In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will conduct a separate inquiry into sudden acceleration by Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles. Toyota has issued nearly 10 million recall notices worldwide to correct floor mat and gas pedal defects that it says can lead to runaway vehicles.
The two investigations follow pressure from Congress on federal safety regulators to address persistent questions about the causes of unintended acceleration, and whether the problems stem from faulty computer-controlled electronic throttle systems.
At a time when cars are increasingly controlled through complex computer systems, the studies represent the most far-reaching effort to assess the causes of sudden acceleration.
RelatedToyota workers' image takes beating in recallsLawyers prepare for Toyota lawsuitsPolice agree driver error caused Prius crash in N.Y.Toyota shareholders sue over falling stock pricesFord, others also had acceleration issues, deathsWere Toyotas affected by cosmic rays? Regulators investigate"We are determined to get to the bottom of sudden acceleration," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. "For the safety of the American driving public, we must do everything possible to understand what is happening."
LaHood also said he had asked his department's inspector general to assess whether federal safety regulators dropped the ball over the last eight years in reviewing thousands of motorist complaints about sudden acceleration.
The two studies are expected to cost about $3 million combined.
In recent congressional hearings, the performance of those regulators came under severe criticism, based on concerns that they lacked expertise to examine automobile electronics and depended too much on the industry to police itself.
LaHood said his department's inspector general would determine whether NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation has sufficient resources and expertise.
NASA will helpThe National Academy of Sciences' investigation will be conducted by its National Research Council, which will tap a panel of experts that will study electronics in vehicles of all manufacturers, human error, mechanical failure and accelerator systems.
A second study focused on Toyota vehicles would be conducted by NHTSA, which is enlisting help from NASA. The space agency was brought into the probe for its "expertise in electronics, hardware, software, hazard analysis and complex problem solving," the Transportation Department announcement said.
The NHTSA effort, which is supposed to be completed by late summer, will try to determine whether Toyota vehicles "contain any possible flaws that would warrant a defect investigation."
NHTSA is reviewing its past defect investigations but does not have any formal investigation or inquiry into whether Toyota electronics could be causing sudden acceleration.
Toyota has acknowledged that its vehicles have mechanical defects that could cause sudden acceleration, but it has said there are no known defects in its electronic throttle systems.
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