Toyota Explains Idle Surges, Faces Questions
In light of recent findings by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that many cases of unintended acceleration associated with Toyota automobiles over the past year seem to have been caused by driver error, the Japanese car company has begun a campaign to better inform its customers about their vehicles.
The first foray into Toyota's new education program came in the form of a press release distributed this week by the automaker's American media center. The release described several different scenarios where Toyota drivers might encounter changes in engine speed that seem unrelated to driver inputs. While attempting to disseminate safety information via a press release instead of a more traditional consumer-connected medium such as magazine advertising or television spots might seem somewhat unusual, many in the automotive press instead latched on to the idea that the simple and straightforward language used in the release was actually a negative commentary on the perceived car-savvy of typical Toyota owners.
In fact, the five different engine speed change scenarios described by Toyota in the press release (cold start idle-up, transmission shift, catalytic converter protection, air conditioning idle-up and power steering idle-up) are not immediately obvious to the average driver. Given the recent media coverage of Toyota's unintended acceleration problems, the decision to explain the surges in rpm that can accompany each of these standard vehicle operations is a perfectly reasonable course of action. Most Toyota Camry drivers will no doubt appreciate learning that simply turning the wheel while stopped in a parking lot can in some cases spike engine speed, and many Toyota Tundra owners will no doubt be relieved to know that while shifting at highway speeds, engine rpms might remain elevated simply to extend the life of the catalytic converter - not to launch them on a white-knuckle, out of control ride.
That occasionally quickened idle speeds almost never lead to life-threatening runaway acceleration is a point that Toyota does need to stress. Including the content of this press release in an owner's manual or other materials handed out at the time of purchase will no doubt go much further towards disseminating this anxiety-reducing information.
While the NHTSA may appear to be satisfied in large part that Toyota's unintended acceleration problem was almost entirely linked to instances of driver error or floor mat entrapment, a recent report in the Washington Post has questioned the validity of the data upon which those conclusions have been based. The federal Administration has been relying on information provided by the so-called 'black box'? recorders found in many Toyota vehicles in order to determine vehicle speeds and brake and throttle inputs at the time of any crash linked to the recall.
The Washington Post story references several instances where these data recorders have provided specific information concerning a vehicle incident which is altogether impossible, such as impact speeds showing much higher than the maximum velocity of the automobile in question, or cases where passengers were validated as having buckled their seatbelts even though later evidence showed this not to be the case.
Although the NHTSA claims to have performed its own specific tests regarding Toyota's black box data and that the Administration is more than confident in its overall accuracy, even Toyota has in the past questioned some of the recorded information contained in its own devices. Typically, this has taken place in the course of the company defending itself from specific lawsuits regarding its products and accident liability. In fact, one court filing quotes Toyota as saying that the ''¦data retrieved from the EDR (electronic data recorder) is far from reliable,'? and that the ''¦EDR was not intended to be used as a reconstruction tool in the field.'?
Whether the news report will have any affect on the NHTSA's current position regarding its use of Toyota black box data is uncertain. However, the use of an electronic recording device to report on the safe operation of a questioned electronics systems designed by the same company does seem to strain the limits of credibility. Toyota has as yet refused to comment on its apparent about-face concerning the reliability of its EDR devices.