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07/09/2008: "Proof Positive - Hybrid Cars Kill!"
OK, it's not what you were thinking, but perversely interesting nonetheless. It turns out that Toyota was so desperate to bring the Camry hybrid to the US car market that their lead engineer worked himself to death - literally!
In the two months up to his death, the man averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month, according to Mizuno.
He regularly worked nights and weekends, was frequently sent abroad and was grappling with shipping a model for the pivotal North American International Auto Show in Detroit when he died of ischemic heart disease in January 2006. The man's daughter found his body at their home the day before he was to leave for the United States.
In a statement, Toyota Motor Corp. offered its condolences and said it would work to improve monitoring of the health of its workers.
There is an effort in Japan to cut down on deaths from overwork, known as "karoshi." Such deaths have steadily increased since the Health Ministry first recognized the phenomenon in 1987.
You know, there's that old saying about how you should spend more time focusing on the important things, because no one sits at the gates of heaven wishing they'd spent more time at work. I'm thinking that might not be the case in Japan ... 
