It seems as though early tests are showing that the Toyota unintended acceleration could have indeed been caused by driver error. Recently the Wall Street Journal covered a story that stated the NHTSA believes that vehicles involved in accidents were due to the driver accidentally pressing the accelerator instead of the brakes.
These findings were based on the data recorders analyzed by NHTSA, which showed that there were no signs of the brake pedal being engaged. In addition, this data has only been reviewed and interpreted by NHTSA and has not been reviewed by Toyota.
The 1989 government-sponsored study investigating the Audi 5000 where there were cases of sudden unintended acceleration. The cause was determined to be driver error.
However, Toyota has indicated that the electronic data recorder is not reliable enough to provide concrete data that would eliminate any possibility of software glitches or other types of conditions that could lead to an uncontrollable vehicle situation.
There have been many cases where paramedics have stated that accidents are often caused when a driver presses down on the wrong pedal. So if this ends up being driver error then what will happen to all the vehicles that have had their gas pedal modified with the shim? Most likely, this modification will be fine considering a corresponding software update was applied.
The issue with the floor mats as well as the space between the gas in the brake pedal could be in some way interfering at times with normal operation so Toyota will likely remedy that situation with an improved design so that the issue can be closed.
On July 8, 2010 two and announced that they would be opening several quality field offices across the United States Canada. These locations will be responsible for collecting field data as well as helping manage new problems with as they arise so that Toyota can act quickly to resolve them.
From pressroom.toyota.com …
“Everyone at Toyota is working aggressively to understand what our customers are experiencing and to respond quickly to their needs by enhancing our information gathering capabilities,” said Dino Triantafyllos, Vice President, Quality Division, Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing (TEMA). “The expansion of our Product Quality Field Offices initiative is one example of the significant changes we are making across our North American operations to help ensure that we are a quality-focused and responsive organization.”
