After studying data records the US auto-safety regulators have stated that in crashes that were allegedly caused by unintended acceleration, the drivers did not in fact applied brakes.
The black boxes or the vehicle recorders showed no signs of electronics being the cause of such accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. These findings are consistent with Toyota's claims that there were no flaws in the electronic controls of its cars. It is possible that there were cases when drivers mistakenly used the accelerator pedals instead of the brakes.
Toyota had recalled more than eight million cars in various countries during 2009 because of defects such as pedals stuck on floor mats. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's findings only accounted for 60% of the cases under investigation. Accidents occurred when brakes were applied partly or data records failed.
Toyota has undergone inspections on 4,000 vehicles and found no problems related to electronic throttle controls. It has been claimed that these controls might be the cause of unintended acceleration reported by consumers. Accelerator pedal entrapment or pressing pedals were remedied, according to Toyota.
Some of the cases analyzed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that at the moment of the crash impact, drivers did not use the brake pedal. During thirty such cases, fourteen more shown partial braking while nine cases proved that the brake was depressed only at the last second before the impact.
There were other crashes where the brake was press but then released, or gas pedals and brake were pressed at the same time. Just one case out of the 58 proved pedal entrapment by a floor mat. The electronic recording devices failed to work in just five cases. The agency will continue to analyze other defects in Toyota cars together with NASA, US space agency and the National Academy of Sciences.
Toyota has promised to make an event recorder that will be commercially available by September 2012 in response of questions raised because public access was denied to its black boxes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ten such devices and there 150 in North America. The event data recorders are read based on customers' requests according to Toyota. However, details on how much it will cost or how car buyers will have access to them were not disclosed.
Event data recorders are an essential part of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act which will go up for a vote in Congress in 2010. The bill was prompted by a congressional investigation following Toyota's recalls. According to this bill, auto manufacturers will have to install event data records in all cars sold in the US starting with 2015 for medium duty and 2017 for heavy duty. The cost for manufacturers would be around six million dollars for development, while costs per vehicle would be less than six dollars for installing event data recorders that comply with the existing standards.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would also receive funds for developing new safety standards for vehicles, safety research and making safety information available to the general public.
