[08/21] Agency won’t open probe into Toyota unintended acceleration

August 21, 2015

DETROIT (AP) – U.S. safety regulators have rejected an electrical engineer’s request to investigate low-speed unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus cars.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says three crashes cited in the engineer’s request are consistent with the driver mistakenly hitting the gas pedal instead of the brake. The agency also says the issue was examined carefully in two previous government studies.

Gopal Raghavan of Thousand Oaks, California, filed asked for the probe in June. He has a doctorate degree from Stanford University.

Raghavan contended that his 2009 Lexus ES350 sedan surged suddenly in a parking lot while being driven by his wife, crashing into some bushes and smashing the front of the car. He says she did not press the gas, which was documented by the car’s event data recorder.

AP