U.S. finds no defect in Toyota's electronic throttles Laurn Abdel-Razzaq Automotive News -- February 8, 2011 - 1:55 pm ET
DETROIT -- The U.S. Department of Transportation announced today that electric systems and electromagnetic interference did not play a role in the incidents of unintended acceleration involving Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles.
It was a major victory for Toyota, which has sought to recover from a recall crisis and accidents allegedly linked to unintended acceleration in some of its top-selling models.
"There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement to Reuters.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched the study 10 months ago at Congress' urging. 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 and trapped floor mats.
In August, the government said it had not found any problems with the software-driven electronic systems in Toyota vehicles during the first six months of the study.
Toyota, which has had electronically controlled throttles in its vehicles since 2002, has said its own tests ruled out electronic interference as a possible cause.
Global recalls
Toyota has recalled more than 18 million vehicles globally since the fall of
2009 -- including more than five million for floor mats and more than four million for gas pedals.The Japanese automaker has already paid $48.8 million in fines in three separate penalties and faces hundreds of lawsuits. The biggest previous automaker fine was $1 million paid by General Motors Corp. for windshield-wiper failure in vehicles made in 2002-2003.
Regulators are looking into 89 deaths that may be associated with unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles but have so far linked only a handful to the floor mat problem.
Although the investigation turned up no flaws that would prompt another massive recall, Toyota still faces significant risks from scores of civil lawsuits stemming from the recalls.
Those cases in federal and state courts, which may turn on the timing of company disclosures to regulators of already established defects, have an estimated potential liability of up to $10 billion.
Reuters contributed to this report
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