Toyota accidents caused by driver error?

The investigation is underway

Accidents caused by Toyota cars, that dominated headlines earlier in the year and impacted on the company, could have been caused by driver error according to a preliminary investigation by the US National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration.

The US group that has been tasked by Congress to investigate the accidents involving the Japanese vehicles said that in their initial findings, data recorders of 58 cars involved in incidents suggested brakes had not been applied in 35 cases.

In another nine of the 58 cars, the group said that the brakes had been applied late, while another incident saw the brake and accelerator both depressed.

In a statement, Transportation Department spokeswoman Olivia Alair said that looking at data recorders was only part of the investigation into "unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

"At this early stage period in the investigation, engineers have not identified any new safety defects."

Mass recalls

Since the accidents in the first half of the year, Toyota has recalled about 10 million vehicles globally in the past year for various problems including faulty floor mats, sticky accelerator pedals, braking software glitches and steering malfunctions.

The accidents saw the company's President Akio Toyoda apologise for the recall and admitted the carmaker was facing a "moment of crisis." He later faced a US Congressional hearing.

As a result, the Toyota recall prompted other Japanese automakers to make sure their products are the best they can be - hence a series of recalls from Honda, Nissan, Daihatsu and Suzuki, albeit mostly from their home market.

At the time, Infrastructure APAC reported how Honda issued a recall for almost one million cars over an 'airbag problem', while Nissan, Daihatsu and Suzuki later followed suit, recalling cars that had potential problems.

Toyota however has, to date, been fined US$16 million for not disclosing potentially dangerous defects, including the "sticky pedals", to regulators. The company has yet to comment on the latest investigation results.

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The great Japanese car recall |Mr Toyoda goes to Washington | First Toyota... now Honda | Toyota's recall crisis

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