Study relieved Toyota - drivers made mistakes

Washington (dpa) - Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota can breathe a sigh: Non-technical weaknesses have been the trigger for many of the accidents in the U.S., but the driver error. Experts commissioned by the Government evaluated 58 accident data recorder, the so-called black boxes.
Ad

They have found that had at least 35 accidents, the driver stepped on the brakes at all, in other cases, it blunted half-hearted or the last second.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration had made the study on behalf of the government. Toyota had given the authorities the key to the accident data recorders - so far only the manufacturers themselves to retrieve the content. The black boxes stuck in many cars in the U.S.. They contain information about the condition of the car shortly before the crash and play around on insurance matters a great role. Even in Europe they are coming.

Local media on Tuesday quoted from the paper that went to parliamentarians in Washington. Already last month, The Wall Street Journal first results of the study made public. There was therefore only a single case in which a sliding door mat the accelerator had jammed, resulting in a serious accident.

The study reinforces Toyota's back - for a forthcoming at the trials on damages for accident victims and their survivors. Second, to the policy. In particular, U.S. Transport Ray LaHood Toyota had assumed several occasions, the Group conceal the true reason for the unwanted acceleration. LaHood was the complex electronics of modern vehicles suspected. Toyota had it rejected from the beginning.

The National Academy of Sciences and the NASA study commissioned by LaHood, about whether electromagnetic fields may have affected the electronics. The experts themselves were of the intermediate nor draw any conclusions. The investigation will continue for some months yet. The researchers look at 71 accident, which killed since the year 2000 a total of 89 people.

Toyota had recalled more than 8 million cars worldwide because of key accelerator terminal and slippery floor mats. The automotive company battered its image, sales collapsed, the damage is in the billions. Toyota also had to pay a penalty in the U.S., because the manufacturer of the problems with the clamping accelerators did not report on time.

automotive directory

Where to find automotive products.