Last month, Toyota hastily settled an Unintended Acceleration lawsuit – hours after an Oklahoma jury determined that the automaker acted with “reckless disregard,” and delivered a $3 million verdict to the plaintiffs – but before the jury could determine punitive damages. What did the jury hear that constituted such a gross neglect of Toyota’s due care obligations? The testimony of two plaintiff’s experts in software design and the design process gives some eye-popping clues. After reviewing Toyota’s software engineering process and the source code for the 2005 Toyota Camry, both concluded that the system was defective and dangerous, riddled with bugs and gaps in its failsafes that led to the root cause of the crash.
That’s a little like saying that you’d rather be shot in the head than burned alive. Sure, I won’t argue against it, but I’ve got a better suggestion: How about neither?
When I speak about what I intend to do (that being avoiding being a passenger in a Toyota vehicle henceforth) “I have no idea what I’m talking about”?
Huh. Next you’ll be telling me I don’t know what my name is or where I live.
Or perhaps you meant that my life-long 20+ year career as a software developer had left me unable to assess the development failures outlined in this article.
The real funny part is how you think other car manufacturers are any better, having never heard a thing about their software! Yet one article can make you avoid one of the safest car manufacturers on earth because you think you know something.
Meanwhile, you don’t know your own name or where you live.
You’re putting words in my mouth: I’ve never said any such thing. I’ve spoken exclusively about Toyota and their software development practices, which is what this thread is about. I’ve literally not mentioned any other manufacturer at any point, let alone expressed the opinion that any of them “are any better” - although now that you mention it I’d frankly be very hard pressed to see how any of them could possibly be much worse than what is described here. That’d be difficult to do while still having your code even compile.
I’ve see a lot of code over the years, written in numerous languages and running on a very wide variety of hardware. Some of it was… Terrible. I’ve yet to see anything anywhere that had a global shared state space of 10000 distinct variables. That’s beyond insanity.
That’s a little like saying that you’d rather be shot in the head than burned alive. Sure, I won’t argue against it, but I’ve got a better suggestion: How about neither?
Why not both?
Tesla is number 1 for deaths AND accidents. Toyota is not in the top 5 for either.
https://www.iseecars.com/most-dangerous-cars-study#v=2024
https://smartfinancial.com/car-brands-with-most-accidents
Sure, and how does that excuse Toyota’s sloppy coding practices? Look buddy, if you want to drive in one of their vehicles, I’m not going to stop you.
What vehicle do you drive?
I don’t.
Oh I see, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Got it.
When I speak about what I intend to do (that being avoiding being a passenger in a Toyota vehicle henceforth) “I have no idea what I’m talking about”?
Huh. Next you’ll be telling me I don’t know what my name is or where I live.
Or perhaps you meant that my life-long 20+ year career as a software developer had left me unable to assess the development failures outlined in this article.
Wow. Thanks.
The real funny part is how you think other car manufacturers are any better, having never heard a thing about their software! Yet one article can make you avoid one of the safest car manufacturers on earth because you think you know something.
Meanwhile, you don’t know your own name or where you live.
You’re putting words in my mouth: I’ve never said any such thing. I’ve spoken exclusively about Toyota and their software development practices, which is what this thread is about. I’ve literally not mentioned any other manufacturer at any point, let alone expressed the opinion that any of them “are any better” - although now that you mention it I’d frankly be very hard pressed to see how any of them could possibly be much worse than what is described here. That’d be difficult to do while still having your code even compile.
I’ve see a lot of code over the years, written in numerous languages and running on a very wide variety of hardware. Some of it was… Terrible. I’ve yet to see anything anywhere that had a global shared state space of 10000 distinct variables. That’s beyond insanity.