The "Slow Reveals" Need To Stop

As a “glass-half-empty” kind of guy, I would need a minute to think about the most fascinating story I’ve ever written, but could easily tell you about the most infuriating. That dubious honor goes to the Facebook launch campaign for the 2012 Ford Explorer.

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Toyota Blasts Brazilian Blogger

The Brazilian autoblogosphere is up in arms because of an alleged censoring attempt by Toyota do Brasil. A month after the Brazilian blog Notícias Automotivas had run a piece on the upcoming Toyota Corolla S, they received a letter from Toyota do Brasil’s Legal Department. The Corolla S looks like not much more than a customized Corolla with red stitching on faux racing seats. The letter, dated April 29, 2011, looks scary.

We have received what we believe is a faithful translation of the letter from Brazilian Portuguese Legalese to English. The letter demands, within 24 hours of receipt, the takedown of the whole story, plus something unheard of:

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  • EBFlex Ridiculous. “Insatiable demand for these golf carts yet the government needs to waste tax money to support them. What a boondoggle
  • EBFlex Very effective headlights. Some tech is fine. Seatbelts, laminated glass, etc. But all this crap like traction control, back up cameras, etc are ridiculous. Tech that masks someone’s poor driving skills is tech that should NOT be mandated.
  • Daniel There are several issues with autonomous cars. First, with the race the get there first, the coding isn't very complete. When the NTSB showed the coding and how that one car hit the lady crossing the road in the storm, the level of computation was very simple and too low. Basically, I do not trust the companies to develop a good set of programs. Secondly, the human mind is so very much more powerful and observant than what the computers are actually looking at, Lastly, the lawsuits will put the companies out of business. Once an autonomous car hits and kills someone, it will be the company's fault--they programmed it.
  • FreedMike Can we mandate tech that makes Subarus move the f**k out of the fast lane?
  • AZFelix Athenian style ostracism where every county allows people to post egregious driver behavior videos on a public forum and then allow registered citizens to vote to revoke the "winner's" license for one year. Counties with large populations can ostracize one driver per 100,000 residents.