Toyota exonerated by NHTSA, NASA; electrical issues not cause of sudden acceleration

By on Feb 8, 2011 at 11:50 PM
General February 8, 2011

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with the aid of NASA engineers, concluded that the electronics systems found in Toyota’s vehicles was, in all likelihood, not the cause of unintended acceleration. In 2009 and 2010, the Japanese car manufacturer recalled nearly 8 million cars after drivers began reporting sudden and unprovoked acceleration from their vehicles.

“Our conclusion- that Toyota’s problems were mechanical, not electrical – comes after one of the most exhaustive, thorough, and intensive research efforts ever undertaken,” said Department of Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood.

The report determined that two mechanical defects in the accelerator pedal and floor mats are to blame. “Both problems had been identified before the NASA investigators began their work.” NASA was given unrestricted access to over 200,000 lines of code used in Toyota’s vehicles; its examination of said code lasted over 10 months.

Toyota says it’s confident that the issue is now resolved and that its cars are amongst the safest on the road.

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  • http://twitter.com/zizo79 zizo

    They must have spent a lot of money…

    • douche

      not enough to pay off the national debt lol

  • Anonymous

    Woz said it is a software issue, so it is pretty safe to say that it is caused by bad code. Of course Woz himself was only responsible for the greatest BASIC ever written, so maybe he is a bad source for info.

    This just in, water may be a wet liquid. They are still doing an investigation on it.

  • Scott

    I don’t buy it. There have been floor mats in cars for YEARS and now all of a sudden, they cause issue? That doesn’t add up. It was a computer error. This is what happens when you have a computer control too much in a car, hence, why I will not buy a new car. I may be going out on a limb, but I am willing to bet Toyota paid them off.
    ‘

    • Bernie

      Thought most were proved to drivers standing on accelerator pedal thinking it was brake – only happened in America though…

      • engineerGA

        Yes, Bernie, that was proven. Neither Toyota nor the NHTSA was ever able to find any fault with the cars. The highest profile cases that got the most press were all later found to be the drivers at fault, but the press rarely ever corrected the public’s view. They sold commercials/ads with the sensational “Prius runaway in California and Highway Patrol had to stop him with the cars” stories, but they didn’t adequately follow up with the “driver finally admitted he stood on the gas pedal and the car was not at fault” stories.

    • Gerardo407

      I can say that the floor mats were apart of the problem. When I first began to drive my scion Tc my clutch and accelerator would hook onto the mat for about a second. Once removed, problem solved. The company mad some dumbass mats.

      • engineerGA

        Full disclosure: My dad is a Toyota dealership service manager, but I don’t like Toyota cars (LOL) because I find them unintuitive and uncomfortable. I am a Ford man.

        That said, Toyota told the dealerships early on that this issue was largely because of a port-install error on foreign cars and a dealership error on domestic ones. They installed all-weather floormats (the thick, rubber ones instead of the thin, carpet ones) in cars that weren’t designed for them. It wasn’t the floor mats or the car – it was the combination. I think Toyota could have at least left a little more room under the pedal for a thicker floormat, however. That’s one reason why I find them uncomfortable – the pedal is too low and at a weird angle. It hurts my ankle to rest my foot on teh pedal on a long commute. My wife used to have a Camry, and I hated it.

    • Anonymous

      yes, there have been floor mats in cars for years but not all gas pedals are designed the same way (length, width) and not all floor pans are designed the same way (distance from pedals, contours…etc)
      The investigation proved that it was floor mats getting stuck in some instances and the pedal mechanism getting stuck on other instances. Mass hysteria helped by the media also contributed.

    • KCRic

      Or it could be driver error. One or two people mess up, blame it on the car and next thing you know everyone jumps on the bandwagon. It’s the American way. The NTSB also did a study and found out no one applied their brakes when this happened, in fact, they hit the accelerator even more thinking it was the brake. Driver error, that’s it. Hell one old lady decided to call her husband to tell him the car was out of control, instead of putting it in neutral and applying the brakes. Then it tried to restart itself twice. You see where this is going? One more thing; this only happened in America, no where else. Funny huh?

    • Changer

      Hmmm…. I guess facts are your cup of tea eh? So you’re saying that Toyota paid off the NHTSA AND NASA? Yup, that’s a lot easier to believe than what they concluded.

      One of the first rules of troubleshooting is to look at the simplest things first (which is almost always the cause of your problem). It’s when you try looking for the most complicated thing that will take you down the wrong path.

    • engineerGA

      No, Toyota didn’t pay them off. This was a witch hunt. GM (Government Motors) sold more cars that Toyota last year, so the government’s mission was accomplished. They have tarnished Toyota enough and can let them off the hook now.

      If the press started covering “runaway Volkswagens” today, there would be half a million Americans complaining about their scary cars they can’t drive anymore tomorrow.

    • Scott

      @ most people who commented to me

      I guess this proves Asian’s aren’t good at math? lol But in all seriousness, if it really was just floor mats and gas pedal issues, why did this happen now, when there has never been an issue before? Like I said, we’ve had floor mats in cars for a very long time and you’re telling me, that in the late 2000′s, with technology as advanced as it is today, they couldn’t figure out how thick of a floor mat they could use and how long of a gas pedal? Christ, if I’m giving you 20+ K for a car and you can’t figure out simple math, then you shouldn’t be making cars.

      And yes, while most Americans are dumb (and yes, I wish we would in force some kind of driving school requirement in order to get your license), I still don’t buy the fact that there wasn’t any code problems with the ECU.

  • Anonymous

    I know what caused the acceleration as it happened to my father twice.

    It’s a combination of old people driving and the pedals being closer together.

  • Chut Pata

    The moral of the story is, do not buy cars made mostly in the USA e.g. Toyota. American parts are unreliable. Instead, buy cars made mostly in China e.g. Ford. Chinese make more reliable parts.

  • One

    Guys(and gals) just think, – 200,000 lines of code(!) and no bugs ?!
    I think, there are less number of mechanical parts in those cars :)

  • Jsantana0793

    I think it is safe to say that our government was involved in this conspiracy theory. Given the fact that the once known #1 car maker was GMC which became the (Government Motor Company) after a bail out made profit sales after the whole Toyota acceleration gate started, but if it was such a problem, why is it not news still??? Did everyone bring their cars in for the recall? I find it really hard to believe. What I don’t find hard to believe is how a plan was put together to bring down Toyota as the #1 car maker and to step into building up GMC because the government owns them. Yea, yea, they say that they are out of bankruptcy, but I don’t believe it. Plus, sorry, there is quantity and there is quality…. Toyota by far is about QUALITY they make better cars and they outlast most American cars. Kelly Blue Book and Consumer report… the Toyota Camry is still the #1 car to own.

    • engineerGA

      LOL. Um, I think you’ll find the Toyotas of today are about the same as any other domestic car as far as quality and durability. The Toyotas of the 80s and early 90s were bulletproof. The new ones? Yeah, no so much.

      As far as the Government Motors conspiracy… I am with you on that one. It’s a little odd that all this started to tarnishtthe number one seller in America right as the dying companies needed to be bailed out. I saw a report the other day that “Toyota recalls mean nothing now, as they can’t possible tarnish the brand in the US any more than it already has been.” Mission accomplished for the government. A GM that sells more cars that Toyota is a GM that can pay bailout funds back faster and end this shameful (and unpopular – voting day is coming again) government involvement.

  • Anonymous

    According to link, they spent $1.5M and had access to 280,000 lines of codes on the ECU. They tested the systems in EM, they picked apart everything software, and came up with essentially, a “faultless code”. To me, $1.5M for unrestricted access to one of the worlds largest automotive manufacturer’s most closely guarded innards is chump change all under the guise of a political witch hunt. Im sure if another really big auto market found “problems” with American automakers, and demanded unrestricted access to the ecu codes, we would scream bloody murder.

  • sirpaul

    Wow, 200k lines of code for a car :o …would have never guessed.

  • Anonymous

    Anyone who has not experienced sudden unintended acceleration is not qualified to render a valid judgment on this tecnologically complicated conundrum. My 2007 Toyota 4Runner (not a recall vehicle) suddenly lurched into an intersection with oncoming cars with my foot firmly on the brake–period. I was very lucky there was no collision and I instantly pushed the gear shift forward, it then actually moved through neutral into reverse and the wheels spun backwards–but I was already in the intersection. No problem showed up in the onboard computer. Continuing to try to identify the problem by looking at onboard computers expecting to find the problem is insanity as NASA proved. Uncontrolled cars are lethal weapons despite the financial liability of the car maker. Denial of the problem and blame of drivers (documented experiences are numerous) or of carpet or sticky pedals is unethical and many lives continue to be endangered by this “proven nonproblem.”

    • Kentakahashi77

      @accelerated. I find it hard to believe you had a case of unintended acceleration as a result of a system failure or bug. Your model year car 1997 was not made with an electronic throttle. The throttle assembly on your motor is actuated mechanically by a cable. These types of throttles were not known to suddenly go to wide open without pressing the pedal. It seems your car is cursed by a wretched ghost. An thorough excorsism should be order.

      • Anonymous

        My car was a 2007 4Runner, not 1997, which has the drive by wire.. I sold the car back to the dealer and purchased a new 2011 4runner at a good price. It has the brake over-ride smart pedal.

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