House panel focuses on role of Toyota electronics
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One of the key themes of Tuesday’s Toyota safety hearings is whether the cause of the sudden acceleration is mechanical or electronic.
The distinction is important because Toyota maintains the problem that led to the recall was a gas pedal that required a mechanical adjustment performed by a dealer. But if the defect is electronic, then the fix is more complicated and the Toyota problem could remain unresolved.
David Gilbert, an auto safety expert who teaches at Southern Illinois University, explained how the electronics could have been at fault.
“Are you saying a physical defect caused a friction point?” Rep Joe Barton (R-Texas) asked Gilbert, adding that it could have been a short that impaired the control systems. “Your hypothesis is that there was a possible computer malfunction” that caused the vehicle to accelerate, Barton pressed. Gilbert agreed that was possible.
Rep. Bart Stupak, (D-Mich.) was more blunt asking expert Sean Kane, president and founder of Safety Research Strategies, what was left after mechanical woes are eliminated.
“There is only one thing left, that’s the control system,” Kane said, adding the evidence pointed strongly in that direction.
--Michael Muskal
