WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s investigation into Toyota safety problems found no electronic flaws to account for reports of sudden, unintentional acceleration and other safety problems. Government investigators said Tuesday the only known cause of the problems is mechanical defects now fixed in recalls.
The Transportation Department, assisted by engineers with NASA, said its 10-month study of Toyota vehicles concluded there was no electronic cause of unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas. The study, launched at the request of Congress, responded to consumer complaints that flawed electronics could be the culprit behind the spate of recalls.
“We feel that Toyota vehicles are safe to drive,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Toyota said in a statement that the report should “further reinforce confidence in the safety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles” and “put to rest unsupported speculation” about the company’s electronic-throttle-control systems, which it said are “well-designed and well-tested to ensure that a real world, uncommanded acceleration of the vehicle cannot occur.”
Officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said they reviewed consumer complaints and warranty data in detail and found that many of the complaints involved cases in which the vehicles accelerated after they were stationary or running at very low speeds.
NHTSA Deputy Administrator Ron Medford said that in many cases when a driver complained that the brakes were ineffective, the most likely cause was “pedal misapplication,” in which the driver stepped on the accelerator instead of the brakes.
Toyota has recalled more than 12 million vehicles globally since fall 2009 to address sticking accelerator pedals, gas pedals that became trapped in floor mats and other issues.
Analysts said the report would help Toyota’s reputation but that the company still would need to work hard to regain its image of reliability.
“This is really something that is going to take years and years to recover,” said Rebecca Lindland, director of automotive research with consulting firm IHS Automotive.
Toyota was the only major automaker to see a U.S. sales decline last year, at 0.4 percent.
“I think Toyota’s been hit relatively badly,” said David Champion, senior director of auto testing for Consumer Reports magazine. “I do think they lost direction in some ways. It’ll be interesting to see how they change direction and go back to what they’re good at: building somewhat boring in some ways but very efficient and very reliable sedans that people want to buy.”
Toyota paid the U.S. government a record $48.8 million in fines for its handling of three recalls. The company has said it has not found any flaws in electronic-throttle-control systems.
LaHood said NASA engineers “rigorously examined” nine Toyotas driven by consumers who complained of unintended acceleration. NASA reviewed 280,000 lines of software code to look for flaws that could cause acceleration. Investigators tested mechanical components that could lead to the problem and bombarded vehicles with electromagnetic radiation to see whether it could make the electronics cause cars to speed up.
Rhonda Smith of Sevierville, Tenn., who testified before a congressional committee about how her Lexus raced out of control at up to 100 mph, said there had to be a cause other than floor mats or sticky gas pedals because neither happened in her case.
“There is a defect in that car whether they want to believe it or not,” Smith said. “They need to keep searching.”
