Toyota Acceleration Investigation Finds No Evidence of Electrical Fault

An intensive 10-month investigation into likely causes of unintended acceleration in Toyotas has found no fault in the electronic throttle systems of Toyotas, CNN Money reports.

The Department of Transportation hired the help of NASA scientists to test out the vehicles.

So far there are three known causes of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles: improperly installed floor mats, sticky pedals, and driver error. Toyota has insisted the electronic controls in its cars are safe.

Last year Toyota admitted to problems that led to the recall of more than 8 million vehicles.

James Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, admitted that the massive recall and proposed fix to their gas pedal might not completely solve the sudden acceleration problem with Toyotas.

Sticky gas pedals on Toyotas have been linked to a number of deaths including the deadly crash of a Toyota Camry in western Utah.

Toyota has already settled at least one sudden acceleration lawsuit. Others are still pending.

More than 11 million Toyota recalls have been made since September 2009, with 8.5 million recalled due to complaints that they may accelerate out of control.

At the end of 2010 a federal judge, James V. Selna, cleared the way for wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits against Toyota over accidents allegedly caused by the sudden and unexpected acceleration of their vehicles, after the world's second largest automaker unsuccessfully sought to have more than 50 cases thrown out.

About 400 Toyota personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits have been centralized and consolidated under Judge Selna for pretrial proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Santa Ana.

The lawsuits include one brought by Suzanne Riegel Briet of Greensville County, Virginia, (VA) who died in 2009 after her Camry suddenly accelerated and hit a tree.

DM