Personal Injury Law

Accelerator Pedal Entrapment causes major issue for Toyota and nearly 4 million vehicles

By Brian F. LaBovick, Esq.

Last month Toyota finally had to fess up. They had to say 'We are sorry. Our cars have a malfunction. We are killing people.' Toyota recalled almost 4 million cars because the accelerators were sticking and cars were being run up to 120 miles per hour causing high speed crashes

I have several loved ones and friends that drive a Toyota. Therefore I am genuinely concerned about this recent recall issue. A few months ago, we shared information on our blog regarding the Toyota Mat Recall.

I started to think about the following:

Here is the big game: Before anything: BLAME THE VICTIM. BLAME THE VICTIM. NEVER ADMIT FAULT. BLAME THE VICTIM.

It is the same old story: 'The accident wasn't our fault, it was driver error!' BLAME THE VICTIM.

But eventually the statistics add up. Eventually the big corporation must face the facts. Your car is messed up. Your drug is defective. Your medical device is malfunctioning.

When will these corporations learn and be more responsible about Consumer Safety?

I am delighted that we have a justice system that allows us to hold companies accountable.

Toyota issued the following Recall information on their website, regarding the accelerator pedal:

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS) announced today details of the vehicle-based remedy to address the root cause of the potential risk for floor mat entrapment of accelerator pedals in certain Toyota and Lexus models. Toyota issued a consumer safety advisory on September 29 on this issue and has, as an interim measure, commenced the mailing of safety notices to certain Toyota and Lexus owners on October 30.

The models involved are: 2007 to 2010 MY (model year) Camry, 2005 to 2010 MY Avalon, 2004 to 2009 MY Prius, 2005 to 2010 MY Tacoma, 2007 to 2010 MY Tundra, 2007 to 2010 MY ES350, 2006 to 2010 MY IS250, and 2006 to 2010 MY IS 350

Toyota's quick fix to this problem is to  shorten gas pedals by three-quarters of an inch, starting in January. In certain instances, they will take padding from the floor to prevent the pedals from getting stuck on floor mats.

Toyota Announces Details of Remedy to Address Potential Accelerator Pedal Entrapment - Toyota Advisory to consumers 

Full post as published by LaBovick Injury Law Blog on December 04, 2009 (boomark / email).