Science Panel Backs Closing Of Toyota Acceleration Probe

A panel of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) said on January 18 that federal auto safety investigators were justified in closing a probe into potential electronic causes of sudden acceleration of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles, but it also said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) needed to gain more expertise in vehicle electronics.

"This committee finds NHTSA's decision to close its investigation on Toyota electronic throttle controls was justified," said Louis Lanzerotti, a physics professor, Member of the National Science Board, and Author of a 140-page report on the automotive electronics issues raised by massive recalls by Toyota.

The automaker had blamed mechanical causes, such as sticking pedals and pedal entrapment by floor mats, for reports of unintended acceleration. NHTSA ultimately agreed, although it criticized Toyota's response times and imposed record fines on the carmaker. NHTSA also sought input from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which said electronics did not appear to be a factor in the reports on unintended acceleration of Toyota and Lexus cars in recent years.

"Nevertheless," Lanzerotti told reporters, "our committee finds it troubling that concerns associated with unintended acceleration evolved into questions about electronic safety that NHTSA couldn't answer convincingly." The agency, part of the Department of Transportation, said it was reviewing the panel's recommendations.

"NHTSA has already taken steps to strengthen its expertise in electronic control systems while expanding research in this area," it said in a statement. "But NHTSA will continue to evaluate and improve every aspect of its work to keep the driving public safe," it added.

Last February, NASA and NHTSA concluded there was no evidence that electronics were to blame. Investigators cited stuck floor mats, sticky pedals, and driver error — especially stepping on the wrong pedal — in explaining the thousands of complaints. Toyota recalled more than ten million vehicles worldwide for unintended acceleration issues after four people were killed in August 2009 in a crash blamed on a pedal trapped by a floor mat.

Toyota issued a statement Wednesday saying it "appreciates the NAS for its valuable work on vehicle electronics and the open process the NAS has maintained throughout its investigation."

While Toyota has recovered much of the damage to its reputation, the company still faces dozens of lawsuits linked to sudden acceleration claims. In 2010, the Japanese automaker paid nearly $50 million in fines to the U.S. government to settle investigations that it failed to recall vehicles in a timely fashion. Congress held hearings that included Toyota President Akio Toyoda, and subsequently the company's reputation for safety came under harsh scrutiny.

While the criticism of Toyota has subsided, auto experts and regulators say concerns about electronics are a serious industry-wide issue. "As more complex and interacting electronics systems are deployed, there's growing potential that vehicle electronics will be suspected, and possibly implicated in unsafe vehicle behaviors, Lanzerotti said.

Among the panel's recommendations, it urged NHTSA to convene a standing technical advisory panel made up of people with backgrounds in automotive electronics systems.

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