received this email today
Note that GM vehicles have a much better unintended acceleration record, per the article being fwd'd:
"A Consumer Reports analysis of 166 sudden-acceleration complaints to federal safety regulators for 2008 found they came from 22 brands, but 41% came from Toyota or Lexus models. That was more than Chrysler, General Motors, Honda, and Nissan combined."
"Unintended acceleration remains a rare phenomenon. Based on the Consumer Reports study,..., about one of every 50,000 Toyota owners experienced it. That compares with one of every 65,000 Ford owners and just one in every
500,000 GM vehicles sold in that period. But when it does happen, and the brake can't take control, the consequences can be dire."Detroit Free Press Greg Gardner Feb. 1, 2010
In today's complex cars, a cell phone, satellite radio or even a restaurant's large microwave could -- in theory -- cause the accelerator to surge out of control, according to engineers familiar with electronic engine technology.
And the problem is not limited to Toyota, which is reeling from a recall over unintended-acceleration issues that forced it to stop selling eight models last week.
"This problem is well-known to all automakers. If you can solve this problem, you would be a multibillionaire," said John Liu, a Wayne State University professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Toyota is phasing in a brake override system on new cars and installing it on select models going back to 2007. Some competitors already offer some form of that technology, enabling a driver to rein in any unexplained surge by stepping on the brake.
Unintended acceleration happens rarely; floor mats, driver error and faulty gas pedals may be contributing factors.
But most automotive engines today are governed by sensor-driven throttle systems. Controlled by finely calibrated software, the systems can be thrown out of whack by signals from cell phones or microwave towers, engineering experts said.
Regulators struggle to pin down the problem because replicating the incidents is nearly impossible.
Liu compares the problem with the jamming of signals on military aircraft.
"The problem is, the expertise for preventing signal jamming rests in the Department of Defense, not the automakers or their suppliers," Liu said.
Toyota trails competitors in safe-brake technology
Toyota has been hit disproportionately hard by unintended-acceleration problems because it has been slower than some competitors in introducing braking technology that could have prevented it, according to safety records and consumer advocates.
The problem has occurred in almost every manufacturer's vehicles. A Consumer Reports analysis of 166 sudden-acceleration complaints to federal safety regulators for 2008 found they came from 22 brands, but 41% came from Toyota or Lexus models. That was more than Chrysler, General Motors, Honda and Nissan combined.
All complaints analyzed were filed before Aug. 28, 2009, more than a month before Toyota's recall of floor mats that could become trapped in accelerator pedals.
"You can't wash it away on the basis of probability and blame it on Toyota's growth," said Sean Kane, a safety researcher for Safety Research and Strategies in Rehoboth, Mass. "They certainly need to apply the brake-override technology on all vehicles with electronic throttle control."
Kane's firm has compiled regulatory and accident data back to 1999 that it said shows 2,262 complaints, 815 crashes, 314 injuries and 19 deaths attributable to sudden acceleration in Toyota-produced vehicles.
What Toyota has done
Although Toyota has urged replacement of floor mats or gas pedals, engineers familiar with engine technology said electromagnetic interference from a range of devices, including cell phones and microwave towers, can disrupt the electronic signals to the electronic throttle control system, which controls the accelerator.
"We have not found any evidence that electronic throttle control systems have been a cause," Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said. "The systems have multiple redundancies and fail-safes and would store an error code in the case of a fault."
In November, Toyota announced it would offer a brake-override system to owners of 2007 through 2010 models of Camry, Avalon, Lexus ES350 and IS250. The system also will be standard on all new Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles by the end of 2010, Michels said.
The override technology cancels any signal that triggers an unplanned burst of acceleration. Chrysler offers what it calls "smart-brake" technology on every model except the Chrysler PT Cruiser, a company spokesman said. Nissan incorporates a similar feature in all its models, said company spokesman Fred Standish. General Motors and Ford did not respond to requests for information Friday.
Many luxury automakers, including BMW and Mercedes-Benz, incorporate an electronic offset to their computerized engine-control technology because they can sell vehicles at a price high enough to cover the added cost. Honda and Acura do not.
A rare, dangerous occurrence
Unintended acceleration remains a rare phenomenon. Based on the Consumer Reports study of 2008 complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about one of every 50,000 Toyota owners experienced it. That compares with one of every 65,000 Ford owners and just one in every 500,000 GM vehicles sold in that period.
But when it does happen, and the brake can't take control, the consequences can be dire.
Last year, shortly before Toyota's first recall on the issue, an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer, Mark Saylor, along with his wife, teenage daughter and brother-in-law, died when a 2009 Lexus ES350 surged up to 120 m.p.h. in the middle of rush-hour traffic in San Diego.
The day after Christmas, four people in a 2008 Toyota Avalon died in Southlake, Texas, when the driver lost control, and the car left the road, crashing through a fence and landing upside-down in a pond. Police found the floor mat in the trunk.
Chuck Eaton, a retired industrial engineer in Greer, S.C., said he has experienced a surge in his 2006 Toyota Tacoma three or four times, usually in warmer weather, when he deactivates the cruise control at between 65 and
70 m.p.h., then quickly resets it. But it has never happened in his wife's 2004 Toyota Camry."The closest I came to an accident was when I drove into a curve, and the engine revved from about 2,100 RPM to about 4,500 RPM before I could react with the brakes," Eaton said. "It did scare me."
Eaton said the floor mat was never caught in his truck's accelerator in any of those experiences.
Other potential causes
Safety advocates and other critics said there may be multiple potential causes for sudden acceleration, and therefore, multiple solutions. But the most puzzling potential cause is electromechanical interference.
Each electronic throttle control component determines the appropriate position based on signals from three or four sensors. That communication can be disrupted by signals from a nearby Blackberry, a microwave or radio transmission tower, said John Liu, a Wayne State University professor of electronics and computer engineering who has consulted on this technology for automakers.
For now, the brake-override technology may be the best available solution.
"We still don't completely understand why it's happening or the root causes," Kane said.