By MarketWatch
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- An accident here the other day claimed the lives of four women when their car slammed into a tree.
But since they were riding in a 2000 Pontiac Bonneville instead of a 2010 Toyota Prius these women didn't rate the top slot on any national newscast -- or much mention on any newscast at all -- nor send people tweeting away in outrage nor stoke Internet chat room furor.
No, all of the attention and hype in the last 24 hours has been focused on one guy who says his Prius accelerator got stuck on a California freeway and who had to be talked down from his 90-mile-per-hour express commute by California Highway Patrol officers who shadowed him in the fast lane. Read more on the runaway Toyota Prius.
No one was hurt. But we have a new instant celebrity. When what we really need is to put the brakes on out-of-whack priorities.
Yes, there have been several systemic problems with Toyota Motor Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!tm/quotes/nls/tm (TM 69.97, +0.19, +0.27%) cars of late. And we should take seriously any new reports of potential life-endangering foul ups. But magnifying beyond all reasonable proportion one isolated incident isn't going to help resolve current safety concerns that have arisen with a number of automakers.
This, though, has become the American Way, ever since O.J. meandered down a California freeway in his Ford Bronco. The cable networks now salivate over any sort of highway chase or high-speed thriller, hoping they have the next classic road drama -- and, though they won't admit it, hoping even harder it is the next road disaster -- live and in person.
Well, this wasn't it. But we're still forced to endure the media hype as if it was. Say, whatever happened to the Balloon Boy?
We know what happened to Jacquelion Hampton, 35, Latoya Cathina, 28, Alicia Landon, 28 and Toccara Jones, 25, all residents of Chicago's South Side. They died in a car crash of unknown causes, returning home from a birthday celebration for Cathina on Saturday night, the Chicago Sun Times reported. Police continue their investigation.
As the circus grows around every little Toyota engine burp, turn a thought to those four women. It'll help you keep your perspective on true tragedy.
-- Steve Kerch, assistant managing editor
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Jon Friedman
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