The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether electromagnetic signals such as those from radar and cellphones could be interfering with electronic accelerator pedal controls in vehicles including Toyotas, a federal official told USA Today newspaper.
Transportation secretary Ray LaHood confirmed on Wednesday the government was investigating potential electrical problems, adding that NHTSA would investigate electronic throttle control systems and potential electromagnetic interference in the nation’s fleet of vehicles.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
According to the paper, the agency plans to meet with Toyota and other manufacturers, suppliers and outside experts to better understand the electronics that control engine throttles and the safeguards to prevent problems when vehicles are exposed to “electromagnetic interference,” or EMI. Some plaintiffs’ attorneys and consumer advocates say signals from radar, radios and other sources are causing vehicles’ electronic throttles to accelerate on their own.
NHTSA plans to do more vehicle testing for EMI if the interviews with auto industry officials and experts suggest it’s necessary, the official told USA Today.
NHTSA has consulted UK-based electromagnetic interference expert Keith Armstrong, who said EMI was a “likely cause” of some of the unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. Armstrong is also to testify as an expert witness in a Ford sudden-acceleration lawsuit in Florida this week.
Toyota said in a statement on Tuesday: “After many years of exhaustive testing — by us and other outside agencies — we have found no evidence of a problem with our electronic throttle control system that could have caused unwanted acceleration. Our vehicles go through extensive electromagnetic radiation testing dynamically.”
The paper said automakers and regulators had been studying EMI for decades and an NHTSA report from as long ago as 1975 warned of possible future problems with EMI and the increasing use of vehicle electronics.
