Runaway Prius hits 90 mph before stopping with aid of CHP - latimes.com

I read an article today on LA Times website Runaway Prius hits 90 mph before stopping with aid of CHP - latimes.com about another Toyota car having its accelorator stuck. Toyota reported that they did not know at the time they were questioned if this guy brought his car in for the recall service, as the Prius was part of the recall.

Apparently there were 56 fatalities stemming from this malfuntion since 2004. Ironic that we are only starting to hear of this issue only now in mainstream media. I appreciate that Toyota has admitted their error in letting the issue drag on far too long before starting the recalls. But that is a big error.

This reminds me that technology is subject to wear and tear and malfunction. Recently I had a client who I have had on my server for several years. I developed their website. They emailed to inform me that one of the features of the website was not working. I spent about 15 minutes investigating what may have gone wrong and if I could fix the issue within a short time frame. I realized that the best course of action would be to rebuild that feature as it could not be easily fixed. I mentioned that this was a billable issue and my client was quite annoyed with having to pay to have this fixed, years after the site was built.

I used the analogy of a normal car part needing to be fixed or replaced because of wear and tear. I asked my client if they would be willing to pay for this or would want this fixed for free.

Websites are conditioned to wear and tear. Database structures are subject to constant activity. This activity, from uploading and deleting, for example, causes for a better use of the term: wear and tear. It is subject to eventual possible malfunction.