NEWS:
Toyota to recall 3.8M
vehicles over floor mats
September 29, 2009 --
Yahoo News –
Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it
will recall 3.8 million vehicles in the
United States, the company's largest-ever
U.S. recall, to address problems with a
removable floor mat that could cause
accelerators to get stuck and lead to a
crash.
The recall will involve
popular models such as the
Toyota Camry, the top-selling
passenger car in America, and the
Toyota Prius, the best-selling
gas-electric hybrid.
Toyota said it was still
working with officials with the
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration to find a remedy to
fix the problem and said owners could be
notified about the recall as early as next
week. Toyota spokesman Irv Miller said until
the company finds a fix, owners should take
out the removable floor mat on the driver's
side and not replace it.
"A stuck open accelerator
pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds
and make it difficult to stop a vehicle,
which could cause a crash, serious injury or
death," Miller said.
NHTSA said it had received
reports of 102 incidents in which the
accelerator may have become stuck on the
Toyota vehicles involved. It was unclear how
many led to crashes but the inquiry was
prompted by a highspeed crash in August in
California of a Lexus barreling out of
control. As the vehicle hit speeds exceeding
120 mph, family members made a frantic 911
call and said the accelerator was stuck and
they couldn't stop the vehicle.
"This is an urgent
matter," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
said in a statement. "For everyone's sake,
we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to
remove mats or other obstacles that could
lead to unintended acceleration."
The recall will affect
Toyota's previously
largest U.S. recall was about 900,000
vehicles in 2005 to fix a steering issue.
The company declined to say how many
complaints it had received about the
accelerator issue.
The Japanese automaker
warned owners that if they think their
vehicle is accelerating out of control, they
should check to see whether their
floor mat is under the pedal. If a
driver can't remove the floor mat, Toyota
advises drivers to step on the brake pedal
with both feet until the vehicle slows and
then try to put it into neutral and switch
the ignition to accessory power.
For vehicles with engine
start/stop buttons, Toyota said the engine
can be shut off by holding the button down
for three seconds.
In the August incident
near San Diego, the fiery crash of a 2009
Lexus ES 350 killed
California Highway Patrol Officer
Mark Saylor, 45, and three members of his
family on State Route 125 in Santee. The
runaway car was traveling at more than 120
mph when it hit a
sport utility vehicle, launched off
an embankment, rolled several times and
burst into flames. One of the family members
called police about a minute before the
crash to report the vehicle had no brakes
and the accelerator was stuck. The call
ended with someone telling people in the car
to hold on and pray, followed by a woman's
scream.
NHTSA investigators
determined that a rubber all-weather floor
mat found in the wreckage was slightly
longer than the mat that belonged in the
vehicle, something that could have snared or
covered the accelerator pedal.
Toyota spokesman John
Hanson said the final report had not yet
been submitted in the California case.
"We don't know what the
actual cause was of that accident other than
preliminary reports that have been published
so it's impossible for us to comment on that
particular incident," Hanson said.
In mid-September, Toyota
ordered 1,400 Toyota and Lexus dealers
nationwide to ensure that each new, used and
loaner vehicles had the
proper floor mats and that the mats
were properly secured.
In September 2007, Toyota
recalled an accessory all-weather floor mat
sold for use in some 2007 and 2008 model
year Lexus ES 350 and
Toyota Camry vehicles because of
similar problems.
