Page 353 - Acceleration News Today

Unwanted acceleration. inside the electric ongss lab at the university of marylands clark school of engineering, professor mike peck specializes in laboratory-controlled interkpeerns testing. >> they need to continuously be testing these products. you cant just test one day and say, ah, theres the product, unless they can make sthur theres been no other changes, which is very difficult today. >> reporter: and that being he says, may be the heart of toyotas problem. professor, i realize youre try...

Prius, being recalled for problems with the antilock braking systems. just give us your estimation. how much bigger do you think this is going to get for toyota? >> well, i think the longer toyota stalls and avoids coming to the table with all of the problems theyre having, i think it will spread even further than it is. as you know, their main problem has been sudden acceleration, sudden unintended acceleration. this is an issue with the hybrid vehicle are where there is a programming glitch th...

Behind its safety crisis. take a look. >> reporter: it was a hastily called news conference, an apology at 9:00 friday night near tokyo. the president of toyota, akio toyota, saying hes sorry for the global recall, but declaring believe me, toyotas cars are safe. on the companys website, a clear explanation for the sudden acceleration problems, stuck floor mats, sticky gas pedals, and a fix. its all mechanical, the company says, and its solved. but is it? >> i would say unequivocal that toyotas ...

Dont -- they dont have a high level of confidence in what toyota has said. and part of that is, you know, the issue of, okay, first its the floor mats, then its the sticking pedals and people are hearing a lot about electronic interference. >> yes. >> so, i think that people arent for sure that what toyota says is true, and probably the way theyve handled this is playing a part in that. but acceleration, sudden acceleration, isnt an entirely new problem. other automakers have experienced problem...

That problem that so far they say that solution doesnt exist. it was a hastily called news conference and apology at 9:00 friday night near tokyo. the president of toyota, akio toyoda, saying hes sorry but, believe me, toyotas cars are safe. on the companys web site, a clear explanation for the sudden acceleration problems, stuck floor mats, sticky gas pedals, and a fix. its all mechanical, the company says, and its solved. but is it? >> i would say unequivocally that toyotas explanations do not...

Doesnt really know how to fix them. >> from what people have told me about their sudden acceleration incidents, most of them have got nothing to do with the sticking pedal all the? >> reporter: why? sean cain with safety research strategies, an automotive if i remember that tracked complaints for years now says follow the data. 2200 incidents, 815 crashes and 18 deaths. some, yes, are floor mats, some yes, may be a stuck gas pedal. but thats the problem. the records show just some of the problem...

Sudden acceleration in some of its models. a top insurance company says it notified the federal government about the problem as early as 2007. we are following that part of the story. this intriguing, 2007. maybe take some time here and walk us through all of this. >> a lot of people must be wondering who knew what when? >> absolutely. >> thats the question. and we know that the insurance company state farm said it receive numerous alleged accelerator problem complaints on some toyota and lexus ...

Button for three minutes and shift the car to neutral and do all the other things that toyota is advising people to do in this situation. which is still extremely rare. >> i got to sneak in another quick one here. thats a scary picture that you just painted, thanks for that, sarah. any evidence that what is todays problem for toyota could be, say, fords problem tomorrow? >> well, if you go back in history, most other auto makers have already dealt with unintended acceleration issues. i dont thin...

Question thats going to be asked at congressional hearings over the next couple of weeks. has toyota identified all of the problems regarding unintended acceleration. a number of people still believe there could be problem was electronics, even though toyota said emphatically it tested it, outside firms tested it, election astronautics are not the problem. >> phil lebeau with the latest breaking news regarding the troubles that continue to follow toyota. thank you very much, phil. big breaking...

>> i have no idea. i was surprised when i looked at -- well, i wasnt really surprised, but i was when i looked and it said, opinion, it said driver -- my opinion was the driver was just driving at unsafe speeds. unsafe speeds. well, yes, of course, i was. down the cliff. >> reporter: asked to explain that report, police told us they try their best to record drivers comments accurately. david wright is part of the class action team that recently asked a judge to widen toyotas recall to include al...