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Reports abound online declaring that federal officials and Toyota researchers have dismissed electronic controls as the underlying cause of dozens of sudden unintended acceleration incidents in Toyota vehicles. The problem with these preliminary conclusions, however, is that they are based on data drawn from the unreliable event data recorders or “black boxes” in dozens of affected automobiles.
When David Strickland took over the reigns of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in early January, he assumed his focus would be the finalizing of landmark fuel economy and tailpipe emissions regulations with the Environmental Protection Agency. What he didn’t anticipate was spending so much time reviewing the safety record of what was once the country’s most reliable car manufacturer.
The record $16.4 million fine proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration against Toyota Motor Corp. may sound like a harsh penalty but it makes up less than 2 percent of Toyota’s project net profit for the year ending March 31, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Where Toyota may feel the biggest blow, however, is from numerous lawsuits that are piling against the world’s largest automaker for what U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood calls “knowingly” hiding the dangerous defect.
Toyota issued a brief statement on its website today, acknowledging the $16.375 million civil penalty it received from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for violations of federal regulations governing automotive defect alerts and protocol.
The U.S. federal government will levy a $16.375 million civil penalty, the maximum allowable under law, against Toyota for failing to promptly inform regulators about sticking accelerator pedals in some 2.3 million vehicles. The fine will be the largest civil penalty the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ever sought against an auto manufacturer.
Sure, many Toyota drivers have found themselves behind the wheel of a vehicle that suddenly and unexpectedly takes off like a rocket, but who could have predicted federal safety regulators would turn to NASA rocket scientists to help find the cause? Today the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it is enlisting some of the nation’s top space and aeronautics experts to examine Toyota’s electronic throttle controls for signs they are causing some vehicles to accelerate uncontrollably, often at violent speeds.
Quality Control Systems, a statistical analysis and research firm based in Crownsville, Maryland, has been publishing new complaints of sudden, unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles as they are received by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The agency has taken a special interest in sudden acceleration incidents that occur after the vehicles involved have been “repaired” under one or more of the safety recalls.
While Toyota Corollas have the potential to accelerate suddenly and unintentionally, now there is mounting concern that they may also do the opposite: stall out while in motion.
When Toyota’s former president Katsuaki Watanabe met with American investors for the first time, he bragged about the accomplishments he made in his three short months with the company. Assuming the reigns of the world’s second-largest car company (GM was number one at the time), Watanabe wanted to be the leader who made Toyota number one, and he succeeded.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that it continues to receive reports from Toyota drivers that their cars are speeding out of control, even after the recall repairs have been performed on the vehicles. According to research conducted by the Associated Press, at least 15 owners of Toyota vehicles have filed complaints to the NHTSA saying that their cars and trucks continued to experience sudden unintended acceleration after the recall fixes were made.
