With over eight million vehicles involved in the three recent Toyota recalls, the world is waiting to see whether Toyota steps up to the plate and does what is legally required of them – fix the problems. Just last week, Toyota Motor Corporation’s president, Akio Toyoda, testified in front of congressional leaders in Washington D.C., and assured them, and the American people, that his company was doing everything necessary to repair the defective vehicles. Mr. Toyoda was asked about the possibility that electrical problems were to blame for the sudden acceleration problems – not floor mats and sticky pedals. My Toyoda repeatedly rejected the possibility that there is a much deeper, electrical issue that is causing the sudden acceleration problems and reaffirmed Toyota Motor Corporation’s position that the repairs they have initiated will solve the problems.
Toyota owners world wide would like to believe that the announced repairs will fix their vehicles and prevent any further deaths or injuries. To date, Toyota manufactured vehicles have been blamed for 52 deaths and at least 40 injuries. What makes these defects even worse than other potential defects is that when a vehicle accelerates out of control, the results are almost always tragic. When a vehicle races out of control and the driver is unable to stop, the resulting crash is frequently catastrophic – as evidenced by the number of deaths attributable to the defects. The importance of getting a handle on these defects cannot be understated. Yet, here we are, less than a week after Mr. Toyoda’s appearance in Washington D.C. and complaints are continuing to pour into the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). What’s worse is that this new round of complaints are on vehicles that have supposedly been fixed by Toyota according to product liability and auto accident attorney Emery Ledger, of Ledger & Associates in California.
The NTHSA has received ten new complaints in the last few days – all for unintended acceleration problems and all for vehicles that have allegedly received Toyota’s “fix”. Lawmakers and regulators are initiating a separate investigation into this new round of complaints in an effort to determine if the electrical system is actually at fault. If that turns out to be the case, then it will have far reaching consequences. More vehicles may ultimately be affected and Toyota will not be able to use their announced repairs to fix the problem. Toyota owners have been complaining for years about unintended acceleration with some complaints going all the way back to the 1990’s. For now, it appears as though current owners of Toyota manufactured vehicles are forced to sit back and wait for the lawmakers and regulators to figure out what is really behind the unintended acceleration problems.
If you have been involved in an accident with a recalled Toyota manufactured vehicle, or if you have any additional questions about the laws regarding recalled vehicles, feel free to contact Emery Ledger at Ledger & Associates online at www.ledgerlaw.com or at his toll free number 1-800-300-0001.
