All About Japan Autos

With sluggish sales and unprecedented recalls, Toyota could use some good news this year. A government investigation into causes of unintended acceleration in Toyotas has just given them some.

“The government’s investigation into complaints of sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles has found no evidence of flawed electronics in 58 of the vehicles that crashed,” reports the New York Times.

The Washington Post adds that the investigation “found no new safety defects beyond problems with accelerator pedals that explain reports of sudden acceleration in the vehicles.” The investigation used information from 58 event data recorders (EDRs) from Toyotas that crashed due to unintended acceleration. EDRs are similar to airline “black boxes” in that they record data about the car’s systems prior to a crash.

Some safety experts have said that Toyota’s electronic throttle control systems could be to blame for the unintended acceleration. ABC News even filmed controversial segment which purported to show electronic interference causing a Toyota car to accelerate without driver input.

Most notably, the government report says “of the 58 cases [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] has already reviewed, 35 had evidence that the brake pedal wasn’t applied. The agency concluded that those 35 instances were likely human error and not a problem with Toyota’s electronic throttle,” writes Kicking Tires.

This preliminary report isn’t the final word on the issue, however. The Detroit News reports, “NHTSA emphasized that the probe is ongoing — along with help from NASA — and investigators ‘are continuing to study whether there are potential electronic or software defects in these vehicles.’”

The findings also don’t completely let Toyota off the hook, as the sticking or entrapped gas pedals point to design flaws. Plus, the study only examined 58 EDRs, and NHTSA has received over 3,000 complaints of unintended acceleration in Toyotas.

If you’re in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year’s best cars as well as this month’s best car deals.