Government: No electronic flaws in Toyota

[rickaren]

Feb 08, 2011
Government: No electronic flaws in Toyota acceleration cases

The government's investigation into whether Toyotas have sudden acceleration problems due to electronic flaws has found no such defects.

Toyota has maintained since the acceleration problems arose that there was no problem with vehicle electronics and that the known issues were addresses with the massive recalls for sticky pedals and floor mats that can trap pedals.

Now the report Department of Transportation officials, with help from NASA engineers, officially supports that position. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the department's 10-month study has concluded there is no electronic-based cause of unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas.

"We enlisted the best and brightest engineers to study Toyota's electronics systems and the verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended acceleration in Toyotas," LaHood said in a statement.

Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles globally since December 2009 for for the defects for potential sudden accelerations case. A series of other defects has boosted its overall recalls in a little more than a year to 12 million -- and put a huge dent in the company's image for quality and dependability. Toyota paid the U.S. government three maximum fines totalling $48.8 million for delays in its recalls.

And that has taken a toll on sales -- starting with the intial recalls, when Toyota was forced to briefly halt all sales of eight models. The company was the only major autmaker to post a U.S. sales decline last year, as the rest of the industry began a sales recovery from the recession here.

LaHood said NASA engineers "rigorously examined" nine Toyotas driven by consumers who complained of unintended acceleration. Investigators also reviewed 280,000 lines of software code for flaws, tested mechanical components and bombarded vehicles with electro-magnetic radiation to see if that could cause vehicle electronics to malfunction. A preliminary review of vehicle data recorders, released last August, also found no flaws.

In Tokyo on Tuesday, Toyota reported a 39% slide in quarterly profit but raised its full-year forecasts, thanks to booming sales in emerging markets in Asia, Africa and South America, even while its key U.S. market continues to be difficult.

In other moves to try to reassure customers -- in addition to the recalls -- Toyota began installing brake override systems on new vehicles that cut the throttle if the driver presses the brake and accelerator at the same time. It also created special teams to examine vehicles consumers complained about and appointed a chief quality officer for North America. The photo above is of a demonstration the company put on in San Diego last March to show Tooyotas had no acceleration defects beyond the recall problems.

The study follows allegations by consumer advocates and safety groups that flawed electronics could be behind unintended acceleration in the Toyotas.

NHTSA has 3,000 complaints of sudden acceleration involving Toyota vehicles in the past decade, including of 93 deaths. NHTSA, however, has confirmed just five of them.

Toyota's safety issues began receiving began broad attention from the government after four people -- an off-duty California highway patrolman and his family -- were killed in a high-speed crash involving a runaway Lexus near San Diego in August 2009 and the huge recalls followed within months. It was later determined that an incorrect and unsecured floor mat caused the incident.

The National Academy of Sciences is conducting a separate study of unintended acceleration in cars and trucks across all companies, but its report is not expected until this fall.

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