Wednesday, 15 August 2007
“Unintended acceleration” claims back in the spotlight; Lexus ES350 and Toyota Prius now being scrutinized
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The Detroit Free Press reported today that federal safety investigators are looking closely at the 40 reports they have received of Lexus ES350 sedans experiencing “unintended acceleration” that has reportedly led to eight crashes and 12 injuries. Likewise, ConsumerAffairs.com published a story this past Sunday (along with one two weeks ago) indicating similar symptoms in the popular Toyota Prius hybrid. Are Toyota Motor Company products really to blame, or is this just a case of driver error?
Unintended acceleration is not a new word in the auto industry. The most well known application of the term, and most devastating to a car manufacturer, is in relation to the Audi 5000 of the mid 1980s that was spotlighted by the CBS news program 60 Minutes in 1986. When drivers reported problems with unwanted acceleration CBS ran a story on it, even though they apparently could not replicate the symptoms themselves and had to rig the car to appear to move by itself. It turned out that the brake pedal was simply too close to the accelerator (for American tastes) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration eventually cleared Audi three years later. But the damage had been done: Audi sales of approximately 74,000 units in 1984 shrunk to just 12,000 cars by 1991.
Last summer some Jeep Grand Cherokee drivers complained of similar acceleration behavior. Subaru recalled some 2001-2004 six-cylinder Outback and 2002-2004 Impreza WRX models due to faulty cruise control cables that would stick in the open position and create similar symptoms. Some General Motors and Ford vehicles were subject to similar problems in the 1990s, again due to the cruise control systems. So sometimes the unwanted throttle application is due to manufacturer error.
In the case of the Prius, some evidence suggests that again, the car’s cruise control system may be to blame. One driver, an engineer, explained that his Prius would stop it unintended acceleration when he tapped the cruise control lever, even when the cruise was turned off. “I can assure you that the incidence that I had did not involve mechanical sticking or jamming of the accelerator pedal because of a piece of carpet,” he told ConsumerAffairs.com. “It was not driver error.”
Lexus may also have some corrective actions to take, as the ES sedan has been cited for this type of defect before. In April of 2004 USA Today ran a story on unintended acceleration in which a 2002 Lexus ES300 owner complained of her vehicle “lurching” without input. That article questioned specifically if electronic throttle control, a relatively new technology, could be to blame.
Sources: cited throughout
Image: Toyota/Lexus Pressroom [2007 Lexus ES350]
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