U.S. safety officials believe driver error may be behind the crash in New York of a Toyota Motor Corp Prius that has been investigated as a possible case of unintended acceleration, federal investigators said on Thursday.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that an analysis of the 2005 hybrid's "black box" data recorder found no braking just before it hit a stone wall in the Westchester County town of Harrison on March 9. The agency also said the throttle was "wide open", prompting investigators to suspect the gas pedal may have been inadvertently applied instead of the brake.
Police said it was premature to draw conclusions in the second of two recent high-profile complaints of unintended acceleration in Toyota's best-selling Prius.
Toyota has recalled more than 8.5 million vehicles worldwide since October for unintended acceleration due to loose floor mats that can jam the accelerator and gas pedals that do not spring back as designed.
The recalls cut across Toyota's product line.
NHTSA and Toyota are again investigating whether unintended acceleration could also be tied to non-mechanical or equipment causes, specifically any problem with the software-run electronic throttles. Toyota says that component is sound and NHTSA has never found any problems in previous investigations.
A Toyota spokeswoman said the company would not comment on the Harrison case until police release the results of their investigation.
Acting Chief Anthony Marraccini said police must evaluate the data, but that a full report would be ready soon.
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