Toyota Motor Corp. is in the midst of another major recall. A total of 2.3 million vehicles have been recalled due to a potential problem with the gas pedal getting stuck and possibly leading to a serious car accident. This will be the third recall in less than a year for the world’s most popular car company.
The recall affects these Toyota vehicles:
- 2009-2010 Toyota Rav4
- 2009-2010 Corolla
- 2009-2010 Matrix
- 2005-2010 Avalon
- 2007-2010 Camry
- 2010 Highlander
- 2007-2010 Tundra
- 2008-2010 Sequoia
The first recall was issued back in September of 2009 for 3.8 million vehicles and the problem was supposedly centered around faulty floor mats. Our law firm was skeptical from the beginning that floor mats were the culprit in numerous car wrecks. The media highlighted a particular car crash where an off-duty police officer and his family were killed when the Lexus they were in accelerated suddenly to 120mph and slammed into an SUV.
Toyota issued a second recall (a total of four million vehicles), this time focused on the gas pedal. However, Toyota claimed the problem was that the gas pedal was too long and simply needed to be reduced in size so it didn’t get caught in the aforementioned floor mat.
Given this newest recall, it appears the problem is much deeper than an elongated pedal. The current recall highlights a mechanical issue where the gas pedal can get stuck (floormat or not) and/or return slowly to an idle position leading to over acceleration, according to CNN.
"The news that Toyota has expanded this recall, in conjunction with a statement that removes blame from the previously identified faulty floor mats, is proof that this situation is slowly spiraling out of control. As a company with a reputation for steadiness, these must be uncomfortable days for Toyota," said James Bell, who works for Kelley Blue Book.
Here’s a video discussing the Toyota recall and providing examples of how dangerous this gas pedal problem is to Toyota drivers…
I believe Toyota made an error in September by simply recalling vehicle floor mats. If they had issued a single major recall focused on the gas pedal from the beginning, maybe they wouldn’t have been forced to issue three of the largest recalls in company history in such a brief period of time.
About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm (VA-NC law offices ) edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard , Norfolk Injuryboard , and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono service to consumers.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
6 Comments
miko
for my own edification and others: isn't the more expensive toyota( Ithink it's called lexus??)also involved. Just wanted to make sure in case I see one on the road to avoid it??
Please reply
Bruce Christich
I experienced a sudden unintended acceleration on 1 Dec 09 while driving my 2007 Toyota Tacoma. I ended up rear ending a Lebanon MO school bus loaded with preschoolers. The truck would not stop despite having the brake peddle pushed to the floor. The driver side floor mat was securely in place and was not the cause. Toyota inspected the truck and said they could find no brake or accelerator problem. The problem is not the brakes, but the software in the accelerator system. Unfortunately, Toyota is not addressing this problem across all of it line of vehicles. Until they do, people driving Toyota vehicles will be akin to El Qaida suicide squads.
anas
i live in saudi arabia, and my friend has an is300 lexus (the is300 is made just for gulf countries instead of 250 and 350), and he had a very bad accident with his car for the same reason, he couldnt brake and the pedal gas was stuck, he didnt really know why, but now we know. i think he must get a new car instead of his which has been crashed badly
Tessie Palczynski
My friend and I were driving in a new Toyota Matrix up Parley's canyon, in Park City, Utah back in May of 2008. We reached speeds over 90 miles an hour, we could not stop. We almost killed ourselves and our dogs. We tried to turn off the cruise, we tried to break, nothing worked. We pumped the breaks till they smoked, cut off many people, and finally ran to the shoulder of the road and hit debris to stop. We turned the car off going about 30+ miles per hour. Toyota denied that anything went wrong and blamed "my" floormats. I had "their" floormats in. My friend had bent down to see if anything was stuck, nothing was there. I went back to Larry H Miller dealership and it was hell. I spent months going through paper work, then arbitration. In late August I clearly won arbitration and got a check back to my car, but I lost over $2,500 because I had 5,000 miles on it.
Toyota knew for a long time,about their mistakes, they killed people and put others at risk because they did not address the problem back in 2008!
Bret Hanna
Tessie:
I live in Park City but work in Salt Lake - I commute through Parleys Canyon every weekday and often on weekends. An out-of-control vehicle is a deadly hazard everywhere but particularly so in windy and steep canyons like Parleys. I'm glad your story has a happy ending, relatively speaking, and that you are safe.
Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton
To Bruce Christich and Tessie Palczynski:
Thank you for sharing your stories about Toyota vehicles and sudden acceleration. You've crystallized how serious this problem is and the recent news that Toyota has suspended sales of certain recalled vehicles due to the accelerator indicates we may just be scratching the surface of this issue.
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