Recall aims to avoid accidents related to automobile floor mats - September 30, 2009

A tragic high speed auto accident in August of this year has led to the largest recall by Toyota in history. Through a frantic 911 call from a passenger in the car indicating that the accelerator was stuck with no working brakes, the cause was suspected to be related to a jammed floor mat. The runaway vehicle was reportedly traveling over 120 miles an hour when it collided with a SUV, launched into an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames. The fiery crash killed all four family members.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has indicated that they have received reports of 102 instances in which an accelerator has been stuck on Toyota vehicles involved in the recall. As a result, Toyota is working with the NHTSA to find a remedy and will be announcing a recall of 3.8 million vehicles probably next week. In the interim, owners of the following vehicles are advised to remove their driver's side floor mats and not replace them for: 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350.

Toyota spokeman Irv Miller noted: "A stuck open accelerator pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop a vehicle, which could cause a crash, serious injury or death."

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood suggested urgency: "For everyone's sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended consequences."

Toyota has released the following instructions for those that think their vehicle is accelerating out of control. First check whether their floor mat is under the pedal. If you cannot remove the floor mat, step on the brake pedal with both feet until the vehicle slows enough for you to put the car in neutral and switch the engine to accessory power.

If your vehicle has an engine stop/start button, hold the button down for three seconds to shut off the engine.