Toyota announces the substitution accelerators 4 million vehicles
The largest automaker on the planet, the Japanese Toyota, announced Wednesday that the accelerator pedals should be replaced on four million vehicles to prevent them from getting stuck in the carpet.
The Camry models 2007-2010, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2005-2009 Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma and 2007-2010 Tundra are concerned. The luxury Lexus models ES350 2007-2010 Lexus IS250/350 2006-2010 are also keys.
The statement was issued by the head office of Toyota in the United States and U.S. regulators. A spokesman for Toyota Canada has been unable to confirm whether certain of the vehicles concerned were sold in Canada.
The U.S. authorities and Toyota have announced that, to temporarily alleviate the problem, Toyota will shorten the accelerator of January, the time to develop a new permanent pedal. New accelerators should be available in April.
Toyota will also install on some models a safety device called "Smart Brake" which stops the engine if the pedals for acceleration and braking are applied simultaneously. Such a device will be installed on virtually all new Toyota vehicles by the end of 2010.
The president of the Association for Automobile Protection (APA), George Iny, welcomed the announcement.
According to Mr. Iny, the APA has never believed that the explanation of the accelerator stuck in the carpet is the only yours. His organization has heard of isolated incidents which saw a vehicle begin to accelerate because the accelerator was just stuck, without the clutter of the carpet, or even without pressing the accelerator pedal.
The installation of the system "Smart Brake" should prepare everything problem and especially encourage other automakers follow suit Toyota has not risking said Mr. Iny, "ending up on television."
Last August, an accident in California involving a Lexus E350 had cost the lives of three members of the same family and a policeman. The vehicle had begun to accelerate uncontrollably when the accelerator got stuck in the carpet. He was traveling at about 200 km / h at the time of the accident.
The following month, Toyota had asked owners of certain models to remove the carpet on the side of the driver to prevent such incidents. But at the beginning of November, the U.S. authorities have issued a statement in which they claimed that the removal of carpet "did not correct the underlying problem."
The U.S. government did state a hundred such incidents, which have caused five deaths and two injured. But a firm from Massachusetts who is bending over the question relates rather 2000 incidents involving 16 deaths and 243 injured.
In case of problem, Toyota advises drivers to press the brake with both feet and put the transmission in "neutral" or turn off the engine.
The vehicles ES350, Camry and Avalon would be the first to be recalled due to a potential increased risk.
