Toyota claims acceleration problems aren't caused by electronics
As Toyota continues to come under fire from federal safety officials for potentially dangerous manufacturing defects, the automaker has presented evidence that it says shows the sudden acceleration problems is mechanical and not an electronic glitch.
Recently, officials have become concerned that faulty electronic throttle controls may be at the heart of the problem that has reportedly caused numerous fatal car accidents. Some investigators have even recreated the glitch in a lab setting.
Toyota claims that the scenarios that were recreated in the tests are not plausible in real life and are the result of tampering by the investigators. They claim that relying on those tests could set back the investigation and distract from the real problem.
After a fatal SUV accident in California last year was caused when the vehicle began accelerating wildly, the automaker blamed the incident on driver's side floor mats getting caught on the pedal. Only after many more reports came in did the automaker admit that the problem was a defect in the gas pedal mechanism. Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles since last fall and made repairs that is says will fix the problem. Recently, though, dozens of reports have come in from car owners who have had the recall fixes done but are still experiencing the acceleration problem.
Dozens of wrongful death lawsuits, personal injury lawsuits and product liability lawsuits have been leveled at Toyota so far. A recent Associated Press report says that the automaker stands to lose billions of dollars if the suits are successful. Hopefully the investigation by federal officials and pressure from the lawsuits eventually leads to a clear diagnosis of the problem so no more lives are lost.
