Initial U.S. Tests Find No Toyota Flaw in Electronics

WASHINGTON, DC - August 11, 2010: The AIADA newsletter reported that the government’s investigation into complaints of sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles has found no evidence of flawed electronics in 58 of the vehicles that crashed, federal regulators said Tuesday.

An examination of the crashes also found only one instance in which an accelerator pedal became trapped under a floor mat, and none in which a pedal became stuck or sprang back too slowly, according to a preliminary report to Congress.

According to the New York Times, though federal officials said the investigation was continuing and they had not yet drawn conclusions, the raw findings support Toyota’s contention that electronics were not at fault and that many of the reports of sudden acceleration might actually have been instances of human error. In the report to Congress, the safety agency said that in 35 of the 58 accidents, the data recorder did not indicate that the brakes had been applied – suggesting the possibility that the drivers had mistakenly floored the gas pedal instead of the brake.

“Having conducted more than 4,000 on-site vehicle inspections, in no case have we found electronic throttle controls to be a cause of unintended acceleration,” Toyota said in a statement. “Toyota is committed to listening more attentively to our customers and continuing to investigate unintended acceleration concerns.”

Click Here for the latest on a government investigation into claims of sudden acceleration in some Toyota vehicles.