Personal Injury Lawyers > Personal Injury Blog > Motor Vehicle Defects > Toyota was Aware of Jammed Throttle Problems Last Year

Personal Injury Blog

Toyota was Aware of Jammed Throttle Problems Last Year

The bad news just doesn’t end for Toyota.  USA Today reports that the automaker was aware of problems with accelerator pedals from its supplier in late 2009, but did not believe that the problem was serious enough to require a recall.

Last week, the automaker extended its earlier recall by another million vehicles. The recall came as the company continued to struggle to identify the problem contributing to sudden accelerations in its cars. That problem continues to be a source of concern and worry to California product liability lawyers and Toyota owners.  To make matters worse, the company also announced that it would stop the manufacturing and sales of at least 8 of its models due to the unintended acceleration incidents. The automaker was apparently pressured by the Department of Transportation to initiate a second and extended recall and also to stop manufacture and sales of the 8 models that have been linked to the acceleration risks. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has confirmed that his department advised the automaker to take these steps to prevent accidents and injuries involving unintended acceleration.

Toyota is currently working on a remedy for the unintended acceleration. However, it could be weeks or months before the automaker manages to devise a solution to the problem. Even after the automaker develops a solution, it has to  be approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Toyota’s history of dealing with this problem leaves a lot to be desired. The first recall announced in October last year blamed floor mat issues for the problem.  Then, the automaker backtracked and said that the fault lay with the accelerated pedals.. The automaker has made a series of kneejerk responses ever since the acceleration problem burst into the international spotlight.  That happened in August last year in California when an off duty California highway patrol officer and his wife, daughter and bother-in-law was killed in an accident involving a Toyota Lexus.

All evidence so far including a 911 call made from the inside the car just before the accident seem to indicate that the car accelerated to excessive speeds of more than 120mph before going out of control and crashing. Toyota had a chance to conduct an in-depth investigation of the problem, and determine what could have caused the Lexus to reach such high speeds. Instead, the automaker hastily blamed all-weather floor mats on the Toyota Lexus, saying these were incompatible with the vehicle. The automaker ignored reports of acceleration from Toyota owners who say that their vehicle did not even have floor mats at the times of the acceleration.

Now, Toyota says that the problem lies in potentially malfunctioning gas pedals sourced from a CTS facility in Ontario. The problem appears to be linked to premature wearing out of mechanic parts in the CTS throttle assemblies.  The good news is that new Toyota vehicles are probably not prone to unintended acceleration. The bad news is that as the throttle assemblies begin to wear out, the problem is likely to appear. The hope is that by the time these new cars begin to wear out, Toyota would have developed a remedy to the problem.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of motor vehicle defects. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

---