCONTENT REGARDING A FATAL ACCIDENT WITH THIS VEHICLE AND WONDERS IF DEFECTS WERE THE CAUSE. THE CONSUMER LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AND IT RAN OFF THE ROADWAY AND STRUCK A REINFORCED WALL.” Unintended acceleration?

Next one, no VIN, 2 dead, allegedly. Happened July 14, 2007. Reported to NHTSA February 16, 2010: “ON JULY 14, 2007 MY PARENTS WERE INVOLVLED IN A SINGLE-CAR CRASH IN THE RESIDENTIAL AREA OF NEW BLOOMFIELD, MO. MY 84-YEAR-OLD FATHER WAS DRIVING A 2004 TOYOTA AVALON, SUDDENLY LEFT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROADWAY, FLIPPED THE VEHICLE, AND LANDED UPSIDE DOWN, BACK ON THE PAVEMENT. MY 79-YEAR-OLD MOTHER WAS KILLED INSTANTLY FROM HEAD TRAUMA, AND MY FATHER PASSED AWAY FROM INJURIES SUSTAINED IN THE ACCIDENT 7 WEEKS LATER. THE AUTHORITIES COULD NOT DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT, AND MY FATHER COULD NOT REMEMBER ANY DETAILS … WE HAVE BEEN VEXED BY THE WHOLE INCIDENT, AND IT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME TO REQUEST HAVING THE AVALON INSPECTED (HIGHLY RATED VEHICLE AND ALL…), UNTIL ALL THE RECENT MEDIA OF OTHER DEATHS INVOLVING TOYOTA VECHICLES. I DO NOT HAVE THE VIN # AVAILABLE PRESENTLY, BUT CAN OBTAIN IT.” Unintended acceleration?

Next one, no VIN, 2 dead, allegedly. Happened Nov. 29, 2007. Reported to NHTSA February 16, 2010: “THE CONSUMERS FRIEND AND AN ACQUAINTANCE WERE INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT. ACCORDING TO THE REPORT, THE CONSUMER’S FRIEND PULLED OUT IN FRONT OF A TRUCK. THE CONSUMER DISAGREED WITH THE THEORY THAT HER FRIEND WOULD HAVE JUST PULLED OUT IN FRONT OF A TRUCK. THE CONSUMER BELIEVED HER FRIEND MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED SOME TYPE OF MECHANICAL PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE. WHEN THE CONSUMER ASKED HAD THE VEHICLE BEEN INSPECTED, SHE WAS TOLD THAT WAS NOT AN ISSUE. “Unintended acceleration?

This database has everything, including admissions of drunk driving (1 dead) and manslaughter:

“ON 10/17/09 AT ABOUT 5:40 PM, AFTER DRINKING A VODKA WITH ICE, MY HUSBAND AND I WENT TO DINNER IN OUR 2005 LS430 LEXUS. WE INTENDED TO GO TO DINNER A RELATIVELY SHORT DISTANCE AWAY. I TURNED ON MILITARY TRAIL, PROCEEDED TO THE LEFT LANE TRAVELING SOUTHBOUND TOWARDS NORTHLAKE BLVD, PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA. AS I APPROACHED A TRAFFIC LIGHT MY LEXUS UNEXPECTEDLY SPED UP. I TRIED TO APPLY THE BRAKE. THERE WERE CARS STOPPED IN FRONT OF ME AT THE RED LIGHT. DESPITE MY EFFORTS MY CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE. I TOOK EVASIVE MANEUVERS TO AVOID THE STOPPED VEHICLES IN FRONT OF ME. THE LEFT TIRES OF MY LEXUS WENT UP ON THE CENTER MEDIAN AND MY CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE THROUGH THE INTERSECTION. I MISSED THE VEHICLES STOPPED AT THE TRAFFIC LIGHT AND TRAVELLING THROUGH THE INTERSECTION. MY CAR WOULD NOT STOP ACCELERATING. I STRUCK A CORVETTE STOPPED IN THE LEFT NORTHBOUND LANE OF MILITARY TRAIL. AFTER STRIKING THE CORVETTE, I CONTINUED THROUGH THE SOUTHBOUND LANES UNTIL I INTENTIONALLY DROVE MY CAR INTO A FIRE HYDRANT IN ORDER TO STOP AND AVOID STRIKING GAS PUMPS AT A SHELL STATION. MY HUSBAND AND I WERE INJURED IN THIS CRASH. THE DRIVER OF THE CORVETTE PASSED AWAY. MY LEXUS IS STILL IN POLICE CUSTODY. NO REPAIRS HAVE BEEN MADE AT THIS TIME. I WAS CHARGED WITH DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE (MANSLAUGHTER), AND 3 OTHER CHARGES. I AM VIGOROUSLY FIGHTING THOSE CHARGES AS I WAS NOT IMPAIRED AND, AS EVIDENCED BY MY EVASIVE MANEUVERS, HAD CONTROL OF MY CAR. BUT FOR THE SUDDEN ACCELERATION, THIS ACCIDENT AND DEATH WOULD HAVE NOT OCCURRED. IN NOV. 2008, MY HUSBAND WAS DRIVING THE SAME LEXUS AND AS HE PULLED INTO OUR GARAGE THE CAR WOULD NOT STOP AND HIT CABINETS IN OUR GARAGE. LOOKING BACK AND COMPARING WHAT HAPPENED IN MY ACCIDENT ON 10/17/09 IT IS CLEAR THAT MY HUSBANDS EARLIER ACCIDENT WAS THE RESULT OF SOME SORT OF MALFUNCTION OF OUR LEXUS ACCELERATOR SYSTEM. NO REPAIRS WERE MADE TO THE VEHICLE AT THAT TIME.”

In that case, the driver was found with a blood alcohol level of .103. A search warrant was issued for the Sensing and Diagnostic Module of the Lexus. The data recorder found the vehicle “accelerating with no braking prior to crash and a speed of 49 mph at crash.” Unintended acceleration? Not according to court and police, but it counts for the NHTSA as one dead.

My head started to shake so hard, it did hurt. I gave up further analysis of this database. It is a sham. In many of the cases in that database unintended acceleration isn’t even alleged. Nevertheless, the cases are filed under “VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL” and bodies are counted. The ones that allege unintended acceleration are not investigated, but counted. There are many duplicates, upping the count, even triplicates: One ES350 crashes three times on the same day, killing 2 people each, bringing the carnage to six dead. People are charged with DUI and manslaughter, but their victim counts. Police reports give causes for accidents such as “improper lane change” and say that there were no car defects. But the bodies count against Toyota.

Even without outright fraud, which this database invites, it is a collection of “the car made me do it” after people ran red lights, lost control when speeding, or were drunk. The real cases have documents, police reports etc. with them. As in the case of the drunk Lexus driver, the case could be quickly closed. But it is not. The ones without documents (such as the one with 4 deaths) should be thrown out immediately for lack of evidence. But they are not.

The people who run this database don’t need a $280m budget. They need a new job. Like counting the muskox population of Nome, Alaska. If they mess that up, there will be a career-limiting outcry from PETA to the Sierra Club. But their work on that collection of crooks and liars will remain unpunished.

What I don’t understand is that the MSM didn’t dig deeper into that morass. Never was investigative journalism easier. 100 people dead. Hundreds of millions of dollars involved. And the research can be done without getting one’s behind out of the chair in front of the computer. With that, I hand you over to our frequent commentator Carquestions who looked a bit deeper into that database.

PS: If you have nothing better to do, a file with the alleged dead since 2000 can be downloaded here in easy Excel format. For further investigation, go to the NHTSA complaint database and input the ODINO for the record you want to research. Do not shake your head violently, serious trauma may occur.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 43 comments
  • Robert.Walter Robert.Walter on May 31, 2010

    "89 Dead In The NHTSA Complaint Database!" Wow, the database sounds like an even more dangerous place to be than a run-away Toyota! ;oD

  • Angainor Angainor on Jun 01, 2010

    The NHTSA Complaint Database: Brought to you by the very same people that will soon be managing your health care. And your financial system. And your energy industry.

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
Next