Consultants say interference in vehicle electronics is possible [View All]

[DainBramaged]

Testing by Toyota Motor Corp. and other automakers has never detected electronic causes of sudden acceleration because it has looked for the wrong evidence and because this evidence is difficult to detect, three British consultants with doctorates in engineering said today.

The consultants, who expect to meet tomorrow with U.S. investigators, said Toyota's pedal assembly and electronic throttle-control system have a number of parts that aren't shielded against electromagnetic interference, or EMI.

“Thirty years' empirical evidence overwhelmingly points to (sudden acceleration) being caused by electronic system faults undetectable by inspection or testing,” said Keith Armstrong, a engineering consultant from the United Kingdom who appeared with two other engineers at a Washington news conference organized here by consumer advocates.

Armstrong, who said he was interviewed last month by U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigators, said the problem with electronic interference is industrywide. “EMI is endemic in electronics,” he said. EMI is electrical disturbances in the circuits.

Real-life EMI

Tests by Toyota and other automakers don't cover most real-life EMI, nor do they simulate typical faults to verify that backup measures work, Armstrong said.

NHTSA is looking into possible links between electronic defects and loss of speed control.

Studies have shown that Toyota has had more complaints about unintended acceleration over the past decade than any other automaker.


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