Personal Injury Law

NHTSA suggests that case is not closed on Toyota rapid acceleration issue

By Ryan Bradley, Esq.

More information has come to light regarding a story we've been following involving possibly unsafe Toyota vehicles.

Federal regulators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have issued a statement that certain Toyota and Lexus vehicles may have defects in their design that can lead to uncontrollable acceleration.

Toyota had previously issued a statement in response to a fatal August 28th accident that the driver side floor mats in some Toyota and Lexus vehicles can cause the gas pedal to get stuck if they aren't installed properly. This appeared to be the case in the fatal car accident in San Diego that killed four people when a mat designed for an SUV was accidentally installed in a smaller Lexus sedan. The Toyota statement seemed to imply that the floor mats were the only concern and that no other design flaws are present.

This may not be the case, according to the NHTSA, and some Toyota and Lexus vehicles may have other problems with the accelerator mechanism and the design of the foot well itself.

The problem, of course, is owners of these vehicles may have been mislead by Toyota's statement and believe that by simply removing the floor mat in their vehicle, they will be immune to this acceleration problem. In fact, they may still be driving a car that could suddenly speed out of control due to some other factors.

Toyota spokesmen continue to say that the improperly installed floor mats are the only known cause of the problem with no evidence being yet found to support the theories that other design defects exist.

The NHTSA is continuing to investigate the matter.

If you believe that you or a family member have been the victim of a dangerous vehicle defect, it is in your best interest to contact a product liability attorney as soon as possible.

Full post as published by Missouri Accident Lawyer Blog on November 06, 2009 (boomark / email).