This is a day of vindication for Toyota after the U.S. government investigation shows no links between electronic throttles and unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.
A 10-month probe ordered by Congress was conducted after the recalls issued of about 8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the U.S. over defective floor mats and accelerator pedals. No doubt that these recalls have somewhat tarnished the brand in the eyes of many American consumers and their long touted reputation for quality. Despite all of the so-called incidents and media exploitation, Toyota remains to stay in the game as the largest automotive maker. Hopefully this new finding will truly turn things around for Toyota as they report a recent 39 percent slide in quarterly profits.
“There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.
Although Toyota has been cleared of their electronic throttles having any type of involvement with unintended acceleration, regulators have said that they may impose requirements for vehicles to have braking systems that counteract instances of unintended acceleration.
Causes of unintended acceleration were previously identified with sticking accelerator pedals and misplaced or loose floor mats by NHTSA and NASA engineers. This accounted for over 18 million vehicles. Toyota still faces many civil lawsuits as a result of the recalls despite the investigation uncovering no justified flaws that would warrant another recall.
