Acceleration issues in Toyota cars that prompted a slew of recalls for the Japanese automaker were not due to electronic flaws, a government report released on Tuesday said.
The ten-month investigation by the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and NASA reveled that electronic throttles were not responsible for “incidents of unintended acceleration” that prompted Toyota to recall eight million vehicles.
“NASA engineers found no electronic flaws in Toyota vehicles capable of producing the large throttle openings required to create dangerous high-speed unintended acceleration incidents,” the NHTSA said in a statement.
Instead, the only two defects that are to blame are “’sticking' accelerator pedals and a design flaw that enabled accelerator pedals to become trapped by floor mats,” a press release for the study read.
“The verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas,” US Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.
Toyota has been marred over repeated recalls of its popular cars over the past few years, as its reputation for safety and reliability has dwindled. Toyota has recalled around eight million vehicles due to these two defects alone.
The automaker has already been fined nearly $50 million for not informing NHTSA about accelerator defects quickly enough.
The report absolved the carmaker of some of the blame and Toyota said in a statement that it “welcomes the findings of NASA and NHTSA regarding our Electronic Throttle Control System with intelligence (ETCS-i) and we appreciate the thoroughness of their review.”
“We will also continue to cooperate fully with NHTSA and respected outside experts in order to help ensure that our customers have the utmost confidence in the safety and reliability of our vehicles,” Toyota said.
The ten-month investigation by the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and NASA reveled that electronic throttles were not responsible for “incidents of unintended acceleration” that prompted Toyota to recall eight million vehicles.
“NASA engineers found no electronic flaws in Toyota vehicles capable of producing the large throttle openings required to create dangerous high-speed unintended acceleration incidents,” the NHTSA said in a statement.
Instead, the only two defects that are to blame are “’sticking' accelerator pedals and a design flaw that enabled accelerator pedals to become trapped by floor mats,” a press release for the study read.
“The verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas,” US Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.
Toyota has been marred over repeated recalls of its popular cars over the past few years, as its reputation for safety and reliability has dwindled. Toyota has recalled around eight million vehicles due to these two defects alone.
The automaker has already been fined nearly $50 million for not informing NHTSA about accelerator defects quickly enough.
The report absolved the carmaker of some of the blame and Toyota said in a statement that it “welcomes the findings of NASA and NHTSA regarding our Electronic Throttle Control System with intelligence (ETCS-i) and we appreciate the thoroughness of their review.”
“We will also continue to cooperate fully with NHTSA and respected outside experts in order to help ensure that our customers have the utmost confidence in the safety and reliability of our vehicles,” Toyota said.
