Toyota "Unintended Acceleration" Has Killed 89

Unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles may have been involved in the deaths of 89 people over the past decade, upgrading the number of deaths possibly linked to the massive recalls, the government said Tuesday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that from 2000 to mid-May, it had received more than 6,200 complaints involving sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles. The reports include 89 deaths and 57 injuries over the same period. Previously, 52 deaths had been suspected of being connected to the problem.

Toyota Motor Corp. has recalled more than 8 million vehicles worldwide since last fall because of problems with gas pedals, floor mats and brakes. The Japanese automaker paid a record $16.4 million fine for its slow response to an accelerator pedal recall and is facing hundreds of state and federal lawsuits.

Toyota said in a statement that it "sympathizes with the individuals and families involved in any accident involving our vehicles. We are making an all-out effort to ensure our vehicles are safe and we remain committed to investigating reported incidents of unintended acceleration in our vehicles quickly."

The automaker said "many complaints in the NHTSA database, for any manufacturer, lack sufficient detail that could help identify the cause of an accident. We will continue to work in close partnership with law enforcement agencies and federal regulators with jurisdiction over accident scenes whenever requested."

In the aftermath of the recalls, Congress is considering upgrading auto safety laws to stiffen potential penalties against automakers, give the government more powers to demand a recall and push car companies to meet new safety standards.

Toyota's U.S. sales chief, Jim Lentz, told Congress last week that dealers have fixed nearly 3.5 million vehicles under the recall and the company and its dealers have conducted 2,000 inspections of vehicles. Lentz said there was no evidence that electronics are to blame for the sudden acceleration reports.

NHTSA administrator David Strickland told lawmakers the agency had spoken to nearly 100 vehicle owners who said they had unintended acceleration following a recall fix but NHTSA had not seen pedal entrapment or sticky accelerators in any vehicles that have been properly repaired.

The government is investigating acceleration problems in Toyotas and a separate 15-month study by the National Academy of Sciences is scheduled to begin in July.

[vriss]

Toyota has LIED about the unexplained acceleration problem. It has nothing to do with the floor mats, a sticky accelerator pedal, or improper use of the pedals. My 1999 Toyota Tacoma has less than 44,000 original miles on it (I just don't drive it much and I bought it new). Twice now, I have had my foot on the brake at either a stop sign or traffic light when suddenly the engine starts accelerating. It is absolutely terrifying when this happens and the only solution is to keep my foot on the brake and slam the vehicle into neutral. After doing both of these things the engine still continues to increase it's RPM's, for several seconds, before it returns to normal. Eventually, it WILL come out that there is a very real danger with Toyota vehicles and this unexplained acceleration. Until then, I hope no more people die because of it. My truck tried to speed onto a busy street and pressing the brake only caused the back wheels to spin so hard they were smoking. In a Business Week article they are claiming that CBS's Katie Couric broadcasted this story just to stir up a public frenzy; Ed Wallace could not be more wrong and the title of his article is suggesting the media owe Toyota an apology because they were being irresponsible reporting this story. When I called my Toyota Service Dept. I was told there was nothing they could do unless the problem happened while the vehicle was hooked up to their computer. This means these unexplained acceleration problems will continue because they are intermittent. I just want Toyota to figure out what is wrong with their vehicles. By their failure to take responsibility for this, and the government buying into it, is an absolute disgrace.

[toyotasludge]

Toyota owners are not being properly protected. Toyotas woes are far from over! How far does Toyota go to hide the truth? Read more here:

http://www.toyotasludge.com/
http://www.uc2.blogspot.com
http://www.toyotaoilgel.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs7WI2s-CVw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNEZPKF_M_s
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?TMC2003

http://www.mylexusisdefective.com

Follow toyotasludge on Twitter.

Charlene Blake

Toyota Owners Unite for Resolution

[e-mail]

[e-mail]

[tsigili]

The big problem is.....they still can't identify the problem. Personally, i think the day they put computers into cars, was a bad day for people.

[jtdev1]

Read all of the comments and was quite amazed at how many people here are defending a corporation of knowinly allowing a defect in their product that caused death to others and hiding it until caught.

Gotta love it!

So lets apply this to say Airlines... Who cares if only 1 plan crashes a year. It's only 1 plane... sounds stupid doesn't it???


There is no excuse for corporations lying or hiding things like this. No excuse at all. This is why there are regulations, so we the people have protections against greed from corporations.

[Scimajor]

That's because we're STILL waiting on ANY kind of real evidence to show that there's a real problem here. We don't believe something simply because people have shouted it enough times. We require proof.

Also, I notice the article didn't mention the FACT that several of the cases have been proven to be driver error and one case were the evidence is pointing towards outright fraud.

[NoWayJose9999]

Oh, what a feeling!!!!!!!!!!

[payasyougo]

"...there was no evidence that electronics are to blame for the sudden acceleration reports."

"...nearly 100 vehicle owners who said they had unintended acceleration following a recall fix but NHTSA had not seen pedal entrapment or sticky accelerators in any vehicles that have been properly repaired."
----
In one incident, the black box identified the driver at fault on the accelerator instead of the brake.

The end result will be black boxes on all cars.

[VA_John]

Once you drive a Toyota, you will never stop.

[bamio]

About 40,000 people die on the highways each year. Why is Obamie making a big deal out of these 89? He's trying to help out "Obamie Motors" aka GM.

[Scimajor]

Title "Toyota "Unintended Acceleration" HAS Killed 89"

First line "Unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles MAY have been involved in the deaths of 89 people"

Notice the use of the word "MAY" in the second quote and the word "HAS" in the first quote.

This is a perfect example of sensationalism at it's worst!

[sicario505]

How many people have been killed on the streets of Chicago, year to date ? Over 130 isn't it ? I have owned 4 Toyota's and will buy one again this fall.