Release of Toyota Documents Blocked, Ex-Official Says
By MIKE RAMSEY And JOSH MITCHELL
DETROIT—Senior officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation have at least temporarily blocked the release of findings by auto-safety regulators that could favor Toyota Motor Corp. in some crashes related to unintended acceleration, according to a recently retired agency official.George Person, who retired July 3 after 27 years at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said in an interview that the decision to not go public with the data for now was made over the objections of some officials at NHTSA.
"The information was compiled. The report was finished and submitted," Mr. Person said. "When I asked why it hadn't been published, I was told that the secretary's office didn't want to release it," he added, referring to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
A Transportation Department spokeswoman, Olivia Alair, said NHTSA is still reviewing data from the Toyota vehicles the agency is examining. "Its review is not yet complete. The investigation remains ongoing," she said.
A Toyota spokesman declined to comment. A NHTSA spokeswoman did not respond to phone calls and an email seeking comment.
At the time of his retirement, Mr. Person, 67 years old, was chief of NHTSA's Recall Management Division, which is part of the agency's Office of Defects Investigation. He said he was briefed on the agency's probe into the causes of accidents in which drivers said Toyota vehicles suddenly accelerated on their own, and said he offered his input on the matter to investigators.
Ms. Alair said Mr. Person "was not involved in any aspect of the ongoing investigation into unintended acceleration."
Mr. Person said he retired in good standing with the agency. Ms. Alair said she could not comment on personnel matters.
Mr. Person's comments follow a July 14 story in The Wall Street Journal that said NHTSA had accumulated data suggesting many sudden-acceleration incidents were the result of drivers stepping on the gas when they thought they were hitting the brakes.
Earlier this year, Toyota recalled more then 8.5 million vehicles globally for defects related to sudden acceleration, and paid a $16.4 million fine for failing to report safety issues promptly.
NHTSA came under criticism by Congress and auto-safety advocates, who accused the agency of being too cozy with auto makers in recall investigations.
Toyota has said its investigations show that sudden-acceleration problems were caused by floor mats that could pin down the gas pedals of its cars. It also found some gas pedals could get stuck briefly in an open position.
Some members of Congress and auto-safety advocates have suspected electrical glitches could also be a cause.
Since March, the agency has examined 40 Toyota vehicles where unintended acceleration was cited as the cause of an accident, Mr. Person said. NHTSA determined 23 of the vehicles had accelerated suddenly, Mr. Person said.
In all 23, he added, the vehicles' electronic data recorders or black boxes showed the car's throttle was wide open and the brake was not depressed at the moment of impact, suggesting the drivers mistakenly stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake, Mr. Person said.
"The agency has for too long ignored what I believe is the root cause of these unintended acceleration cases," he said. "It's driver error. It's pedal misapplication and that's what this data shows."
Mr. Person said he believes Transportation Department officials are "sitting on" this data because it could revive criticism that NHTSA is too close to the auto maker and has not looked hard enough for electrical flaws in Toyota vehicles.
"It has become very political. There is a lot of anger towards Toyota," Mr. Person said. Transportation officials "are hoping against hope that they find something that points back to a flaw in Toyota vehicles."
NHTSA has received more than 3,000 unconfirmed complaints of sudden acceleration in Toyotas, including some dating to early last decade, according to a report the agency compiled in March. The incidents include 75 fatal crashes involving 93 deaths.
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