Toyota Admits Software Misread Crash Data; Bug Subsequently Fixed

"Change of Speed" entry in Event Data Recorder was accessed incorrectly.

BY DENNIS SIMANAITIS

has acknowledged and subsequently fixed a bug in laptop software used to access its crash information. In a key case reported in August, the software error caused a misreading of vehicle speed. In accessing a crashed EDR, its "Delta-V" (change in vehicle speed at the time of the accident) was read at more than 170 mph, a speed far beyond the truck's capability.

According to Toyota's product development and research chief, Takeshi Uchiyamada, the problem had not been with the EDR itself, but rather with laptop software used to access EDR data. He said the 150 EDR access devices currently in use in the U.S. are now bug-free.

All this is relevant to investigations undertaking by the government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Based on its examination of 58 Toyota EDRs, NHTSA reported no incidents along the lines of the company's earlier problems with floor mat interference or faulty accelerator pedal damping. In more than half the recorders examined, there was no indication that drivers applied brakes, suggesting error rather than vehicle "unintended acceleration."

(comment):

Maret Jaks - m.k. jaks

Given that it has now been made clear that Toyota was lying about its floor pads and that

there was a software glitch that caused so many deaths (they've admitted they lied twice

and the US has fined them $1.2 Billion), this article should be updated with a comment

regarding this fact?

http://www.glitchwatch.com/

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car-technology/news/a16540/toyota-admits-software-misread-crash-data-bug-subsequently-fixed/