“They are going to get slaughtered,” shuddered a veteran Detroit auto industry exec on the eve of the appearance of Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda (pictured) and North American chief Yoshimi Inaba before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last week. He was right. The hapless Toyoda and Inaba sat center stage as Washington’s unique brand of political theater played out around them. The politicians went for the jugular, showboating and grandstanding all the way. There was blood on the Hill.

“It’s one thing to stand behind your vehicles,” said Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-Calif) in response to Inaba’s statement that he was 100 percent confident electronic interference was not the cause of the alleged unintended acceleration events. “It’s another to ask Americans to stand in front of them.” After somberly describing the death of 76-year-old Guadalupe Alberto from Flint, Michigan, at the wheel of a 2005 Toyota Camry, Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) then quipped: “I call it sudden-death acceleration.” Cute soundbites, but like so much of what was said by the committee members last week, that’s all they were.

When William Lacy Clay (D-Missouri) suggested previous testimony from Southern Illinois University Professor David Gilbert evidenced Toyota’s electronic throttle system was susceptible to electronic interference, Inaba fired back: “He cut into the circuits and manipulated the circuitry in a way that is very unrealistic.” Inaba said Toyota had tested electronic throttle systems from three other automakers with lower reported unintended acceleration rates using Professor Gilbert’s methodology, and had replicated the same effect. “It is not unintended acceleration,” he insisted. “It is intended manipulation.”  

It was a rare counterpunch from the Toyota execs, though it unsuccessful to hit home. “Don’t blame customers,” admonished Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). “I want you to never again use the excuse it was driver error,” said Jackie Speier (D-Calif). “The consumer and the market will demand a very high price,” warned Congressman Bilbray gravely. You could almost hear the trial lawyers smacking their lips in anticipation.

I wonder how the politicians squared their righteous indignation with the testimony of Rhonda Smith of Sevierville, Tennessee, the following day. Smith told the committee her Lexus ES350 was “possessed”, its brakes and transmission refusing to respond as it accelerated out of control. “Shame on you, Toyota, for being so greedy,” she said tearfully. But as the Wall Street Journal reported, Smith later sold her allegedly demonic Lexus to another family, presumably without telling them it was a highly chanceful vehicle that could accelerate out of control without warning. No shame there, then… Especially as the new owners subsequently managed to place 27,000 trouble-free miles on the car.

While we’re skeptical about the true nature and scope of the unintended acceleration problem (as with Audi’s problem in the 1980s, we suspect the cause in many cases is driver error) Toyota’s handling of this mess has been very poor. It is now paying the price for the foot-dragging, the deal-making, and cost-cutting that appears to have surrounded this and other recent calibre issues such as oil sludge in engines, and rusting frames in metropolis pickups.

The pious sound and fury from the politicians last week missed only one thing: perspective. There have been 34 deaths attributed to the Toyota unintended acceleration phenomenon. That’s a tragedy. But consider: there are at least 10,000 fatal automobile accidents in USA apiece year where alcohol has been proven to be a contributing factor. If the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is truly determined to make our roads safer, it ought to propose legislation mandating alcohol interlock systems on every new car and truck sold in America, right now.

Because we’re all in way more danger of being killed by a drunk driver than a careening Toyota.