トヨタの電子制御システム、問題見つからず=米運輸省
8月11日10時1分配信 ロイター
[ワシントン 10日 ロイター] 米運輸省は10日、トヨタ自動車<7203.T>のリコールをめぐる問題で、データレコーダーを調査した結果、電子制御システムに問題は見つからなかったことを明らかにした。
ラフード運輸長官と同省幹部が議会に対して調査結果を報告した。それによると、トヨタ車の急加速について、58台のデータレコーダーを調べたが、アクセルペダルが戻りにくくなる問題やアクセルペダルがフロアマットに引っかかる問題以外に新たな原因は特定できなかったとしている。
米道路交通安全局(NHTSA)によるデータレコーダーの分析は、電子制御システムの問題が急加速の報告や事故の原因になったかどうかをめぐる当局や専門家による調査の一環。
意図せぬ急加速が原因で事故を起こしたとされる車両のデータレコーダーをNHTSAが分析した結果、58件中35件でブレーキを踏んでいなかったことが明らかになり、運転ミスの可能性が示された。レコーダーに何も記録されていなかったケースは5件あった。
米運輸省のオリビア・アレア報道官は「データレコーダーの分析はトヨタ車の意図せぬ急加速問題の原因究明に向けた(政府の)取り組みのごく一部だ」とした上で、「調査初期段階の現時点では、エンジニアは新たな安全上の欠陥を特定していない」と述べた。
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20100811-00000239-reu-bus_all
トヨタ車、欠陥見つからず=急加速問題で経過報告-米当局
8月11日7時39分配信 時事通信
【ニューヨーク時事】トヨタ車の急加速問題を調査している米当局は10日、米議会関係者を対象に行った経過報告で、欠陥の証拠は今のところ見つかっていないと説明した。米紙ウォール・ストリート・ジャーナル(電子版)が同日報じた。
同紙によると、米当局はこれまでに急加速したとされるトヨタ車から58の事故データ記録機(EDR)を回収し解析。このうち35件は衝突時点で運転者が全くブレーキペダルを踏んでいなかった。また、14件ではブレーキペダルが途中まで踏み込まれ、9件では衝突直前に踏まれていたという。
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20100811-00000023-jij-int
Aug 10, 2010
Government finds no electronic defects in runaway Toyotas "so far"
04:14
The government issued preliminary findings into reports of runaway Toyotas today and didn"t find any evidence that pointed to problems in the car"s computer systems.
That will come as a big relief to Toyota, which has insisted that its under-the-hood electronics are sound and are not to blame for cars that ran away on their drivers and crashed.
The government"s findings, still at their early stages, instead point to the problems that Toyota has already identified and issued recalls for -- sticky pedal mechanisms and floor mats that can jam underneath accelerators, the Associated Press says. The government emphasized the report is preliminary and says it is continuing to see if other defects are at work, including those in the electronics.
Toyota" "unintended acceleration" crisis began almost a year ago when a California Highway Patrol officer was killed along with three members of his family in a borrowed Lexus ES. A panicked phone call from a passenger in the car before the crash indicated that the gas pedal was stuck and the car wouldn"t stop.
Congressional hearings, recalls of more than 9 million cars and a federal investigation ensued as the crisis ballooned. AP says the government has 3,000 reports of sudden and unintended acceleration involving the deaths of 93 people.
AP says the findings came after review of black-box data:
Investigators with NASA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have reviewed event data recorders, or vehicle black boxes, on 58 vehicles in which sudden acceleration was reported. In 35 of the 58 cases reviewed, the black boxes showed no brakes were applied. In about half of those 35 cases, the accelerator pedal was depressed right before the crash, suggesting drivers of the speeding cars were stepping on the accelerator rather than hitting the brakes.
Fourteen cases showed partial braking.
One case showed pedal entrapment and another showed that both the brake and the pedal were depressed. Other cases were inconclusive.
The black boxes are devices that track a number of details about a vehicle around the time of an accident, including which pedals were applied and how fast the car was traveling.
Olivia Alair, a Transportation Department spokeswoman, said the review of the black boxes was "one small part" of the investigation, which is expected to be completed later in the fall.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in congressional testimony that Toyota was a "a little safety deaf." The recalls ended up covering issues that went well beyond the runaway car problem, such as steering issues.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/08/government-toyota-electronics-blameless-for-runaway-cars/1?loc=interstitialskip
Gov"t: Initial probe finds no new Toyota issues
By KEN THOMAS (AP)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i3CZPJXvtZZ46SY9bcMupivluKswD9HGR9N82