Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Technology, Videos, Lexus, Toyota
CNN revealed a confidential memo written in Japanese on the Anderson Cooper 360 show last night that it contends shows Toyota engineers found an electrical problem that caused sudden unintended acceleration in a pre-production test vehicle. The news organization commissioned three separate translations of the documents, though Toyota has objected to the accuracy of each.
Findings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and National Research Council have both supported Toyota's original explanation of sudden unintended acceleration being caused by either sticky gas pedals, trapped floor mats or human error. Toyota has never admitted that electronic or software issues were to blame for any reported cases of SUA, and every investigation into the matter has failed to identify the automaker as responsible.
Toyota does admit the document in question was not provided to the federal government during their investigations, but explains that "the test and document had nothing to do with unintended acceleration, or a defect, or a safety flaw of any kind." Rather, Toyota insists the document refers to pre-production testing of the company's adaptive cruise control system on a version of the Lexus LS 460 sold in Japan and Europe. A Toyota electrical engineer told CNN that the cruise control system acted exactly as it should when they input an abnormal signal, and that the test resulted in further refinements to the system.
We've embedded the CNN video report after the jump, which also includes anecdotal testimony from one Lexus owner who claims that she has experienced SUA in the period since federal investigators released their findings. Toyota inspected her vehicle and provided data from sensors in her car that showed in her case, acceleration was caused by pedal misapplication. You can also read Toyota's official response just below the video.
CNN reveals Toyota memo that purports to show sudden acceleration caused by electronics originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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