Posted 3/05/2010 05:21:00 PM by Douglas

Things are looking worse and worse for Toyota. Still, I don't think the electro-mechanical defect in their design is the problem. The apparent cover up is quite troubling.

Toyota has for years blocked access to data stored in devices similar to airline "black boxes" that could explain crashes blamed on sudden unintended acceleration, according to an Associated Press review of lawsuits nationwide and interviews with auto crash experts.

The AP investigation found that Toyota has been inconsistent — and sometimes even contradictory — in revealing exactly what the devices record and don't record, including critical data about whether the brake or accelerator pedals were depressed at the time of a crash.

The automobile "black boxes" have been a popular topic here at crap-blog for a while. It's obvious that all the automakers have been less than forthcoming as to what they record and how owners can access the data. But Toyota, in light of their current troubles, is being downright dishonest with it.

Toyota's "black box" information is emerging as a critical legal issue amid the recall of 8 million vehicles by the world's largest automaker. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said this week that 52 people have died in crashes linked to accelerator problems, triggering an avalanche of lawsuits.

When Toyota was asked by the AP to explain what exactly its recorders do collect, a company statement said Thursday that the devices record data from five seconds before until two seconds after an air bag is deployed in a crash.

What?!? It records data "five seconds before" the air-bag is deployed? Uh, doesn't that mean the data is being continuously recorded? Saying it's only recorded "five seconds before" the air-bag is deployed is like the old joke about the farmer giving the lost stranger directions: "turn left five miles before the road dead-ends."

Sounds like the auto-makers are going to have to come clean as to what these EDR devices, that we all pay for, actually do and how they can protects us in the event of a malfunction of our cars.

Labels: EDR