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Feds: Human Error Caused Prius Crash


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SEE ALSO: Latest Official Toyota Recall News

Detroit March 19, 2010; The AIADA newsletter reported that according to The Detroit News, federal investigators say last week's highly publicized accident involving a suspected runaway Toyota Prius in New York was caused by human error, not bad brakes.

"Information retrieved from the vehicle's onboard computer systems indicated there was no application of the brakes and the throttle was fully open," NHTSA said Thursday in a statement about a Harrison, N.Y., crash.

NHTSA officials said the findings mean the accident was caused by the driver. Toyota sent six investigators and the NHTSA sent two investigators to look at the vehicle, driven by a housekeeper, that crashed into a stone wall in the New York City suburb March 9.

News of the NY Prius crash comes as Toyota customers are reporting new complaints with vehicles previously fixed under the automaker’s recalls.

According to MSNBC, an AP review of a NHTSA database found reports of repaired cars continuing to accelerate on their own had jumped to 105 since March 4, when the government reported 60 such complaints. The complaints are submitted online or through a NHTSA hotline and have not been independently verified.

Click here for more on NHTSA’s findings regarding last week’s Prius crash in New York.