Earlier today, ABC News released a report asserting that the cause of Toyota's unintended accelerations issues might not be a faulty accelerator mechanism, but an electronic flaw in the automaker's engine control unit – something that's been suspected, although never confirmed, for some time. David Gilbert, an automotive technology professor at Southern Illinois University and ABC's primary source for the report, claims to be able to duplicate the effect by short-circuiting one of the controls, which could be caused by moisture, wear or a combination of factors in Toyota vehicles. Video Here: Toyota Recall: Electronic Design Flaw Linked to Toyota Runaway Acceleration Problems, Expert Says - ABC News
from July 11 2008: "The trucks use a drive-by-wire system designed to report an error if the accelerator pedal and throttle aren't matched up." According to Autoblog, "The trucks that have been inspected have not shown the error codes Toyota would expect if the throttle and accelerator pedal were out of whack." 400 New Reports of Toyota Tacoma Sudden Acceleration Since February - U.S. News Rankings and Reviews
If any car is rigged like that, you can make it accelerate. The question is... is it unintended? If it is hacked to accelerate then it is intended.
