US files charge against Toyota, $1.2B penalty

At the time, Toyota controlled 17.8 percent of the U.S. market. Gas prices were high, playing to Toyota's fuel-efficient small cars and hybrids. Detroit automakers were in serious financial trouble and had few fuel-efficient cars for sale.

There's the answer for the whole fiasco. Toyota had just taken over as the worlds #1 auto maker and was a threat to domestics in some peoples eyes. One serious and unfortunate accident happened but the cause was never proven. The media blew it out of proportion and people jumped on the bandwagon hoping for new vehicles or a quick buck.

It was funny to see how quickly the number of reported accelerator problems escalated. These "problem" vehicles had been on the roads for years with thousands of miles on them without problems until 2 accidents with similar causes occurred. Once the media caught wind the numbers climbed into the hundreds, then thousands, within weeks as people panicked.

Every manufacturer is going to have issues, nobody is perfect. Some unfortunately will get picked on more than others in attempts to drive them out of fair competition.

ironically when the US Govt. sues GM for 1.4 billion $$$ they will just be getting their own money back or have to loan them the money to pay the fine.

Now that's funny.