A separate National Academy of Sciences study will examine the full range of sudden acceleration issues — including human error — in all makes of cars and trucks, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the Detroit Free Press.
He said the move comes even as federal auto safety officials have found no electronic faults in Toyota vehicles.
“We haven't been able to find anything wrong with the electronics, but I've made a commitment to Congress, Toyota and other car owners that we would find the very best experts we could to look into this,” LaHood told the Free Press.
The Free Press first reported earlier this month that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was considering the potential impact of cosmic rays on electronic systems as a cause of the sudden acceleration.
LaHood also asked the Department of Transportation's inspector general, the agency's independent investigator, to review whether NHTSA mishandled complaints of sudden acceleration in Toyotas during probes dating back to 2003.
The moves come as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration already has three separate probes underway into whether the world's largest automaker withheld safety information from the agency before announcing recalls in January that now cover 13 models and 5.6 million vehicles in the United States.
LaHood said the National Academy of Sciences will conduct the broad study into sudden acceleration and electronic controls, including all possible sources from human error to electromagnetic interference. The study, which should take about 15 months, should produce recommendations for NHTSA to handle future complaints.
The academy will probe “not just Toyota, but all vehicles, and not just sudden acceleration, but all electronic controls across the industry,” LaHood said.
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