Activist icon laments Toyota's easy ride in Japan

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gvrXaOlOziPi4mKaDZBkvhAB3m0wD9FF6KE80

By YURI KAGEYAMA (AP) – 16 hours ago

KAMAKURA, Japan — Japan's most famous consumer activist is watching the safety problems enveloping Toyota with a sense of frustration.

For decades, Fumio Matsuda took on the country's powerful carmakers, bringing his engineering expertise to landmark court battles that won damages for consumers and led companies to make their vehicles safer.

Yet his success has yet to inspire a new generation of Japanese consumer advocates, and few have been willing to stand up to Toyota Motor Corp. in courts of law or public opinion.

In the U.S., for example, the automaker has been hit with more than 200 lawsuits since it began recalling millions of vehicles worldwide last year for everything from defective gas pedals to faulty floor mats suspected of being linked to deadly highway crashes.

The number of such lawsuits in Japan: zero.

The contrast stems largely from the fact that the sticky pedals and faulty floor mats that forced recalls in the U.S. haven't afflicted Toyota models in Japan. However, the Prius and other Toyota hybrid cars have been recalled in Japan for a braking software glitch; there have been no high-profile fatalities or injuries.

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