Feds: No electronic link to runaway Toyotas

David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington— Federal safety officials said a comprehensive investigation has found no evidence that electronics were to blame for runaway Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles.

Instead, the government blamed sticky accelerator pedals and trapped floor mats — two causes that led Toyota to recall 11 million vehicles worldwide, including nearly 8 million in the United States, since 2009.

"The jury is back. The verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas. Period," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told a packed press conference at the department's headquarters. "Our conclusion is Toyota's problems were mechanical, not electrical."

The finding should go a long way in helping the Japanese automaker put the question behind it.

Toyota has long insisted that electronics played no role in sudden acceleration cases Steve St.Angelo, Toyota's chief quality officer for North America, praised the findings. "We believe this rigorous scientific analysis by some of America's foremost engineers should further reinforce confidence in the safety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles," St. Angelo said. Toyota said a "real world, un-commanded acceleration of the vehicle cannot occur."

LaHood said Toyota vehicles were safe — and that his daughter asked him last year if she should buy a 2011 Sienna.

"She wanted an ironclad guarantee from me that her vehicle was going to be safe," LaHood said. "I told me daughter that she should buy the Toyota, which she did."

After a 10-month investigation requested by Congress, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA, in two studies, now say they found no proof that electronic glitches or computer problems led to unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. LaHood said the findings showed that NHTSA had been "right all along" in discounting electronic issues.

But federal regulators are considering new rules to address mechanical flaws in vehicles.

NHTSA may propose mandatory brake override systems on all vehicles. That software upgrade allows a drive to stop a vehicle by pressing on the brake, even if the throttle is stuck.

Toyota and many other automakers already are making the systems standard on all new vehicles.

NHTSA also is considering proposing mandatory event data recorders — so-called black boxes — in all vehicles by the end of the year. The recorders would help investigators determine the cause of crash.

The government said it will begin a study to see if new rules should address the placement of gas and brake pedals to help drivers avoid hitting the wrong pedal or getting one stuck. NHTSA is also considering new rules to standardize keyless ignition systems.

Many safety advocates, as well as some members of Congress, have insisted that electronics were to blame for some runaway Toyotas. They cited harrowing testimony of people who recounted that their vehicles suddenly accelerated.

The two mechanical causes of unintended acceleration — sticking accelerator pedals and pedals trapped under floor mats — "remain the only known causes for these kind of unsafe unintended acceleration incidents," the agency said.

NHTSA also said human error -- or pedal misapplication -- was to blame for many incidents.

After looking at more than 280,000 lines of software code in Toyota vehicles, NASA engineers found no electronic flaws capable of producing the large throttle openings required to create dangerous, high-speed unintended acceleration incidents, the Transportation Department said in a statement releasing its findings.

NASA said its review showed complaints of unintended acceleration are extremely rare — just one in 100,000 vehicles — or one for every 1.4 billion miles driven. NASA said it was "theoretically possible" that two electronic faults could cause unintended acceleration under specific circumstances, but said there would be warranty data to support it.

Despite a half dozen NHTSA investigations into sudden acceleration claims in Toyota vehicles, the automaker did little until the high profile deaths of four motorists — including an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer near San Diego in August 2009, who were killed when the vehicle sped out of control.

Investigators said the cause was a trapped floor mat in the loaner Lexus.

The company's once sterling reputation for quality took an enormous hit from the issue; it has paid nearly $49 million to settle three separate allegations by the government that it delayed recalls.

Since 2000, NHTSA has received more than 3,000 complaints alleging at least 93 deaths from Toyota sudden acceleration incidents, but has confirmed a link in just five deaths.

In January 2010, Toyota was forced to stop selling more than 60 percent of vehicles in the United States, as it searched for a fix for its sticky pedal problem. Its top executive, Akio Toyoda, was called to testify before Congress, and the issue got worldwide attention.

"Just about every member of Congress that questioned me said 'It's got to be electronics,'." LaHood said.

NHTSA focused on the facts, he said. "Everything is data-based. It's not made up. It's not based on emotion. It's not based on some story somebody told us."

Many in Congress criticized a July 2009 internal Toyota memo that bragged that the company saved more than $100 million by avoiding a more extensive mechanical fix to address sudden acceleration claims.

NHTSA and NASA's review of electronics or electromagnetic interference was extensive.

At the Goddard Space Flight Center, they examined and tested components of Toyota vehicles.

At a special facility at Chrysler Group LLC headquarters in Auburn Hills, NHTSA and NASA engineers bombarded vehicles with electromagnetic radiation to study whether it could be the cause of unintended acceleration claims.

Toyota has taken other steps to give U.S. employees more power to move on safety issues and been much quicker to recall vehicles. It led the industry with 7 million vehicels recalled in 2010 in the U.S.

LaHood praised Toyota for deciding to spent $50 million on a safety center in Michigan. "That's extraordinary. That shows they really care about safety," LaHood said.

The National Academy of Sciences is conducting a separate investigation into unintended acceleration in cars and trucks from all automakers. The findings of that probe are due by year's end.

Toyota still faces hundreds of lawsuits, and a federal grand jury in New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission have pending investigations into Toyota's handling of recalls.

Toyota's stock jumped in New York trading to $89.08 — up 4.6 percent — or nearly $4 a share on the news.

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http://www.detnews.com/article/20110208/AUTO01/102080381/Feds-clear-Toyota-of-electronic-causes