Toyota Crashes Into Synagogue
Queens man blames brakes; yeah, that must be it
February 09, 2010
The wrecked Toyota.(Daily News.)
A man named Gerald Silver accidentally crashed his car into a Queens synagogue Monday. (Silver and wife suffered no serious injuries, fortunately.) Here’s the twist: the car was a Toyota Camry. Yes, Toyota, as in the legendary Japanese car manufacturer that recently recalled a whole bunch of Priuses (Prii?) due to braking problems. In fact, Silver thinks Toyota is at fault: “The car just speeded up unbelievably,” he said. “I attempted to brake it and it just kept getting faster and faster.” He added: “It’s quite obvious—I blame Toyota.”
So is the Camry subject to braking problems, too? Of course, it’s possible that Silver accidentally hit the accelerator when he thought he was braking, but that seems unlikely: drivers, like wine, only get better with age, and so it seems improbable that an 86-year-old gentleman like Silver could make such an error.
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.
