Are Cosmic Rays the Cause of Toyota's Sudden Acceleration Problems?

 Are Cosmic Rays the Cause of Toyotas Sudden Acceleration Problems?
Toyota cosmic rays illustration 16.03.2010 / Detroit Free Press

Radiation to blame?

According to a recent report, U.S. regulators are investigating a potential link between cosmic rays and Toyota's sudden acceleration problem.

While details are limited, an anonymous tipster told National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) officials that Toyota's microprocessors, memory chips and software could be susceptible to interference caused by radiation from cosmic rays. Despite sounding crazy, the tipster's complaint is creditable considering that airplanes and satellites are affected by single event upsets (SEUs).

For years, scientists have known cosmic rays can cause computer and electronic errors, but as the tipster indicated, "the automotive industry has yet to truly anticipate SEUs." This is an interesting possibility, as today's small circuits could be thwarted by cosmic radiation.

When the Detroit Free Press asked Toyota for comment, the company responded by saying their systems are designed for "absolute reliability" and "the durability, size, susceptibility and specifications of the automotive electronics make them robust against this type of interference."

Special photo credit to Freep.com.  See source link below for full illustration.

Source: freep

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 scratchy996 scratchy996
earthquakes in Haiti and Chile , Toyotas running amok because of cosmic rays. the end is near...
March 16, 2010 1:05 pm
 hunt5eek hunt5eek
The four wheelmen of the apocalypse are obviously just around the bend...
March 16, 2010 1:17 pm
 Jonny_PT Jonny_PT
And they may have no brakes!!
March 17, 2010 12:51 pm
 sub39h sub39h
LOL. nah, they buy German
March 18, 2010 4:00 am
 hata0101 hata0101
see! it further proof my theory of conspiracy... they keep trying to find "reasons" for Toyota "problems"...now they're running out of excuses but blame the cosmic rays!! amazingly, this report is from the U.S....AGAIN!!
March 16, 2010 1:41 pm
 Lutzie Lutzie
Or it could just be crappy cost-cutting engineering. Did you see the details of the fix on the accelerator pedals? A secondary school engineering class could have done better.
March 20, 2010 4:54 pm
 otakki otakki
Reasons?!...It's nothing other than staged media bashing aimed at major competitor to the big three. You don't hear much about GM's braking problem recall. Moreover, see how all these problems happen only in the US. Maybe it's the air and the abundance of lawyers in the US...half of the entire world's lawyers are in the US.
March 16, 2010 1:48 pm
 justanotherfan justanotherfan
Yeah, blame the universe that'll work. This is just bullshit.
March 16, 2010 3:15 pm
 hata0101 hata0101
yeah, nothing to blame & nothing can proof problems or issues with Toyota vehicle, BLAME THE COSMIC RAYS & MOTHER NATURE! oh yes, it picks on Toyota only as well... what a joke!
March 16, 2010 5:25 pm
 Lennox.... Lennox....
this is ridiculous seriously couldnt they of a better excuse then this??? i mean really cosmic rays???
March 16, 2010 6:31 pm
 MTC MTC
That's the worst excuse I've heard in years
March 16, 2010 8:37 pm
 Dr Alvar Hanso Dr Alvar Hanso
I say it's them green aliens.
March 17, 2010 1:03 am
 napostol napostol
It is astrology. When the car was made, it's birth sign.
March 17, 2010 5:04 am
 EDavis EDavis
Sometimes my sophisticated electronic laptop computer does some REALLY strange things for no explainable reason. Is it doing that because of some sort of intermittent unexplainable electronic anomaly that even an Apple technician couldn't duplicate and thus repair, is it because of cosmic rays, or is it a Japanese Government conspiracy to tarnish the good name of Apple, its MacBook Pro, and Steve Jobs in order to help Toshiba's laptop range regain the competitive advantage that it held in the past whilst simultaneously stimulating the dreadful Japanese economy? I've got my money on intermittent unexplainable electronic anomaly.* *combined with a highly litigious society, just as sideskraper has just said.
March 17, 2010 9:08 am
 hata0101 hata0101
EDavis, stop sturring mud in the water... we all know you're "pro"...i mean, pro-GM.
March 17, 2010 2:02 pm
 EDavis EDavis
What I'm a "pro" at is formulating an opinion based on the information that's actually presented to me. If this is indeed a conspiracy then present the information to me so that I can read it and possibly change my opinion on the matter. Post a link to it, I'll read it. Remember, you yourself classify your views as your "theory of conspiracy." Cool thing about theories is that as they become debunked by facts you can just make up new theories to support new non-facts as they emerge. And since your view is indeed a theory, not fact, please refrain from passing it off as such. Don't tell me your conspiracy theory, tell me your opinion. Show me the facts from which you have derived your opinion, not the circumstantial evidence that has inspired your fiction.
March 17, 2010 3:23 pm
 hata0101 hata0101
that's why we called it conspiracy! yea, the U.S. said it was a fact that Iraq got mass distruction weapon so they got in... found what? lost of lives & wasted billions & billions of taxpayer money! you tell me, what "facts" it gave you? you're so naive if you believe all the so-called "facts". blindfold yourself...LOL
March 17, 2010 5:38 pm
 EDavis EDavis
You couldn't find the information that I so kindly asked you to provide me with so you did what any woman does and attempted to change the subject. Nice. Let me clarify something. I implied earlier that my opinions are based on facts. What I didn't say was that until the facts are known they are based on supporting evidence, NOT circumstantial evidence. WCF has provided plenty of supporting evidence to suggest that Toyota may very well be having some sort of issue with their Prius, that evidence is in the form of crashed Priuses and dead/injured/scared-shitless people who were driving said Priuses. If WCF were to suggest that a sluggish U.S. economy "just might be the reason behind all of these crashing Toyotas" then they wouldn't be able to pass themselves off as a legitimate source of automotive information because such a story could only have been based on circumstantial evidence. Evidence is circumstantial if it could never, ever, be a direct cause of the actions described in a news story. Car crashes are cause by three things. 1) Driver error. 2) Vehicle malfunction. 3) A combination of 1 and 2. "But what about a car that crashes because a U.S. government agent paid the driver a million dollars to crash it?" Yep, also driver error, an error of judgement. Show me a car that has crashed because of a government conspiracy to stimulate the U.S. economy while tarnishing Toyota's reputation and I'll show you a car that is capable of opening up a newspaper, reading and understanding the stories contained within and, acting on that information to produce a desired result even if it means ignoring the input from the driver and all known laws of physics.
March 17, 2010 9:05 pm
 radmeister radmeister
Lol electronic anomaly, first of all your macbook is encased in aluminum, most likely the problem comes from something shorting out against the casing. But most likely either your input device like trakpad or keyboard, also could be one of the many components overheating like a voltage regulator..In any case i doubt it's anything as far-fetched as cosmic rays. I think that Hata1010 is trying to say that the conspiracy lies within the sudden involvement of the US government and in the way they are handling the situation. Toyota may have had problems since 2000, but so has almost every company, didn't ford release a recall a while ago that included vehicles as far back as the late 80s...So 30 years of them knowing there is a problem. You don't see that in the media or the FBI raiding their offices. Every company has a problem of some sort, just like people everyone has something that would make them look bad in the eyes of the public. If i want to take you down that's how i'd do it, find out what you're hiding in your past and bring it to light. You're thinking that the actual crashes are part of the conspiracy, no. It could of been something as simple as a whistle blower from within Toyota that notified the govt, and they jumped up from happiness when they heard the news and did everything they could to bring down toyota. The conspiracy comes from them having a hidden agenda in their actions, because believe me the US govt cares as much about a gas pedal sticking on a Toyota as much as they cared about women's rights in Afghanistan...
March 18, 2010 6:54 am
 sideskraper sideskraper
Blame the litigious nature of the USA for this to even be investigated.
March 17, 2010 9:28 am
 car-o-bar car-o-bar
WHY ONLY TOYOTA?
March 17, 2010 11:24 am
 hata0101 hata0101
yea, exactly! the cosmic ray can spot Toyota & pick on them ONLY...LOL... Govt. Motor/ U.S. Govt, please stop whatever you try to do on Toyota. & stop bringing out these kind of "pro" to make such laughable point!
March 17, 2010 1:59 pm
 hata0101 hata0101
well, facts is lies some times, while conspiracy is theory that so obvious. oh, btw, the illutration of this story is from "detriot free press"...said it all.
March 17, 2010 5:46 pm
 radmeister radmeister
Aliens are upset at Toyota for stealing their tech and using it in something as lame as a Prius. This is the most retarded thing i have heard in a long time, i hope it's a joke. I mean cosmic rays are minimal by the time they reach the surface of the earth, if they were powerful enough to cause problems in a car ECU they would be causing problems within our brains, and we'd be seeing smaller less protected electronics like cellphones frying. Not an ECU that is pretty deep within a casing of metal...
March 18, 2010 6:56 am
 997-GT500-STI 997-GT500-STI
I blame global warming in my area... its 55C in the summer time...lol
March 19, 2010 10:01 pm