It looks as though this giant may be on the edge of a potential class-action lawsuit. Both World News, and Nightline will be airing stories tonight discussing the new found reasoning behind the throttle-stick issue.

For my loyal readers I'm sure you have noticed I'm not a huge Toyota fan. While some swear by this brand, I have always questioned their strategy and ethics. Not to mention I don't care for bland and unoriginal design, but that's just my opinion.

I'll pass on the Corolla's utilitarian "A to B" design, or the Tundra's obese looks with cam-breaking reputation. I do like the Lexus IS, and the new LFA supercar. The FJ isn't bad, but turned me off after hearing of it's low-teens MPG average.

Picture of claimed throttle sticking issue

Fast forward to 2009 where a throttle issue was brought to surface on several Toyota models. Toyota finally took action after an off duty California Highway Patrol officer and 3 members of his family died. They were in Santee on Rte 125 when the car revved uncontrollably taking the car to over 120mph. The vehicle hit an SUV and went over an embankment before bursting into flames, killing all 4 occupants.

More have died and not due to a floor mat jamming the gas pedal. 4 people outside of Dallas died after their throttle stuck causing them to crash upside down in a pond. What was shocking was the fact that the floor mats were found in the vehicle's trunk. A practice most owners were informed to do while waiting for replacements.

These and more than 60 other new cases in the past year have prompted this incident to be further investigated. How could this happen from a company that everyone associates with safety and reliability? Could it be the drop in quality due in part to their race to overtake the number one global manufacturer thrown from General Motors? That happened a few years back, but was short lived since VW's merger with Porsche.

For more information on Toyota's sticking throttle issue, visit: ABC News story

Drive Safe, Lance

It felt like I was just in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, but last time was for SEMA in October. The past several years I have received invites to attend the international Consumer Electronics Show (aka CES). Neither I, nor my producer Matt Gray had ever been, so we figured why not? Four of us went, so driving made more logical sense.

5 short hours and 313 miles later, we were at the front door of my Vegas place. It's my home away from home, and a getaway from the rat-race of SoCal. Every time is different depending on the reason for visit. This was one of exploring a new show at a very familiar place, the Las Vegas Convention Center. Boasting 3,200,000 square feet, this makes it one of the largest convention centers in the world!

We decided to play on the whole electronics theme by covering the show via Matt's iPhone. This really put into perspective how far handhold electronics have come in the last ten years alone. We checked several latest and greatest items. The top of the list was infrared for mainstream and 3D televisions.

Yes it's 2010, and while we don't have flying cars, we do have plenty of other electronic gadgets once considered fiction. We review a few of these items first-hand. Take a few minutes and check out our video below. It's a brief insight to the world of electronics.

Happy Motoring, Lance