The dangerous problem of cars accelerating without a driver’s input has put Toyota in the headlines – and brought the car maker’s executives to congressional hearings. But an NPR News Investigation by Robert Benincasa found that unintended acceleration is not limited to Toyota. It is actually a problem found throughout the auto industry.
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Secretive corporate culture contributed to Toyota’s woes
February 11th, 2010 
Beth A report by Kate Linebaugh, Dionne Searcey and Norihiko Shirouzu of The Wall Street Journal reveals that a “secretive corporate culture” at Toyota kept the company from reporting and addressing safety issues in a timely manner with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Flying Cheap
February 9th, 2010 Beth “One year after the deadly airline crash of Continental 3407 in Buffalo, NY, FRONTLINE investigates the accident and discovers a dramatically changed airline industry, where regional carriers now account for half of the nation’s daily departures.” The program was co-produced by the Investigative Reporting Workshop. Since 2002, the last six fatal commercial airline accidents have [...]
Safety inspectors nearly hit by train during Metro inspection
January 7th, 2010 Beth In The Washington Post’s continuing investigative series on lapses in subway safety, the paper reported that independent safety inspectors — banned from Metro tracks until a Post exposé in November — returned to the rails in December to assess whether the transit agency was following rules meant to protect its own workers.
$11 million in FAA funds budgeted for unnecessary airstrip
September 29th, 2009 Beth A report by Dave Tobin of The Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) shows how the Federal Aviation Administration plans to spend $11 million on a rural airstrip.
Houston’s roads are riddled with unisured drivers
August 11th, 2009 Beth KHOU-Houston looked at data on ticketed drivers and found offenders repeatedly cited for failing to have insurance.
Tugboat apprentice pilots, accidents rise
July 9th, 2009 Beth The Associated Press reviewed Coast Guard records and discovered more and more tugboat captains in the United States have less than one year of piloting experience.
Analysis shows Boeing 737 cockpit alarm often ignored by pilots
April 8th, 2009 Beth An “analysis of NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) has revealed that pilots flying Boeing 737s, the world’s most widely deployed passenger aircraft, have frequently been ignoring an onboard alarm horn designed to warn of a critical loss of pressure, and thus a lack of oxygen, in the cockpit,” reports Michael Fabey for Travel Weekly.
Emergency responses fall short at Denver airport
March 17th, 2009 Meganm Tony Kovaleski exposed the critical problems with Denver’s ambulance response to a crash in December 2008, in the KMHG investigative report “33 Minutes to 34 Right: Denver’s Broken Ambulance System.” A year-long investigation by Kovaleski, producers Tom Burke and Arthur Kane and photojournalist Jason Foster uncovered serious emergency response issues in Denver, at Denver International [...]
Documents detail complaints that FDA managers are too lenient with industry
January 13th, 2009 admin Internal Food and Drug Administration documents indicate that an FDA official overruled agency scientists and approved the sale of an imaging device for breast cancer after receiving a phone call from a Connecticut congressman. The legislator’s call and its effect on what is supposed to be a science-based approval process is only one of many [...]
