Driver error?

It was quite a circus, back in February, as members of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform lambasted Toyota president Akio Toyoda for his company's supposed foot-dragging over 34 fatal crashes involving the firm's vehicles.

"In pre-prepared remarks, ... Toyoda repeatedly apologized for defects in cars that may have contributed to 34 fatal crashes," Car and Driver magazine reported. "With pre-prepared outrage, members of the committee repeatedly said Toyota is not apologizing enough. More apologies were made and more demands for apologies followed."

Of course, "In a full day of witless political theater and pointless public shaming, no specifics were given on the exact statistical danger faced by current Toyota owners, leaving them no better informed than they were on Tuesday," the magazine concluded.

Toyota was left reeling after 7.7 million vehicle recalls and a record $16.4 million fine for responding too slowly eroded its market share in the United States. The company's largest recalls stemmed from unintended acceleration. As of late March the firm had doubled -- to 1,000 -- the number of employees devoted to quality control, and created a 100-person team devoted to incorporating customer feedback into vehicle development.

Well, guess what?

USA Today reported Wednesday that, "Driver error, not the vehicle, appears to be the cause of a number of Toyota unintended acceleration cases. A government analysis of vehicle data has found people were mashing the gas pedal and not the brake at the time, according to a person with knowledge of the data who did not want to be identified. ..."

The newspaper reports electronic data recorders on some Toyota vehicles are providing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with definitive information about driver error in some otherwise unexplained incidents.

It appears the analysis will not entirely clear Toyota. "The automaker agrees it had a problem with ill-fitting floor mats that could trap poorly designed gas pedals. It also has acknowledged that gas pedals in some vehicles can stick open," the newspaper goes on.

This isn't the first time. Pedal misapplication was ultimately found to be the cause for acceleration complaints that plagued the 1978-86 Audi 5000 sedan, nearly driving Audi out of the U.S. market.

Of course government should take action -- preferably hauling violators into real courtrooms, where some standards of evidence apply -- when manufacturers show reckless disregard for lives and safety. But when congressmen rush to judgment to get some "face time" on the evening news, and turn out to have done unjustified financial harm because they didn't wait till the evidence was in, how do they propose to make whole these private firms?

Will they, like Emily Litella, simply say "Never mind"?