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Two weeks ago in this column I called Toyota's investigation into its unintended acceleration problem a coverup. I was one of the first reporters to use the "C" word, which resulted in an appearance on the CBS Evening News to repeat those charges.

While I had no inside information to draw that conclusion, looking at what's transpired from the perspective of an engineer with product development experience, it was obvious that Toyota was being untruthful. The company had failed to provide details about the tests it had conducted, and didn't make its engineers available to discuss the issues. Since my column first appeared, much more evidence has come out that has substantiated these charges.

We've learned that over the past seven years Toyota and NHTSA, our government regulatory agency, have received more than 1,600 complaints. Sudden acceleration has allegedly caused as many as 34 deaths, including an off-duty highway patrolman and his family here in San Diego.

Internal Toyota memos now show that it bragged about saving $100 million in recalls by successfully negotiating with NHTSA regulators to curtail its investigations. During this time Toyota told complaining owners that their problems were due to faulty floor mats, including one owner that later died when his car crashed after suddenly accelerating ... with his floor mats stored in his trunk.

Even the most recent fix, adding a metal shim to the accelerator mechanism to prevent full engagement of a toothed part, seems a stretch to me. The fact that the problem of unintended acceleration increased dramatically when Toyota went to a computer controlled accelerator system, leads me to think the problem may be related to an electrical or software glitch.

Incredibly, the coverup continues. A Toyota vice president, Bob Carter, recently stated at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Orlando, Fla., that "Testing by Toyota, NHTSA and Exponent, an outside consulting firm hired by Toyota, has found no evidence of problems with Toyota's electronics.

"There is no problem with the electronic throttle system in Toyotas," Carter said. "There's not anything that can even remotely lead you in that direction." Carter said Exponent was told to "tear the components apart to try to find anything wrong and initial tests could find nothing."

While it may be true that during the couple of months Exponent ran its tests it found no problem, Carter's conclusion that "there is no problem" is neither accurate nor a logical conclusion. Two months of testing six or eight randomly chosen cars does not prove that there is not a problem. First, the sample size of the test is far too small to be able to make any valid conclusions concerning its entire fleet of cars. Second, it did not test the specific cars already known to have the problem. Statements such as Carter's continue to mislead the public and demonstrate that Toyota is still not serious about getting to the bottom of the problem.

It's now time for Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda, to move aside the marketing, PR and damage control people who just obfuscate the issues. He needs to take personal charge, do what's in the best interests of its customers, and make safety its first priority, ahead of profit.

Here's what Toyota should be doing if it really wants to find the cause of unintended acceleration:

1. Instruct every engineer or Toyota repairman who has had any involvement in the design, manufacturing or testing of unintended acceleration to come forward with what they know and report their findings to Mr. Toyoda directly.

2. Request that every customer who's experienced the problem of unintended acceleration bring their cars into their Toyota dealer in exchange for a loaner.

3. Bring 1,000 of Toyota's best engineers to the United States to fan out and examine these cars that have been turned in to the dealers. Subject these cars to extensive testing to try replicate the reported problems.

It's much more likely that a population of cars that have experienced the problems will yield better results than testing a few new cars.

4. Buy back samples of these cars that indicate anomalies and subject them to additional testing in Japan.

5. Have this team of Toyota engineers present their findings for peer review to a team of U.S. experts in electronics, software, testing and quality control from academia, the automotive industry and NHTSA, and then report directly to the public.

Mr. Toyoda's testimony this past week was filled with apologies, but did little to reassure us that they are doing everything possible to get to the bottom of these problems. He has still failed to explain why the company did little to test for electronic problems, yet keeps ruling that out as a cause, saying he was "absolutely confident" there was no problem with the electronics, and repeated the company's stance that sudden accelerations were caused by either a sticking gas pedal or a misplaced floor mat.

I predict that comment will come back to haunt Toyoda and his company. Evidence is already surfacing that some university experts have been able to prove the contrary.

Baker is the author of "From Concept to Consumer," holds 30 patents and is an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Phil can be heard on KOGO AM the first Sunday of each month. Send comments to phil.baker@sddt.com. Phil's blog is blog.philipgbaker.com.

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