THE United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) engineers have confirmed that electric systems and electromagnetic interference did not play a role in unintended acceleration involving Toyota vehicles.
And Roger Hill, managing director of Nassco Ltd, local authorized distributor of Toyota vehicles, said the development was welcome news.
“This is definitely a major victory for the Toyota brand. We always knew that our vehicles were safe but to finally have it proven by this study by NASA engineers, well, now I hope that we can put it to rest,” he said.
The NHTSA in the United States launched the study ten months ago at the urging of the American Congress after numerous reports of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles there. Toyota maintained that its vehicles were safe and it was the result of, in some instances, trapped floor mats.
With the help of NASA engineers, the study sought to determine if cases of unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles were caused by something other than sticky gas pedals or trapped floor mats.
NASA examined nine vehicles with alleged braking problems and subjected them to electromagnetic interference testing. Engineers also looked at software codes to detect any flaws that could disrupt the electronic throttle control.
“There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas,” US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement following the release of the findings.
