Let's see if this gets as much press and a congressional hearing:
Federal regulators have yet to find any electronic defects in Toyota vehicles, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) official today told a scientific panel appointed to study potential causes of unintended accelerations.
Some members of Congress, consumer advocates and product-liability plaintiff lawyers have said that electronic-throttle control systems may be responsible for reports of unintended acceleration. Toyota has said its rigorous testing has not found any electronic defects that would cause unintended acceleration. Instead, the company has identified unsecured floor mats and sticking accelerator pedals as two causes.
"We have not actually been able to find a defect of electronic-throttle control systems" in Toyota vehicles, NHTSA’s Dan Smith told the National Academy of Sciences panel. He added that NHTSA has identified the same two causes – floor mats and sticking pedals – as Toyota.
The head of NHTSA, David Strickland, told the panel that the problem of unintended acceleration is an industrywide issue. "Complaints of unintended acceleration are not – repeat not – exclusive to Toyota."
Federal regulators have yet to find any electronic defects in Toyota vehicles, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) official today told a scientific panel appointed to study potential causes of unintended accelerations.
Some members of Congress, consumer advocates and product-liability plaintiff lawyers have said that electronic-throttle control systems may be responsible for reports of unintended acceleration. Toyota has said its rigorous testing has not found any electronic defects that would cause unintended acceleration. Instead, the company has identified unsecured floor mats and sticking accelerator pedals as two causes.
"We have not actually been able to find a defect of electronic-throttle control systems" in Toyota vehicles, NHTSA’s Dan Smith told the National Academy of Sciences panel. He added that NHTSA has identified the same two causes – floor mats and sticking pedals – as Toyota.
The head of NHTSA, David Strickland, told the panel that the problem of unintended acceleration is an industrywide issue. "Complaints of unintended acceleration are not – repeat not – exclusive to Toyota."
Showing posts with label congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label congress. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
What's Really Driving the Toyota Controversy?
WashingtonExaminer.com
In this opinion article by Don Watkins and Yaron Brook, the authors reveal some behind-the-scenes players that may be fueling the fire of the Toyota recalls.
Quotes from the story:
In February, Toyota executives were hauled in front of Congress, purportedly so that renowned auto experts like House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman of California could determine the cause of reported cases of unintended acceleration and evaluate Toyotas alleged failure to respond. The hearings had the fingerprints of politics all over them.
The Detroit lobby is hard to distinguish from the government itself now that the government holds a 60 percent stake in General Motors. Even if concerns about an electronic problem in Toyotas vehicles turn out to be baseless, domestic manufacturers stand to benefit by prolonging the parade of bad publicity.
Anyone who thinks Toyotas executives were summoned to Congress to discuss the evidence concerning Toyotas vehicles has missed the point. Regardless of what we ultimately discover about Toyota, this was about a horde of pressure groups seeking to impose their economic agendas via political power.
The cause is the governments power to intervene in the market to pick winners and losers. In the auto industry alone, the government controls everything from whom car companies can hire (unionized employees) to what kind of vehicles they must build (hybrids). The truth is Toyotas troubles should not be a political issue.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/OpEd-Contributor/Don-Watkins-and-Yaron-Brook-Whats-really-driving-the-Toyota-controversy-89271207.html
In this opinion article by Don Watkins and Yaron Brook, the authors reveal some behind-the-scenes players that may be fueling the fire of the Toyota recalls.
Quotes from the story:
In February, Toyota executives were hauled in front of Congress, purportedly so that renowned auto experts like House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman of California could determine the cause of reported cases of unintended acceleration and evaluate Toyotas alleged failure to respond. The hearings had the fingerprints of politics all over them.
The Detroit lobby is hard to distinguish from the government itself now that the government holds a 60 percent stake in General Motors. Even if concerns about an electronic problem in Toyotas vehicles turn out to be baseless, domestic manufacturers stand to benefit by prolonging the parade of bad publicity.
Anyone who thinks Toyotas executives were summoned to Congress to discuss the evidence concerning Toyotas vehicles has missed the point. Regardless of what we ultimately discover about Toyota, this was about a horde of pressure groups seeking to impose their economic agendas via political power.
The cause is the governments power to intervene in the market to pick winners and losers. In the auto industry alone, the government controls everything from whom car companies can hire (unionized employees) to what kind of vehicles they must build (hybrids). The truth is Toyotas troubles should not be a political issue.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/OpEd-Contributor/Don-Watkins-and-Yaron-Brook-Whats-really-driving-the-Toyota-controversy-89271207.html
Friday, March 12, 2010
How can wires rewire themselves? When you have an agenda they do!
PopularMechanics.com Toyota Fires Back: Electronics Dont Rewire Themselves
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/how_to/4348506.html?nav=RSS20&src=syn&dom=yah_buzz&mag=pop
As a follow up to his previous article regarding the Toyota pedal and how it would be nearly impossible for an error to increase acceleration, Mike Allen of PopularMechanics.com uses information presented by Toyota on March 8, 2010 regarding the issues and unrealistic nature of Professor Dave Gilberts testing.
Quotes from the story:
One pertinent factoid: Not a single case of sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) has been attributed to bad wiring. None. Toyota has been harvesting parts from vehicles with documented SUA issues as part of the recall, and they're checking them all. None of them have shown any sign of corrosion or shorted wiring.
You can engineer around any safety system if you try hard enough. Toyota also illustrated that Gilbert's modification works on cars from many different manufacturers. During a webcast explaining the modifications, Toyota had a half-dozen cars built by a half-dozen companies that were rewired in the same manner. All of them produced the same result as that Avalon.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/how_to/4348506.html?nav=RSS20&src=syn&dom=yah_buzz&mag=pop
As a follow up to his previous article regarding the Toyota pedal and how it would be nearly impossible for an error to increase acceleration, Mike Allen of PopularMechanics.com uses information presented by Toyota on March 8, 2010 regarding the issues and unrealistic nature of Professor Dave Gilberts testing.
Quotes from the story:
One pertinent factoid: Not a single case of sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) has been attributed to bad wiring. None. Toyota has been harvesting parts from vehicles with documented SUA issues as part of the recall, and they're checking them all. None of them have shown any sign of corrosion or shorted wiring.
You can engineer around any safety system if you try hard enough. Toyota also illustrated that Gilbert's modification works on cars from many different manufacturers. During a webcast explaining the modifications, Toyota had a half-dozen cars built by a half-dozen companies that were rewired in the same manner. All of them produced the same result as that Avalon.
Congressional electronic test was rigged
DetNews.com Acceleration test rigged, Toyota says
http://detnews.com/article/20100309/AUTO01/3090377/Acceleration-test-rigged--Toyota-says
Provides a review of the press conference held by Toyota in an effort to debunk statements made by Professor David Gilbert during U.S. House committee holding hearings that he had discovered an electronic flaw in the acceleration system of Toyota.
Quotes from the story:
The engineers said Professor David Gilbert of Southern Illinois University had rewired the circuitry in a way that would cause uncontrolled acceleration not only in Toyota vehicles but in all the cars they tested. "Any circuit can be taken and re-engineered and rewired to perform what it is you want it to do," said Matthew Schwall, an engineer at Menlo Park, Calif.-based Exponent, a firm retained by Toyota to examine its vehicles.
Chris Gerdes, a professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University, said he spoke with Gilbert, who confirmed that he had stripped insulation from wires connecting the pedal to the throttle and connected wires that were normally too far apart to touch in his experiment.
"Dr. Gilbert's demonstration is not evidence of a design flaw or a safety risk," Gerdes said at the news conference webcast from Torrance, Calif. "Dr. Gilbert provides no evidence that his scenario occurs in the real world."
http://detnews.com/article/20100309/AUTO01/3090377/Acceleration-test-rigged--Toyota-says
Provides a review of the press conference held by Toyota in an effort to debunk statements made by Professor David Gilbert during U.S. House committee holding hearings that he had discovered an electronic flaw in the acceleration system of Toyota.
Quotes from the story:
The engineers said Professor David Gilbert of Southern Illinois University had rewired the circuitry in a way that would cause uncontrolled acceleration not only in Toyota vehicles but in all the cars they tested. "Any circuit can be taken and re-engineered and rewired to perform what it is you want it to do," said Matthew Schwall, an engineer at Menlo Park, Calif.-based Exponent, a firm retained by Toyota to examine its vehicles.
Chris Gerdes, a professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University, said he spoke with Gilbert, who confirmed that he had stripped insulation from wires connecting the pedal to the throttle and connected wires that were normally too far apart to touch in his experiment.
"Dr. Gilbert's demonstration is not evidence of a design flaw or a safety risk," Gerdes said at the news conference webcast from Torrance, Calif. "Dr. Gilbert provides no evidence that his scenario occurs in the real world."
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Don't believe everything your hear in Congress
If you remember there was a professor who testified to Congress about Toyota's having an electrical issue causing acceleration issues. See the facts about him and the info behind his testimony
News Briefing Update: Test Vehicle Was ‘Rewired and Reengineered’
"Speculation is easy. Science takes a lot more effort," Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said at a news briefing at TMS headquarters in Torrance, Calif., on Monday. The briefing was held to raise serious concerns about the validity, methodology and credibility of unintended acceleration claims that Southern Illinois University professor David Gilbert made at a Congressional hearing and on ABC News late last month.
It was a "convincing rebuttal" by Toyota, according to longtime auto journalist Bill Visnic of automotive Web site Edmunds.com. "Toyota really chipped away at the evidence provided by Dr. Gilbert during the Congressional hearings."
Gilbert’s study was commissioned by Sean Kane, a paid advocate for trial lawyers who are suing Toyota.
"We did what Dr. Gilbert and ABC should have done to test the real-world relevance of Dr. Gilbert’s findings," Michels said. "[His test] was completely unrealistic. He rewired and reengineered a vehicle in multiple ways, in a specific sequence."
At the briefing, engineers also showed that Gilbert’s manipulation of vehicle electronics created substantially similar results in vehicles from other manufacturers. This included live demonstrations on models from Ford, Subaru and BMW. "You cannot rewire a circuit and expect it to behave the way it was designed," said J. Christian Gerdes, a mechanical engineering professor at Stanford University and director of the university’s Center for Automotive Research.
The bottom line for Motor Trend writer Kim Reynolds? Gilbert's hypothesis looked "truly filleted."
To read Toyota’s news release on the matter and view related materials, including the report on the Gilbert study from consultant Exponent, please
visit:
http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/electronic-throttle-control-154300.aspx.
News Briefing Update: Test Vehicle Was ‘Rewired and Reengineered’
"Speculation is easy. Science takes a lot more effort," Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said at a news briefing at TMS headquarters in Torrance, Calif., on Monday. The briefing was held to raise serious concerns about the validity, methodology and credibility of unintended acceleration claims that Southern Illinois University professor David Gilbert made at a Congressional hearing and on ABC News late last month.
It was a "convincing rebuttal" by Toyota, according to longtime auto journalist Bill Visnic of automotive Web site Edmunds.com. "Toyota really chipped away at the evidence provided by Dr. Gilbert during the Congressional hearings."
Gilbert’s study was commissioned by Sean Kane, a paid advocate for trial lawyers who are suing Toyota.
"We did what Dr. Gilbert and ABC should have done to test the real-world relevance of Dr. Gilbert’s findings," Michels said. "[His test] was completely unrealistic. He rewired and reengineered a vehicle in multiple ways, in a specific sequence."
At the briefing, engineers also showed that Gilbert’s manipulation of vehicle electronics created substantially similar results in vehicles from other manufacturers. This included live demonstrations on models from Ford, Subaru and BMW. "You cannot rewire a circuit and expect it to behave the way it was designed," said J. Christian Gerdes, a mechanical engineering professor at Stanford University and director of the university’s Center for Automotive Research.
The bottom line for Motor Trend writer Kim Reynolds? Gilbert's hypothesis looked "truly filleted."
To read Toyota’s news release on the matter and view related materials, including the report on the Gilbert study from consultant Exponent, please
visit:
http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/electronic-throttle-control-154300.aspx.
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