NHTSA Report Supports Toyota Stance On Run-Away Car Reports

1. NHTSA Report Supports Toyota Position on Run-Away Car Reports

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study of dozens of Toyota vehicle data recorders supports Toyota’s position that unintended acceleration complaints were not caused by glitches in Toyota’s electronic throttle control systems, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

According to the story, NHTSA found that at the time of the crashes, data recorders show throttles of the vehicles were wide open and the brakes were not engaged.

“The results suggest that some drivers who said their Toyota and Lexus vehicles surged out of control were mistakenly flooring the accelerator when they intended to jam on the brakes,” the paper noted. “But the findings don’t exonerate Toyota from two known issues blamed for sudden acceleration in its vehicles: sticky accelerator pedals and floor mats that can trap accelerator pedals to the floor.”

The Toyota findings, the Journal said, have not been released by NHTSA but are consistent with a 1989 government study that blamed similar driver mistakes for a rash of sudden-acceleration reports involving Audi 5000 sedans.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703834604575364871534435744.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEADNewsCollection. [Note: The Wall Street Journal often blocks portions of stories or full stories to non-subscribers]