Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood (pictured) has gotten some good TV time this week. First he warned American drivers of Toyota’s recalled vehicles to park them immediately. Shortly thereafter, he retracted part of that statement in a “clarification” in which he told drivers to get their recalled cars to Toyota dealerships as soon as possible. In a report which came out Friday on the Detroit News, LaHood is apparently looking to limit in-car distractions for drivers.
Continue reading ‘Transportation Secretary LaHood looks to stem in-car distractions?’
We reported on news last week alleging that ex-NHTSA employee Chris Santucci interfered with an investigation into Toyota’s unintended acceleration issues. Since then, ABC News did its best digging and found some interesting information, which they reported on Friday.
The ABC News report explains that ex-NHTSA employees, including the previously-mentioned Chris Santucci, used their clout at the NHTSA to severely limit the number of reported incidents to lessen the impact on Toyota, to the point where it was highly ignored.
Continue reading ‘Update: NHTSA Investigation into Toyota hampered by ex-employee?’
Rather than inundate you with a thousand Toyota posts a day, I’m going to condense today’s Toyota news into one post. Bear with me, as a lot has been said today, although not much has been done. Toyota is still in trouble, and it’s getting worse by the minute. Now the NHTSA and the House of Representatives is on their case, as are several groups of consumers. Between the investigations and class-action law suits, Toyota’s got a pretty full plate right now. Read on for the play-by-play from today.
Continue reading ‘Toyota Updates for February 3rd, 2010′
Published on
November 25, 2009 in
Manufacturer Update, Recalls and Under the Hood (In Depth).
Tags: accelerator, accident, brake, braking, floor mat, gas, gas pedal, Lexus, NHTSA, recall, stuck, Toyota.
Source: AutoBlog
As I reported earlier here on Road Reality, Toyota is in hot water over stuck gas pedals. A statement this morning from Toyota gives us their solution for the recall, as well as a timeline for its resolution. While it’s too late to save the lives of the California State Trooper and his family, who died as a result of this flaw, it’s a wake-up call to Toyota and the rest of the manufacturers. Any manufacturer that doesn’t incorporate a “smart throttle” which cuts engine power when the brake pedal is pressed needs to think long and hard about how to get that feature into all of their future vehicles. The crash which brought this issue to the forefront of the news also brings with it the question of how to stop a car equipped with an engine start/stop button, versus a traditional key and ignition cylinder. Read the original post for how to stop said vehicles. Continue reading to find out what Toyota is doing to keep drivers safe.
Continue reading ‘Update: Toyota to Recall 3.8 Million Vehicles over Gas Pedal issue’
Published on
November 20, 2009 in
Manufacturer Update, Recalls and Under the Hood (In Depth).
Tags: accelerator, accident, brake, braking, floor mat, gas, gas pedal, NHTSA, recall, stuck, Toyota.
Source: AutoBlog
For the last couple of months, Toyota has been in hot water. At least one accident has already been blamed on a dislodged floor mat, which can cause the gas pedal to become stuck under in a wide-open position, leading to unintended acceleration. In all, there are 3.8 million affected vehicles, and Toyota says it has over 5 million dollars earmarked for recalls.
Continue reading ‘Recalls: Toyota to shorten gas pedals to prevent them from getting stuck?’
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood (pictured) has gotten some good TV time this week. First he warned American drivers of Toyota’s recalled vehicles to park them immediately. Shortly thereafter, he retracted part of that statement in a “clarification” in which he told drivers to get their recalled cars to Toyota dealerships as soon as possible. In a report which came out Friday on the Detroit News, LaHood is apparently looking to limit in-car distractions for drivers.
