Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Most 'failed to brake' in runaway Toyota crashes
AFP - Wednesday, August 11
Send
IM Story
Print
Most 'failed to brake' in runaway Toyota crashes
Slideshow: Full Photo Coverage: Business & Economy
CHICAGO (AFP) - – Drivers failed to brake in most of the cases of "runaway" Toyota vehicles investigated by US safety regulators, a report presented to lawmakers has found.
A review of data recorders from 58 Toyotas involved in crashes where drivers said their cars had sped out of control showed the brakes were not applied at all in 35 cases, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found.
Toyota has seen its reputation badly damaged after it recalled around 10 million vehicles worldwide because of dangerous defects, many involving "sticky" gas pedal problems that could cause vehicles to speed out of control.
The Japanese automaker paid a record 16.4-million-dollar fine earlier this year to settle claims it hid gas pedal defects blamed for more than 50 US deaths and faces a host of civil lawsuits over issues with "unintended acceleration."
US safety regulators said it is too soon to reach any definite conclusions about whether Toyota has solved the problem or if the vehicle's electronic controls could be involved.
"At this early point in its investigation, NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) officials have drawn no conclusions about additional causes of unintended acceleration in Toyotas beyond the two defects already known -- pedal entrapment and sticking gas pedals," a briefing note provided to lawmakers said.
The review of crash data is just "one small part" of the government's efforts to "get to the bottom of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles," said Department of Transportation spokeswoman Olivia Alair.
"At the request of Congress, experts at NHTSA and NASA are currently conducting research at labs across the United States to determine whether there are potential electronic or software defects in Toyotas that can cause unintended acceleration."
Toyota's top executives have repeatedly denied in public that the sudden, deadly surges in speed stemmed from flaws in the electronic systems that govern acceleration and braking in modern vehicles.
Instead, the firm has blamed jammed floor mats or "sticky" pedals, or driver error, and has vigorously attacked claims that there could be "ghosts" in its systems.
"Having conducted more than 4,000 on-site vehicle inspections, in no case have we found electronic throttle controls to be a cause of unintended acceleration," spokesman Brian Lyons told AFP.
"Toyota's own vehicle evaluations have confirmed that the remedies it developed for sticking accelerator pedal and potential accelerator pedal entrapment by an unsecured or incompatible floor mat are effective."
The NHTSA reviewed the event data recorders of 58 Toyota vehicles involved in crashes where drivers reported sudden, unintended acceleration.
Some 35 of the recorders showed that the brake was not applied at all and one recorder showed that both the brake and gas pedal were depressed.
Another 14 cases involved partial braking: nine of those had brakes applied late in the crash sequence; three involved early braking and two involved mid-event braking.
One incident involved a case of pedal entrapment.
In seven cases, the event record was not triggered by the crash, did not contain information related to the crash, or contained inconclusive information.
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
Related Articles
Diverted A380 lands in New Caledonia for 1st time AFP - 23 minutes ago
India steel min sees Posco plant environment clearance Reuters - 25 minutes ago
Dollar nears 15-month low vs. yen; stocks fall Reuters - 31 minutes ago
US-BUSINESS Summary Reuters - 31 minutes ago
TABLE-Sundram Fasteners April-June net up 32 pct Reuters - 33 minutes ago
News Search
Top Stories
Supermodel Campbell defends war crimes testimony
Euro football championship advance vital for Spurs
US Fed promises stimulus to help slowing recovery
New superbugs spreading from South Asia: study
Chelsea agree Carvalho fee with Real
More Top Stories »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
Visitors attack Taiwan 'haunted house' actors
Chelsea agree Carvalho fee with Real
Sauna contest in Finland cut short as Russian dies
New superbugs spreading from South Asia: study
A long, hot Ramadan for many devout Muslims
More Most Viewed »
Argentine students crack three-decade-old murder mystery
40 US billionaires pledge half wealth to charity
World's first full face transplant man appears on TV
Calcium supplements linked to heart attacks: study
Massive ice island breaks off Greenland glacier
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Asia Entertainment
Photos
World Cup 2010