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NEWS:
Toyota to recall 3.8M vehicles over floor
mats WASHINGTON –
Sept 29, 2009 --
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. |
