Sudden Acceleration

Jim Motavalli:

The problem of sudden acceleration in modern cars, initially blamed by Toyota on floormats interfering with gas pedals, isn't likely to go away soon. And it seems to be an issue with many other manufacturers' cars and trucks, not just Toyotas'. Attorney Tom Murray of the law firm Murray & Murray in Ohio says he's personally handling 20 cases of sudden acceleration, and he claims that 100,000 incidents may have occurred. He maintains that the problem, inherent to all modern throttle-by-wire automobiles, is electromagnetic interference with electronic accelerator controls. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has repeatedly investigated without confirming that diagnosis, but Clarence Ditlow, the longtime director of the Center for Auto Safety, says automakers have long sought to blame drivers for this problem, and NHTSA has supported that view. I'm not presuming to know what causes sudden acceleration, but it is hard to deny so many detailed reports.