Los Angeles, California - Recent
1. Wide of Toyota Service Centre,
2. Close up of gas pedal jammed under floor mat
Washington, DC - Recent
3. Medium of pictures gas pedals,
4. Close up of mechanics repairing vehicle
New York City - Recent
5. Close up, vehicle control module
6. Medium of driver of Toyota Corolla
Washington, DC - 25 February, 2010
7. Medium of Toyota Executives testifying before Congress.
8. Close up of Toyota CEO, Akio Toyoda
9. SOUNDBITE: (English): Rep. Henry Waxman, D. California
"Do you believe that the recall on the carpet changes on the recall on the sticky pedal will solve the problem of sudden unintended acceleration?"
10. SOUNDBITE: (English): James Lentz, Toyota COO, North America
"Not totally."
Location unknown - Recent
11. Pan of Toyota Showroom
12. Close up of Toyota Prius Dashboard
Location unknown - Recent
13. SOUNDBITE: (English): Steve Kolenovic, Deputy Chairperson of Automotive Division at Technical Career Institutes.
"The vehicles today are equipped with anywhere from five to twenty or more computers. They''ll generally communicate with each other and any interference with communication can alter a signal and create a malfunction in various systems."
Location unknown - Recent
14. Close up of electronic testing device.
15. Close up of solder joins exhibiting "tin whiskers"
Washington, DC - Feb 17, 2010
16. SOUNDBITE: (English): Joan Claybrook - Former Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and DOT (Department of Transportation)
"If EMI is involved, it''s a real problem and almost every manufacturer, I believe, right now, is evaluating their vehicles to see if they have this kind of a problem."
Location unknown - Recent
17. Mid shot of electronics testing equipment
18. Medium of wiring harness being pulled from crate
Washington, DC - Recent
19. Tilt Down, exterior, Department of Transportation.
20. Medium of 2010 Ford Fusion
New York City - 12 Feb ,2010
21. Medium shot of Seyed Akhavi, Dean of Technology - Division of Engineering and Information Technologies, Technical Career Institutes
22. SOUNDBITE: (English): Seyed Akhavi, Dean of Technology - Division of Engineering and Information Technologies, Technical Career Institutes
"Since the chip operates on digital signals and zeros and ones, a pattern of sixteen bits which should be translated to let''s say go fast, or go slow or this much air. With a change from a zero to a one as the result of a glitch, that can be translated to a totally different code and as a result the car can behave totally different."
FILE: Location unknown - Recent
23. Close up Toyota Camry badge
24. Close up of Camry in showroom
Rehoboth, Mass. - Recent
25. SOUNDBITE: (English): Sean Kane, president of Safety Research and Strategies Inc. in
"In the case of Toyota unintended acceleration, the agency really only focused its resources on mechanical interface problems with these vehicles and I think that''s part of the reason we''ve got here today. The investigations were short, they were very cursory, and they relied too heavily on Toyota''s assertion that the problems associated with unintended acceleration could not happen from electronics "
Washington, DC - Feb. 24, 2010
26. Medium of NHTSA administrator, Ray LaHood, at Toyota hearings,
Washington, DC - Feb 17, 2010
27. SOUNDBITE: (English):Joan Claybrook - Former Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and DOT.
"Well I think that this is one of the problems that Department of Transportation has not kept pace with the technology changes that have occurred in vehicles. The accelerator standard right now was issued in 1973, before there was any such thing as electronic throttles, so its completely out of date, its almost irrelevant."
FILE: Location unknown - Recent
28. Toyota vehicle on display in dealership
29. Close shot of interior of vehicle
30. Close-up of break and accelerator pedals
31. Wide shot of Toyotas being serviced at service centre
LEAD IN
As Toyota blames poorly fitting floor mats and sticky gas pedals for the recall of millions of vehicles, the growing tangle of wires, sensors and computers is sill being scrutinised as the root cause of unintended acceleration in some automobiles.
Toyota executives have tried to answer those concerns before two United States congressional panels, and admitted that it is still unsure if current recalls will fix the problem.
Toyota - a global name with a global problem.
And this is one of the problems recently identified - an accelerator pedal jammed under a floor mat.
The car manufacturing giant is now trying to restore public faith in their cars and trucks, which has been badly damaged by the recall of 8.5 million vehicles over safety concerns.
The recall has damaged Toyota''s reputation and the company is facing legal and PR problems on several fronts: a criminal investigation by federal prosecutors in New York; a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission; and anger by U.S. dealerships in line to repair potentially millions of recalled vehicles.
Toyota is offering some customers new reimbursements for rental cars and other expenses.
Company lawyers are bracing for large numbers of death and injury lawsuits.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee plans a hearing Tuesday (2 March).
It follows the appearance on Thursday (25 February) of the President of Toyota at a US congressional hearing.
Akio Toyoda is the grandson of the Japanese company''s founder.
He apologised in prepared testimony for the safety problems and deaths that have been linked to unintended acceleration cases in Toyotas.
Toyoda admitted his company focused too much at times on expanding its sales in the United States at the expense of quality and safety.
A House committee chairman said blame must be shared by both Toyota and US safety regulators.
And while no one has been able to counter Toyota''s assertion that mechanical fixes will remedy acceleration issues, electronics have become increasingly complex.
And that is an area for concern.
Electronic problems can come in many forms, from solder that can sprout microscopic "whiskers" that can short components, to software bugs and electromagnetic fields generated from other electronic parts.
Steve Kolenovic, Deputy Chairperson of Automotive Division at Technical Career Institutes says there are numerous ways that car electronics can fail.
"The vehicles today are equipped with anywhere from five to twenty or more computers. they''ll generally communicate with each other and any interference with communication can alter a signal and create a malfunction in various systems."
Electronic glitches are notoriously difficult to find.
Imagine trying to isolate a short in this mass of wires, which came from just one vehicle.
It could be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Investigators are looking at the issue.
Joan Claybrook - Former Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and DOT says other manufacturers are checking to make they don''t have similar problems.
"If EMI (electro magnetic interference) is involved, its a real problem and almost every manufacturer, I believe, right now is evaluating their vehicles to see if they have this kind of a problem."
Seyed Akhavi, is Dean of Technology at the Division of Engineering and Information Technologies, Technical Career Institutes.
He explains the detail of the technology involved.
"since the chip operates on digital signals and zeros and ones, a pattern of sixteen bits that should be translated to let''s say go fast, or go slow or this much air. With a change from a zero to a one as the result of a glitch, that can be translated to a totally different code and as a result the car can behave totally different."
At least two lab tests have found electrical irregularities caused problems in a Lexus ES-350 and a Ford Fusion Hybrid.
While the tests don''t prove that the interference caused systems to malfunction, experts say they are evidence that it may be the culprit.
Sean Kane, president of Safety Research and Strategies Inc. in Rehoboth, Mass says :
"In the case of Toyota unintended acceleration, the agency really only focused its resources on mechanical interface problems with these vehicles and I think that''s part of the reason we''ve got here today."
Of more than 2,000 complaints of unwanted acceleration filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than half came from drivers of Toyotas that were not covered by the two acceleration recalls.
That brings into question the scope of the tests that have been done by NHTSA to identify the problem.
And with electronics so prevalent in today''s cars, there''s a growing chorus in Washington questioning whether NHTSA has the expertise to investigate electronics issues.
Joan Claybrook a former Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and US Department of Transport (DOT).
"Well I think that this is one of the problems that the Department of Transportation has not kept pace with the technology changes that have occurred in vehicles. The accelerator standard right now was issued in 1973, before there was any such thing as electronic throttles, so its completely out of date, its almost irrelevant."
Lawmakers say they will continue to push for answers on whether modern vehicles are safe as well as NHTSA''s capabilities to verify that.
But consumers will be seeking, much, much more. They want solid assurances that all cars are safe to drive.
