Were All Of The Toyota Sudden Acceleration Recalls Just Hogwash?

After conducting the most exacting study of a motor vehicle electronic control system ever performed by a government agency, NASA did not find that the ETC electronics are a likely cause of large throttle openings in Toyota vehicles as described in consumer complaints, NASA said in its conclusions.

The NHTSA report concluded that in cases where allegations were made that the brakes were ineffective or the incident began with brake application, “the most likely cause of the acceleration was actually pedal misapplication” – i.e., the driver was pushing on the accelerator, not the brake.