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'Black box' may solve Toyota crash mystery

by JAKE WHITTENBERG / KING 5 News

Bio | Email | Follow: @jakewhittenberg

KING5.com

Posted on March 11, 2010 at 6:42 PM

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - A local family may finally get answers to what caused a crash that killed their son. 

Twenty-nine-year-old Chris Eves was killed in 2007 when his Toyota Tundra pickup truck crashed at high speeds on a
rural Whatcom County road.

Investigators say Eves was traveling at high speeds. An exact cause of the crash was never determined, but Eves' family is confident the Toyota's gas pedal became stuck, causing the truck to accelerate.

Eves' 2007 Toyota Tundra is on the recall list.

Exact details during the crash were recorded in the vehicle's so-called black box, but it can only be accessed with special Toyota software.

Canadian transportation officials have contacted Chris' father to tell the family they will access the information using new software. A time to review the data has not been scheduled.

"This is good news," said Lori Eves. "We've waited two years for answers and now we have something."

Sen. Maria Cantwell has demanded Toyota provide software to access the black box. Toyota says it would still be months before it can access the box.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Commission recently created a new rule in the U.S., requiring car makers to make the black boxes or "Event Data Recorders" easier to access.

That federal rule goes into effect in 2013.

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Comments: Displaying 1 - 4 of 4

carlconstantine said on March 12, 2010 at 2:47 PM

speakthetruth - Better late than never... Like your career! Hah! Hah! Hah!

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speakthetruth said on March 12, 2010 at 2:55 AM

Kind of "a day late and a dollar short," don't you think?

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carlconstantine said on March 11, 2010 at 10:53 PM

The black box will probably prove that the guy in California, that had to be stopped by a state trooper, to be a hoax. He never put the vehicle in neutral, even when the 911 dispatcher asked him to do so several times. The response that he gave when she asked him had he tried to place the vehicle in neutral was very evasive and demonstrates clearly that he planned the entire thing and only wants to cash in and appear on the Oprah Show or Good Morning America. He should be taken directly to JAIL.

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bobknows said on March 11, 2010 at 7:24 PM

Toyota has been stonewalling use of black box data for years. They are afraid that it will reveal serious problems with their computer control system. A published report said that there is only 1 single computer in the US that can read the black box data.

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