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Transportation Research Board
SPECIAL REPORT 308
the safety
Promise and challenge
of Automotive electronics
InsIghts from UnIntended AccelerAtIon
Committee on Electronic Vehicle Controls and Unintended Acceleration,
Transportation Research Board
Board on Energy and Environmental Systems
Computer Science and Telecommunications Board
Transportation Research Board
Washington, D.C.
2012
www.TRB.org
OCR for page R2
Transportation Research Board Special Report 308
Subscriber Categories
Policy; safety and human factors; vehicles and equipment
Transportation Research Board publications are available by ordering individual
publications directly from the TRB Business Office, through the Internet at www.TRB.
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or individual affiliation with TRB. Affiliates and library subscribers are eligible for
substantial discounts. For further information, contact the Transportation Research
Board Business Office, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001 (telephone
202-334-3213; fax 202-334-2519; or e-mail TRBsales@nas.edu).
Copyright 2012 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing
Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils
of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the
Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were
chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to
the procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the
National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute
of Medicine.
This report was sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Cover and inside design by Debra Naylor, Naylor Design.
Cover photo by George Dolgikh, shutterstock.com.
Typesetting by Circle Graphics, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Electronic Vehicle Controls and
Unintended Acceleration.
The safety promise and challenge of automotive electronics : insights from
unintended acceleration / Committee on Electronic Vehicle Controls and Unintended
Acceleration, Transportation Research Board, Board on Energy and Environmental
Systems, Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research
Council of the National Academies.
p. cm.—(Transportation Research Board special report ; 308)
ISBN 978-0-309-22304-1
1. Automobiles—Electronic equipment—United States—Reliability.
2. Automobiles—Handling characteristics—United States. I. Title.
TL272.5.N38 2012
363.12'51—dc23
2012001092
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The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating soci-
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Transportation Research Board
Executive Committee*
Chair: Sandra Rosenbloom, Professor of Planning, University of Arizona, Tucson
Vice Chair: Deborah H. Butler, Executive Vice President, Planning, and CIO,
Norfolk Southern Corporation, Norfolk, Virginia
Executive Director: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board
J. Barry Barker, Executive Director, Transit Authority of River City, Louisville, Kentucky
William A. V. Clark, Professor of Geography (emeritus) and Professor of Statistics
(emeritus), Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles
Eugene A. Conti, Jr., Secretary of Transportation, North Carolina Department of
Transportation, Raleigh
James M. Crites, Executive Vice President of Operations, Dallas–Fort Worth
International Airport, Texas
Paula J. C. Hammond, Secretary, Washington State Department
of Transportation, Olympia
Michael W. Hancock, Secretary, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Frankfort
Chris T. Hendrickson, Duquesne Light Professor of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon
University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Adib K. Kanafani, Professor of the Graduate School, University of California,
Berkeley (Past Chair, 2009)
Gary P. LaGrange, President and CEO, Port of New Orleans, Louisiana
Michael P. Lewis, Director, Rhode Island Department of Transportation, Providence
Susan Martinovich, Director, Nevada Department of Transportation, Carson City
Joan McDonald, Commissioner, New York State Department
of Transportation, Albany
Michael R. Morris, Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council
of Governments, Arlington (Past Chair, 2010)
Tracy L. Rosser, Vice President, Regional General Manager, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.,
Mandeville, Louisiana
Henry G. (Gerry) Schwartz, Jr., Chairman (retired), Jacobs/Sverdrup Civil, Inc.,
St. Louis, Missouri
Beverly A. Scott, General Manager and CEO, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit
Authority, Atlanta, Georgia
*Membership as of April 2012.
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David Seltzer, Principal, Mercator Advisors LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Kumares C. Sinha, Olson Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
Thomas K. Sorel, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Transportation, St. Paul
Daniel Sperling, Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science
and Policy; Director, Institute of Transportation Studies; and Acting Director,
Energy Efficiency Center, University of California, Davis
Kirk T. Steudle, Director, Michigan Department of Transportation, Lansing
Douglas W. Stotlar, President and Chief Executive Officer, Con-Way, Inc.,
Ann Arbor, Michigan
C. Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering,
University of Texas, Austin (Past Chair, 1991)
Rebecca M. Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research
Institute, Smyrna, Georgia (ex officio)
Anne S. Ferro, Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration,
U.S. Department of Transportation (ex officio)
LeRoy Gishi, Chief, Division of Transportation, Bureau of Indian Affairs,
U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. (ex officio)
John T. Gray II, Senior Vice President, Policy and Economics, Association
of American Railroads, Washington, D.C. (ex officio)
John C. Horsley, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C. (ex officio)
Michael P. Huerta, Acting Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration,
U.S. Department of Transportation (ex officio)
David T. Matsuda, Administrator, Maritime Administration, U.S. Department
of Transportation (ex officio)
Michael P. Melaniphy, President and CEO, American Public Transportation
Association, Washington, D.C. (ex officio)
Victor M. Mendez, Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department
of Transportation (ex officio)
Tara O’Toole, Under Secretary for Science and Technology, U.S. Department
of Homeland Security (ex officio)
Robert J. Papp (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard,
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (ex officio)
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Cynthia L. Quarterman, Administrator, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation (ex officio)
Peter M. Rogoff, Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department
of Transportation (ex officio)
David L. Strickland, Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
U.S. Department of Transportation (ex officio)
Joseph C. Szabo, Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department
of Transportation (ex officio)
Polly Trottenberg, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, U.S. Department
of Transportation (ex officio)
Robert L. Van Antwerp (Lt. General, U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commanding
General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Washington, D.C. (ex officio)
Barry R. Wallerstein, Executive Officer, South Coast Air Quality Management
District, Diamond Bar, California (ex officio)
Gregory D. Winfree, Acting Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology
Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation (ex officio)
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Board on Energy and Environmental Systems
Andrew Brown, Jr., NAE, Delphi Corporation, Troy, Michigan, Chair
William F. Banholzer, NAE, Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan
Marilyn Brown, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
William Cavanaugh, NAE, Progress Energy (retired), Raleigh, North Carolina
Paul A. DeCotis, Long Island Power Authority, Albany, New York
Christine Ehlig-Economides, NAE, Texas A&M University, College Station
Sherri Goodman, CNA, Alexandria, Virginia
Narain Hingorani, NAE, Consultant, Los Altos Hills, California
Robert J. Huggett, Consultant, Seaford, Virginia
Debbie Niemeier, University of California, Davis
Daniel Nocera, NAS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
Michael Oppenheimer, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
Dan Reicher, Climate Change & Energy Initiatives, Google
Bernard Robertson, NAE, DaimlerChrysler Corporation (retired),
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Gary Rogers, FEV, Inc., Auburn Hills, Michigan
Alison Silverstein, Consultant, Pflugerville, Texas
Mark H. Thiemens, NAS, University of California, San Diego
Richard White, Oppenheimer & Company, New York
Staff
James J. Zucchetto, Senior Program/Board Director
John Holmes, Senior Program Officer and Associate Board Director
Dana Caines, Financial Manager
Alan Crane, Senior Scientist
Jonna Hamilton, Program Officer
LaNita Jones, Administrative Coordinator
Alice Williams, Senior Project Assistant
E. Jonathan Yanger, Senior Project Assistant
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Computer Science and Telecommunications Board
Robert F. Sproull, NAE, Oracle Corporation (retired), Chair
Prithviraj Banerjee, Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, California
Steven M. Bellovin, NAE, Columbia University, New York, New York
Jack L. Goldsmith III, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Seymour E. Goodman, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
Jon M. Kleinberg, NAE, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Robert Kraut, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Susan Landau, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Peter Lee, Microsoft Research, Redmond, Washington
David E. Liddle, U.S. Venture Partners, Menlo Park, California
Prabhakar Raghavan, NAE, Yahoo! Labs, Sunnyvale, California
David E. Shaw, NAE, D. E. Shaw Research, New York, New York
Alfred Z. Spector, NAE, Google, Inc., New York, New York
John Stankovic, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
John A. Swainson, Dell, Inc., Round Rock, Texas
Peter Szolovits, IOM, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
Peter J. Weinberger, Google, Inc., New York, New York
Ernest J. Wilson, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Katherine Yelick, University of California, Berkeley
Staff
Jon Eisenberg, Director
Renee Hawkins, Financial and Administrative Manager
Herbert S. Lin, Chief Scientist
Lynette I. Millett, Senior Program Officer
Emily Ann Meyer, Program Officer
Virginia Bacon Talati, Associate Program Officer
Enita A. Williams, Associate Program Officer
Shenae Bradley, Senior Program Assistant
Eric Whitaker, Senior Program Assistant
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Committee on Electronic Vehicle Controls
and Unintended Acceleration
Louis J. Lanzerotti, NAE, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, Chair
Dennis C. Bley, Buttonwood Consulting, Inc., Oakton, Virginia
Raymond M. Brach, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana
Daniel L. Dvorak, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
David Gerard, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin
Deepak K. Goel, TechuServe LLC, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Daniel Jackson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
Linos J. Jacovides, NAE, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
Pradeep Lall, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
John D. Lee, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Adrian K. Lund, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Arlington, Virginia
Michael J. Oliver, MAJR Products, Seagertown, Pennsylvania
William A. Radasky, Metatech Corporation, Goleta, California
Nadine B. Sarter, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
James W. Sturges, Greer, South Carolina
Dennis F. Wilkie, NAE, Birmingham, Michigan
National Research Council Staff
Thomas R. Menzies, Jr., Study Director, Transportation Research Board
Alan Crane, Senior Scientist, Board on Energy and Environmental Systems
Jon Eisenberg, Director, Computer Science and Telecommunications Board
Mark Hutchins, Program Officer, Transportation
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Preface
From summer 2009 through spring 2010, news media were filled with
reports of drivers claiming that their cars accelerated unintentionally. The
nature of the claims varied. Some drivers reported that their vehicles sped
up without pressure being applied to the accelerator pedal, and others
reported that gentle pressure on the accelerator pedal caused rapid or
inconsistent acceleration. Other drivers reported that their vehicles con-
tinued to be propelled forward by engine torque even after the accel-
erator pedal had been released.1 The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) observed a spike in motorist complaints about
these phenomena. Toyota Motor Corporation, whose vehicles were the
subject of many of the complaints, issued recalls for millions of vehicles to
address accelerator pedals that could be entrapped by floor mats and to
fix pedal assemblies that were susceptible to sticking. Scores of lawsuits
were filed against Toyota by vehicle owners (Reuters 2011). In the wake
of the highly publicized Toyota recalls,2 hundreds of other drivers filed
As described later in the report, the term “unintended acceleration” is often used interchangeably in
1
reference to these and other vehicle behaviors reported in consumer complaints such as hesitation
when the accelerator pedal is pressed, lurching during gear changes, and fluctuation in engine idle
speeds. This report does not define the behaviors that constitute unintended acceleration but refers to
definitions used by NHTSA. In its report Technical Assessment of Toyota Electronic Throttle Control (ETC)
Systems, NHTSA (2011, vi, footnote 1) defines unintended acceleration as “the occurrence of any
degree of acceleration that the vehicle driver did not purposely cause to occur.”
One ABC News report in particular, broadcast on February 22, 2010, received considerable public
2
attention. The report claimed that Toyota’s electronic throttle control system could malfunction to
cause unintended acceleration. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/toyota-recall-electronic-design-flaw-
linked-toyota-runaway-acceleration-problems/story?id=9909319.
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xii || Preface
complaints of unintended acceleration episodes with NHTSA.3 Congress
held hearings,4 and individuals with expertise ranging from human fac-
tors to electronics hardware and software offered theories on other pos-
sible causes. The electronics in the automobile throttle control system
were at the center of many of these theories.
Some observers with a long exposure to highway safety were reminded
of events 25 years earlier, when owners of Audi cars reported a much
higher-than-usual occurrence of unintended acceleration. A major differ-
ence is that the Audi and other vehicles manufactured during the 1980s
contained relatively few electronics systems, and the control of the vehi-
cle’s throttle was mechanical. NHTSA had attributed the cause of Audi’s
problems to drivers mistakenly applying the accelerator pedal when they
intended to apply the brake, perhaps confused by the vehicle’s pedal lay-
out or startled by intermittent high engine idle speeds. The design and
functionality of these traditional mechanical throttle systems, which use
a cable and other mechanical connections running from the accelerator
pedal to the throttle to open and close it, are simple and straightforward.
In contrast, the electronic throttle control systems (ETCs) in use in nearly
all modern automobiles, including the recalled Toyotas, rely on electronic
signals transmitted by wire from the pedal assembly to a computer that
controls the throttle position. Mass introduced about 10 years ago, the
ETC is one of many electronics systems that have been added to automo-
biles during the past 25 years.
Some failures of software and other faults in electronics systems do
not leave physical evidence of their occurrence, which can complicate
assessment of the causes of unusual behaviors in the modern, electronics-
intensive automobile. Reminded of the adage “the absence of evidence
is not evidence of absence,” the committee regularly discussed the poten-
tial for such untraceable faults to underlie reports of unsafe vehicle
behaviors such as episodes of unintended acceleration. As media atten-
tion over unintended acceleration heightened, the distinction that
NHTSA had used for decades to identify unintended acceleration cases
caused by pedal misapplication was given little regard. Instead, the pedal
NHTSA shows how driver complaints of unintended acceleration fluctuated during 2009 and 2010 fol-
3
lowing recall announcements, congressional hearings, and publicized crashes (NHTSA 2011, Figure 2).
Hearings before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee
4
on Oversight and Investigations, February 23, 2010, and May 20, 2010. http://democrats.energycom
merce.house.gov/index.php?q=hearing/hearing-on-update-on-toyota-and-nhtsa-s-response-to-the-
problem-of-sudden-unintended-acceler.
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xiii
Preface ||
misapplication cases were often intermixed in media accounts with
other instances of unintended acceleration that NHTSA concluded were
caused by pedal entrapment and sticking.
The committee was well into its information-gathering phase before
it fully appreciated NHTSA’s reasoning for distinguishing instances of
pedal misapplication from other sources of unintended acceleration.
While untraceable electronics faults may be suspected causes of unin-
tended acceleration, this explanation is unsatisfactory when the driver
also reports experiencing immediate and full loss of braking. However,
such reports are common among complaints of unintended acceleration,
and NHTSA attributes them to pedal misapplication when investigations
offer no other credible explanation for the catastrophic and coincidental
loss of braking. This observation has no bearing on the fact that faults in
electronics systems can be untraceable, but it indicates the importance
of considering the totality of the evidence in investigations of reports of
unsafe vehicle behaviors.
During the peak of the unintended acceleration controversy in March
2010, NHTSA enlisted the National Aeronautics and Space Administra-
tion (NASA) in an in-depth examination of the potential for vulnerabil-
ities in the electronics of the Toyota ETC. NHTSA also requested this
National Research Council (NRC) study to review investigations of unin-
tended acceleration and to recommend ways to strengthen the agency’s
safety oversight of automotive electronics systems. In response to NHTSA’s
request, NRC appointed the Committee on Electronic Vehicle Controls
and Unintended Acceleration to provide a balance of expertise and
perspectives relevant to the task statement (contained in Chapter 1).
NHTSA expected the NASA investigation to be completed in time for
its results to inform the work of this committee, which held its first
meeting on June 30, 2010. The NASA report was completed approxi-
mately 7 months after the committee’s first meeting, during February
2011. NASA reported finding no evidence of Toyota’s ETC being a plau-
sible cause of unintended acceleration characteristic of a large throttle
opening. The NASA investigators further confirmed NHTSA’s conclusion
that the ETC could not disable the brakes so as to cause loss of braking
capacity, as often reported by drivers experiencing unintended accelera-
tion commencing in a vehicle that had been stopped or moving slowly.
Not knowing the outcome of the NASA investigation until partway
through its deliberations, the committee spent a great deal of time
during the early stages of its work considering the broader safety issues
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xiv || Preface
associated with the growth in automotive electronics and the implica-
tions for NHTSA’s regulatory, research, and defect investigations pro-
grams. The consideration of these issues proved beneficial and shaped
many of the findings and recommendations in this report. The com-
mittee learned how electronics systems are transforming the automo-
bile and how they are likely to continue to do so for years to come. In
this respect, controversies similar to that involving the Toyota ETC may
recur and involve other automobile manufacturers and other types of
electronics systems in vehicles.
Because of NASA’s work, the causes of unintended acceleration by
Toyota vehicles are clearer today than they were when the committee
convened for the first time some 18 months ago. Nevertheless, whether
the technical justification for suspecting electronics systems in this par-
ticular instance warranted the attention given to them and the commis-
sioning of the detailed NASA study is a question that deserves consideration
in view of the potential for electronics to be implicated in many other
safety issues as their uses proliferate. Knowing what to look for and when
to pursue electronics as a candidate cause of unsafe vehicle behaviors will
be increasingly important to NHTSA. It is with this in mind that the com-
mittee provides its recommendations to the agency.
The content, findings, and recommendations in this report repre-
sent the consensus effort of a dedicated committee of 16 members, all
of whom were uncompensated and served in the public interest. Drawn
from multiple disciplines, the members brought expertise from automo-
tive electronics design and manufacturing, software development and
evaluation, human–systems integration, safety and risk analysis, crash
investigation and forensics, electromagnetic testing and compatibility,
electrical and electronics engineering, and economics and regulation.
The committee met a total of 15 times—11 times in person and four
times through teleconference. During most of these meetings the com-
mittee convened in sessions open to the public to gather data to inform
its deliberations. The data gathering was extensive, involving more
than 60 speakers from NHTSA, NASA, and other government agencies;
universities and research institutions; consultants; standards organiza-
tions; automotive, aerospace, and medical device companies; consumer
research organizations; and advocacy and interest groups. In addition,
the committee visited with the automotive manufacturers Ford Motor
Company, General Motors Company, and Mercedes-Benz and received
briefings from Toyota and Continental Automotive Systems. These visits
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xv
Preface ||
were not designed to evaluate each company’s product development
processes but instead to obtain background information on how manu-
facturers strive to ensure that electronics systems perform safely.
The committee also provided a forum for comments by individuals
who had reported experiencing unintended acceleration. Although it
was not charged with investigating the causes of unintended accelera-
tion, the committee found these firsthand motorist accounts to be reveal-
ing of the challenge that NHTSA and other investigators face in trying to
ascertain the causes of unexpected vehicle behaviors. The names of the
motorists who spoke during this forum as well as the many other indi-
viduals who briefed the committee are provided in the acknowledg-
ments section below.
When they were appointed to the committee, the majority of
members—all recognized experts in their respective fields—did not
have detailed knowledge of the concerns surrounding unintended
acceleration or NHTSA’s vehicle safety programs. As a multidisciplinary
group, the committee faced a steep learning curve, which these numer-
ous data-gathering sessions, expert briefings, literature and document
reviews, and extensive meeting discussions helped to overcome. In
being assigned to a highly charged topic, the committee’s objectivity
and inquisitiveness were its strengths at the outset of the project. These
qualities remained with the committee throughout its deliberations
and are reflected in the report.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The committee thanks the many individuals who contributed to its work.
During its information-gathering sessions open to the public, the com-
mittee was briefed by the following officials from NHTSA: David Strick-
land, Administrator; Daniel C. Smith, Senior Associate Administrator,
Vehicle Safety; John Maddox, Associate Administrator, Vehicle Safety
Research; Richard Boyd, Director, Office of Defects Investigation (ODI);
Richard Compton, Director, Office of Behavioral Safety Research; Chip
Chidester, Director, Office of Data Acquisitions; Roger Saul, Director, Vehi-
cle Research and Test Center (VRTC); Jeffrey L. Quandt, Vehicle Control
Division Chief, ODI; Christina Morgan, Early Warning Division Chief,
ODI; Gregory Magno, Defects Assessment Division Chief, ODI; Nathaniel
Beuse, Director, Office of Crash Avoidance Standards, Rulemaking; and
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xvi || Preface
Frank Barickman, VRTC. In addition, John Hinch, retired NHTSA Director
of the Office of Human–Vehicle Performance Research, briefed the com-
mittee on the agency’s rules concerning event data recorders.
The following university researchers briefed the committee: Paul
Fischbeck, Professor, Engineering and Public Policy and Social and
Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University; Michael Pecht, Chair
Professor, Mechanical Engineering, and Director of the Center for
Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, University of Maryland; Todd Hub-
ing, Michelin Professor, Vehicle Electronic Systems Integration, and
Director, Clemson University International Center for Automotive
Research; Stefan Savage, Professor, Department of Computer Science
and Engineering, University of California, San Diego; and Tadayoshi
Kohno, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and
Engineering, University of Washington.
Information on standards activities was provided by Joseph D. Miller,
TRW Automotive Member ISO TC22 SC3, Working Group 16; Margaret
Jenny, President, RTCA, Inc.; and Thomas M. Kowalick, Chair, Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Global Standards for Motor Vehi-
cle Event Data Recorders.
Information on safety assurance processes and regulatory oversight
and safety analysis in other industries was provided by David Walen,
Chief Scientific and Technical Adviser on Electromagnetic Interference
and Lightning, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); Thomas Fancy,
Technical Fellow, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation; Michael D. James,
FAA DER Engine Control Systems, Honeywell Aerospace; Thomas
Gross, Deputy Director, Post-Market Science, Office of Surveillance and
Biometrics, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA); Jeffrey Silberberg, Senior Electronics Engi-
neer, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, FDA; Daniel J. Dum-
mer, Engineering Director, Reliability Test, Medtronic CRDM; William
DuMouchel, Oracle Health Services; and Brian Murray, United Tech-
nologies Research Center.
Additional briefings on varied topics were provided by David Champion,
Director, Auto Test Center, Consumers Union; Ronald A. Belt, retired,
Honeywell Corporation; Sean Kane, Safety Research and Strategies,
Inc.; Ellen Liberman, Felix Click, MLS; Randy Whitfield, Quality Control
Systems, Inc.; William Rosenbluth, Automotive Systems Analysis; Keith
Armstrong, Cherry Clough Consultants; Joan Claybrook, Public Citizen;
and Clarence Ditlow, Center for Auto Safety.
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xvii
Preface ||
NASA held a special briefing on its investigation led by Michael Kirsch,
with participation from Michael Bay, Victoria Regenie, Poul Andersen,
Michael Crane, Robert Scully, Mitchell Davis, Oscar Gonzalez, Michael
Aguilar, Robert Kichak, and Cynthia Null.
Robert Strassburger of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
briefed the committee at its first meeting and was instrumental in arrang-
ing visits with and briefings by automotive companies. The committee’s
visit with Ford was arranged and led by Ray Nevi and Mark Tuneff. The
committee’s visit with General Motors was arranged by Stephen Gehring.
Briefings from Continental were led by Philip Headley. Briefings by
Mercedes-Benz were arranged by Barbara Wendling and William Craven.
Kevin Ro and Kristen Tabar arranged briefings by Toyota, which were led
by Seigo Kuzumaki.
The following individuals spoke to the committee about their experi-
ences with unintended acceleration: Eugenie Mielczarek, Kevin Haggerty,
Rhonda Smith, Robert Tevis, Richard Zappa, and Francis Visconi.
Thomas Menzies, Alan Crane, Jon Eisenberg, and James Zucchetto
were the principal project staff. Menzies managed the study and drafted
the report under the guidance of the committee and the supervision of
Stephen R. Godwin, Director, Studies and Special Programs, Transporta-
tion Research Board (TRB). Norman Solomon edited the report; Janet M.
McNaughton handled the editorial production; Juanita Green managed
the book design, production, and printing; and Jennifer J. Weeks pre-
pared the final manuscript files for prepublication release and web post-
ing, under the supervision of Javy Awan, Director of Publications, TRB.
Mark Hutchins provided extensive support to the committee in arranging
its many meetings and in managing documents.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for
their diverse perspectives and technical expertise in accordance with
procedures approved by NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose
of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments
that will assist the institution in making the report as sound as possible
and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectiv-
ity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review com-
ments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity
of the deliberative process.
NRC thanks the following individuals for their review of this report:
A. Harvey Bell IV, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Jeffrey Caird, Uni-
versity of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; William H. DuMouchel, Oracle Health
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xviii || Preface
Sciences, Tucson, Arizona; Robert A. Frosch, Harvard University, Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts; Brian T. Murray, United Technologies Research
Center, East Hartford, Connecticut; Clinton V. Oster, Bloomington, Indi-
ana; R. David Pittle, Alexandria, Virginia; William F. Powers, Boca Raton,
Florida; Bernard I. Robertson, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; L. Robert
Shelton III, New Smyrna Beach, Florida; and Peter J. Weinberger,
Google, Inc., New York. The review of this report was overseen by
Lawrence T. Papay, PQR, LLC, La Jolla, California; and C. Michael
Walton, University of Texas, Austin. Appointed by NRC, they were
responsible for making certain that an independent examination of
this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures
and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility
for the final content of the report rests solely with the authoring commit-
tee and the institution. Suzanne Schneider, Associate Executive Director,
TRB, managed the report review process.
—Louis J. Lanzerotti, Chair
Committee on Electronic Vehicle Controls
and Unintended Acceleration
REFERENCES
Abbreviation
NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA. 2011. Technical Assessment of Toyota Electronic Throttle Control (ETC) Systems.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nvs/pdf/NHTSA-UA_report.pdf.
Reuters. 2011. U.S. Judge Denies Toyota Lawsuit Dismissal Attempt. April 29. http://
www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/29/toyota-ruling-idUSN2917985520110429.
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Contents
Summary 1
1 Background and Charge 23
NHTSA’s Automotive Safety Role 27
Earlier NHTSA Initiatives on Unintended Acceleration 30
The Revolution in Automotive Electronics 35
Study Goals and Report Organization 37
2 The Electronics-Intensive Automobile 43
Use of Electronics in Vehicles Today 44
Next-Generation Systems 61
Safety Challenges 63
Chapter Findings 68
3 Safety Assurance Processes for Automotive Electronics 71
Safety Assurance Practices in the Automotive Industry 73
Industry Standards Activities for Electronics Safety Assurance 90
Chapter Findings 95
4 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Vehicle Safety Programs 99
Vehicle Safety Program Overview 102
Rulemaking 104
Enforcement and Defect Investigation 111
Vehicle Safety Research 118
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Strategic and Priority Planning for Research and Rulemaking 122
Safety Assurance and Oversight in Other Industries 123
Chapter Findings 127
5 Review of National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration Initiatives
on Unintended Acceleration 133
Past NHTSA Initiatives on Unintended Acceleration 136
Investigations of Toyota Complaints 141
Recent NHTSA Initiatives on Unintended Acceleration 151
Chapter Findings 163
6 Recommendations to National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration on Preparing
for the Electronics-Intensive Vehicle 169
NHTSA’s Current Role with Respect to Vehicle Electronics 170
Keeping Pace with the Safety Assurance Challenges Arising
from Vehicle Electronics 176
Strengthening Capabilities for Defect Surveillance and Investigation 182
Reaction to NHTSA’s Proposed Next Steps 185
Strategic Planning to Guide Future Decisions and Priorities 188
Study Committee Biographical Information 197
