Toyota Charged With Criminal Wire Fraud, $1.2 Billion Penalty
- Thread starter Scott O'Kashan
- Start date
"Toyota Floor-Mat Entrapment In 2007, NHTSA opened a defect investigation into the Lexus ES350 and identified several other Toyota and Lexus models because of complaints of unintended acceleration.
Toyota conducted its own investigation that found all-weather floor mats could cause entrapment of the gas pedal. Toyota denied a need to recall the vehicles and negotiated a limited recall with NHTSA, but for the floor mats only, not the vehicles.
Toyota considered this a major financial victory, as shown in an internal memo:
The car was a loaner and was driven by a California Highway Patrol officer as his personal vehicle. A 911 call made by a passenger described the horror of trying to stop the Lexus, a call that ended with the sound of a violent crash.
Toyota said the recall “addressed the root cause of unintended acceleration” and all the affected cars had been recalled. However, Toyota now admits additional models should have been recalled, including the top-selling Corolla, a fact hidden from NHTSA at the time."
Toyota conducted its own investigation that found all-weather floor mats could cause entrapment of the gas pedal. Toyota denied a need to recall the vehicles and negotiated a limited recall with NHTSA, but for the floor mats only, not the vehicles.
Toyota considered this a major financial victory, as shown in an internal memo:
“had the agency . . . pushed for recall of the throttle pedal assembly (for instance), we would be looking at upwards of $100 million + in unnecessary costs.”
However, a four-fatality accident in 2009 finally caused Toyota to recall the actual vehicles. The 2009 San Diego accident killed a family of four after a Lexus ES350 crashed at full throttle because the gas pedal was stuck.
The car was a loaner and was driven by a California Highway Patrol officer as his personal vehicle. A 911 call made by a passenger described the horror of trying to stop the Lexus, a call that ended with the sound of a violent crash.
“We’re in a Lexus . . . and we’re going north on 125 and our accelerator is stuck . . . there’s no brakes . . . we’re approaching the intersection . . . Hold on . . . hold on and pray . . . pray.”
That accident caused Toyota to finally recall the actual vehicles (instead of just the floor mats) but at the same time, Toyota went into damage control by giving the public false and misleading statements.
Toyota said the recall “addressed the root cause of unintended acceleration” and all the affected cars had been recalled. However, Toyota now admits additional models should have been recalled, including the top-selling Corolla, a fact hidden from NHTSA at the time."
I have a hard time believing that the trained officer didn't immediately put the car in neutral and hit the brakes. He was suicidal, in my opinion.
Several people attempted to claim a stuck pedal to get insurance money and file a lawsuit, and got busted by the black box.
Car and Driver simulated a stuck throttle condition, and all cars with the issue stopped with the brakes, even with the accelerator stuck. They repeated the test with a Shelby GT500 that makes more power than any Toyota in production, and even that car was able to stop under stuck throttle conditions.
The only ones I personally consider legitimate, is when the throttle stuck open and they had no time to react before crashing (such as following too closely).
Several people attempted to claim a stuck pedal to get insurance money and file a lawsuit, and got busted by the black box.
Car and Driver simulated a stuck throttle condition, and all cars with the issue stopped with the brakes, even with the accelerator stuck. They repeated the test with a Shelby GT500 that makes more power than any Toyota in production, and even that car was able to stop under stuck throttle conditions.
The only ones I personally consider legitimate, is when the throttle stuck open and they had no time to react before crashing (such as following too closely).
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