Toyota problems

News dispatches concerning runaway Toyota cars with unintended acceleration problems are getting to be pretty scary for a Toyota car owner like myself. Sudden unexplained acceleration of Toyota cars have been linked to 19 deaths in the last decade, according to Henry Waxman, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the US House of Representatives.

The recalls are being made in the US and Europe and the local Toyota guys are saying we have no problem here. But if the problem is as basic as the car computer system, could it be we have the same problems here but they just have a more proactive regulatory system abroad? In fact, I don’t know what government agency here should grill Toyota on this.

According to the New York Times, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement Tuesday that Toyota had announced the recalls only after department officials flew to Japan “to remind Toyota about its legal obligations.” Mr. LaHood contended that federal safety officials, in the meeting with Toyota in Japan, had to “wake them up” to the seriousness of the situation.

American lawmakers are also skeptical that the fix Toyota is undertaking solves the problem of runaway and out of control Toyota cars. Representatives Henry A. Waxman and Bart Stupak asked Toyota to provide documents to prove that the computer systems on its cars were not at fault.

The New York Times reports, Toyota has said that computers on its cars were not at fault. But safety advocates and consumers continue to raise questions about the cars’ electronic systems, which they say could cause a car’s throttle to stick causing cars to speed up unexpectedly, according to the New York Times.

Last Monday, Toyota announced a remedy meant to prevent accelerator pedals from sticking on 2.3 million vehicles in the United States. Toyota also has recalled more than five million vehicles because their floor mats could become stuck in floor pedals.

The Washington Post, meanwhile, reports that Toyota did not install brake override systems despite complaints, even as several other automakers deployed the technology to address such malfunctions. The brake override systems allow a driver to stop a car with the footbrake even if the accelerator is depressed and the vehicle is running at full throttle. In other words, it makes sure every time a driver steps on the brake, the car should stop. Apparently, this did not happen in many Toyotas including a Lexus that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and his family in San Diego.

The systems are an outgrowth of new electronics in cars, specifically in engine control. “If the brake and the accelerator are in an argument, the brake wins,” a spokesman at Chrysler told the Washington Post in describing the systems, which it began installing in 2003.

Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz also install such systems in at least some of their cars, the Washington Post reports, some as far back as 10 years ago. General Motors installs brake override in all of its cars. “Most other automakers have adopted this technology,” Sean Kane, a former researcher at the Center for Auto Safety who now works at Safety Research and Strategies told the Washington Post. Not adding the systems “is one of the mistakes that created this perfect storm for Toyota.”

Toyota Motor began facing complaints of runaway cars years ago, but the company did not install “brake override” systems in those vehicles, even as several other automakers deployed the technology to address such malfunctions. Toyota has blamed the unintended accelerations on faulty floor mats and their installation, as well as defective accelerator pedals, which they are seeking to redesign. The problem however, may be in its car computer system or a lack of a brake override system, and Toyota is apparently reluctant to even look at these possibilities. –Boo Chanco (The Philippine Star)