Page 344 - Acceleration News Today

Plane. and an automobile. its a menace to society and we recently exercised our authority to ban truck drivers from texting while driving. now for toyota. the toyota recall situation is extremely serious and we are treating it extremely seriously. the three recalls involving toyota are among the largest in automobile history affecting more than six million people in the country. id like to say a word to consumers. if you notice your gas pedal or your brake is not responding as it normally would,...

>> translator: first problem with the electronic throttle system, and secondly, the way in which a car is used or misusage of the car, and thirdly, the structural aspect of the vehicle, and fourthly, the structural aspect of the parts used in the vehicle. so, these i understand are four major factors contributing to unexpected acceleration. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> translator: however, placing emphasis upon the fact that customers do have concern as to the possibility of unexpected acceleration which may result from the remaining three reasons, in order to offer extra measure of confidence as chairman has just mentioned, we decided to add brake override system. >> is that a yes or no? i mean, that is what aim trying to -- that is what i am trying to get to, yes or no, because i am on congressman issas time. [ speaking foreign language ] >> i yield to co...

They said it was so inadequate. the sample was too small, it wasnt done in a rigorous, scientific way, and the result, of course, of this evaluation was, oh, it couldnt have been the electronics. >> so given everything you heard from them today and presumably you, your staffers had been talking to them in addition to just the hearing that we all saw publicly. do you get the sense now, at least, that they are actively looking for a real solution? >> i think that this hearing had to impress upon t...

Bailey says the agency decided to exclude two crucial areas. >> they specifically say longer duration incidents involving uncontrollable acceleration where the brakes didnt work are not within the scope of this investigation. >> reporter: that decision was made after discussions with santucci and another toyota official who had also worked for nhtsa. santucci was deposed in december. >> we discussed the scope, nhtsas concerns about the scope and ultimately led to a decision by the agency to redu...

Themselves from even knowing about the problem at the highest levels of toyota in japan. >> reporter: this was one of the most fascinating things that struck me because when lawmakers questioned them what did you know, when did you know, we heard from them they didnt really know about widespread acceleration issues or reports of them until late december. in fact, youve heard the secretary of transportation, ray lahood, really tout this meeting that ntsa nhtsa went out to japan. mr. inaba and mr....

Sent this fax to my u.s. house representative. i said i need mr. polis help in identifying which congressional subcommittee has oversight responsibilities for nhtsa. i would like to initiate a congressional inquiry to investigate allegations that employees of nhtsa were in collusion with executives of toyota usa to cover up defects regarding unintended acceleration. so, folks, dont blame the government, you can blame me. im the customer and the consumer that initiated these hearings. >> ted jame...

>> reporter: according to toyota, the problem is stuck pedals, stuck floormats, an easy fix. but weve been told toyotas explanations do not make sense. >> i would say unequivocally toyotas explanations do not account for the share of unintended acceleration points that weve examined. >> why? >> an automotive safety consulting firm that has track the sudden acceleration literally for years now says, follow the data. some, yes, are floormats. some, yes, may be a stuck gas pedal. but thats the prob...

>> first problems with electronic systems. secondly the way in which a car is used the for misusage of a car. and thirdly the structural as spcts of the correct and the structural as expect of the parts used in the vehicle. these i understand are four major factors contributing to unexpected acceleration. [translation in progress] >> and of that, the electronic control system is designed based point concept of safety first,

Will continue to investigate all possible causes of unintended acceleration. while the recalls are important steps in that direction, we dont maintain that they answer every question. some people believe that electromagnetic interference has a dangerous effect on these vehicles. although we are not aware of any incidents proven to cause such interference, nhtsa is doing a thorough review. we will get in the reads on this, we will do everything we can to find out if electronics are a part of the ...