February 3, 2030— The Japanese government said Wednesday that it had ordered ToyotaFord to investigate a possible emotional defect in its newest FreeWheeler Coupe model after receiving several reports of the intelligent cars running away from their owners.
The action marked another blow for the automaker, which is already embroiled in a massive recall of the rest of its intelligent-car line.
Although the defects have resulted in no injuries or deaths, FreeWheeler owners have complained that they have awakened to find their self-driving vehicles gone from their driveways and garages, said Roko Lato, a transport ministry official.
In one incident in July 2029 in Japan, a man whose FreeWheeler ran away rented an identical model, only to wake up and find the rental car gone as well.
“It appears these cars have a real problem with authority,” Lato said.
In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has logged at least 136 complaints about the wanderlust of the 2030 FreeWheeler. Many are from drivers who say their vehicles became moody and withdrawn a few days before disappearing.
The problem kindles concerns about the safety of intelligent cars, which drive themselves based on programming input by their owners. The latest models are packed with so much processing power and memory that they have begun to develop their own forms of impatience, hostility and unruliness on the roadways
ToyotaFord is still investigating the newest FreeWheeler problem and said it is not in a position to release more details. If a fix is necessary, the company could face the world’s largest automotive recall since Toyota was forced to cease production on a variety of car models back in 2010 due to gas pedal and brake problems.
The company lost trillions last year after recalling older model FreeWheelers and two other intelligent car models, the selfReliant and the Auto Nomis, amid reports that the vehicles were prone to reckless driving and road rage. ToyotaFord fixed the problems with the installation of anger management software, but did not say whether those upgrades included safeguards against vehicular defiance.
Posted by Skip Dekades 



