The really sad thing about all this is that we will probably never know the real cause. Lawyers on both sides will supress the accurate data and promote speculation that supports thier argument. Government posturing, will be just that as they really don't care about a solution, only milking the problem as long as possible for publicity. It will all end up with Toyota's insurance company writing a bunch of checks to lawyers and politicians, which really only spreads the paying out amoungst us all. I never did hear a complete technical cause of the Firestone/Ford tire issue of some years ago, maybe I missed it.