In the lab tests, throttles were positioned to wide open prior to brake application in an attempt to replicate the circumstances of the incidents under study.
These tests were meant to simulate reports of the time suggesting that the vehicles were at a standstill and accelerated uncontrollably when shifted from park.
General Motors cars of the 1950s with automatic transmissions have the R for reverse at the furthest clockwise position in the rotation of the column-mounted shift lever.
The most prominent incidents of sudden unintended acceleration took place from 2000–2010 in Toyota and Lexus vehicles, resulting in up to 89 deaths and 52 injuries in the USA.
Toyota also claimed that no defects existed and that the electronic control systems within the vehicles were unable to fail in a way that would result in an acceleration surge.
More investigations were made but were unsuccessful in finding any defect until April 2008, when it was discovered that the driver-side trim on a 2004 Toyota Sienna could come loose and prevent the accelerator pedal from returning to its fully closed position.
[6] In January 2021, engineer Colin O'Flynn was able to induce unintended acceleration with a similar Toyota vehicle using electromagnetic fault injection (EMFI) on a test bench.
Most of these events occurred in close confines in which rapid operator response would be necessary to prevent striking a person, fixed object, or another vehicle.
A statistical analysis of SAIs in 1991 through 1995 Jeeps revealed that the root cause of these incidents could not be human error, as had been historically posited by NHTSA and auto manufacturers.
[20] Physical analysis conducted on Toyota's electronic engine control system including accelerator pedal position sensors (APPSs) in 2011 showed the presence of a significant number of tin whiskers.
Further testing under a standard temperature-humidity cycling showed tin whisker growth, raising additional reliability and safety concerns.
[14] Sudden uncommanded opening of engine throttle in certain models of modern, ECU-controlled automobiles have been replicated multiple times in laboratory settings.
In the study cited, a laparoscopic camera positioned inside the engine confirmed that 100% TPS corresponded with the physical full-opening of the throttle.
[42][43] Subsequent investigation revealed that 60 Minutes had not disclosed they had engineered the vehicle's behavior — fitting a canister of compressed air on the passenger-side floor, linked via a hose to a hole drilled into the transmission[41][42] — the arrangement executed by one of the experts who had testified on behalf of a plaintiff in a then pending lawsuit against Audi's parent company.
[40] Subsequently, the NHTSA concluded that the majority of unintended acceleration cases, including all the ones that prompted the 60 Minutes report, were caused by driver error such as confusion of pedals.
[42] With the series of recall campaigns, Audi made several modifications; the first adjusted the distance between the brake and accelerator pedal on automatic-transmission models.
Later repairs, of 250,000 cars dating back to 1978, added a device requiring the driver to press the brake pedal before shifting out of park.
[39] As of early 2010, a class-action lawsuit filed in 1987 by about 7,500 Audi 5000 owners remains unsettled and is currently contested in county court in Chicago after appeals at the Illinois state and U.S. federal levels.
[weasel words] of them were determined to be caused by pedal misapplication,[citation needed] and the NHTSA noted that there was no statistical significance showing that Toyota vehicles had more SUA incidents than other manufacturers.
As a result, many new cars were knowingly produced with the same floor mat issues that had been identified as being having the potential to cause SUA problems in association with the defective pedal design.
These recalls amounted to approximately 10 million vehicles and mostly switched out all-weather mats and carpet covers that had the potential to cause pedal entrapment.
Benjaminson stated she "read many descriptions by executives and managers of how they had hoodwinked regulators, courts, and even congress, by withholding, omitting, or misstating facts".
This leak of internal documents fueled a criminal investigation by the FBI and the Justice Department that had been ongoing since 2010,[59] and on March 19, 2014, the DOJ issued a deferred prosecution agreement with a $1.2 billion criminal penalty for issuing misleading and deceptive statements to its consumers and federal regulators, as well as hiding another cause of unintended acceleration, the sticky pedal, from the NHTSA.
[61] In spite of an ongoing investigation on the cause of the incidents, Mitsubishi has asserted that the vehicles in question are free of any defects or design flaws.
At least 23 SUA incidents involving Montero Sports were recorded by the Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group, from motorists in Metro Manila, Cavite, Batangas, Iloilo City, Laguna and Tacloban.
[citation needed] The company issued an article in its corporate website blog, claiming "in every case we reviewed them [the customer complaints], the data proved the vehicle functioned properly".
[67] In May 2023, State Administration for Market Regulation in China ordered all imported and Chinese-made Tesla to be recalled to include new features that allow switching off regenerative braking and limit the risks associated with one-pedal driving.
[76] In China, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) suggested that the one-pedal driving mode contributed to sudden unintended acceleration for the electric vehicles (EV).