NATIONAL – A Toyota executive told a congressional panel yesterday that fixing floor mats and sticking pedals on millions of recalled vehicles would “not totally” fix problems with dangerous unintended acceleration. He said that the automaker still hasn’t ruled out electronics as a potential cause of sudden acceleration. Since September 2009, Toyota has recalled millions…
NATIONAL – State Farm told NHTSA about sticky accelerators in 2007. In continuing coverage, the AP (2/10, Thomas) reports that State Farm insurance announced yesterday that it “alerted” NHTSA “in late 2007 about a rise in reports of unexpected acceleration in Toyota vehicles, the latest warning sign to emerge about the massive recall. NHTSA officials…
NATIONAL – According to USA Today (1/25, Healey) reports, “Toyota says it knew there were problems with accelerator-pedal assemblies from supplier CTS late last year, but not enough to warrant a recall. The automaker says it hurriedly announced last Thursday a planned recall of 2.3 million Toyotas, back to 2005 models, because the defect trend…
NATIONAL – ABC World News (1/21, lead story, 3:10, Sawyer) reported, “Breaking news this evening. Toyota is recalling 2.3 million cars and trucks tonight, trying to tackle the frightening problem of cars suddenly speeding out of control.” The CBS Evening News (1/21, story 8, 0:20, Couric) noted that “late last year Toyota recalled more than…
NATIONWIDE – Toyota is in the process of recalling 3.8 million vehicles in the United States. The problem is a removable floor mat. The floor mat could interfere with the vehicle’s accelerator and cause a crash. The company says it will be the largest recall in its history. Toyota owners could learn about the safety…