April 2010 Update -

On April 7, 2010 the San Francisco Chronicle reported that according to documents that were submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Toyota  was aware as early as 2006 that accelerator pedals could stick, causing unintended acceleration.  The first report involved a floor mat that had interfered with the accelerator pedal in a 2005 Toyota Prius.

March 2010 Update – Toyota Warned Dealerships in 2002 About Surging Throttles; Also, Owners Say Toyota Recall Repairs Aren’t Working

On March 23, 2010, CNN reported that it had obtained documents showing that Toyota warned dealerships as far back as 2002 that Camry owners were complaining about throttles surging, and recommended adjustments in an electronic control unit to fix the problem. The technical service bulletin went to every U.S. Toyota dealership in late August 2002 after some customers reported their vehicles were speeding up unexpectedly. (Toyota maintains that its current problems do not involve electronic components.)

On March 5, 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported that more than 60 drivers have complained of sudden acceleration incidents despite the fact that their cars were repaired by Toyota Motor Corp. in the current recalls, according to new data released March 4th.  The latest figure, released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, significantly increases the total number of complaints involving repaired vehicles, which was less than 10 on Tuesday.

The new complaints allege several accidents and at least three injuries resulting from runaway unintended acceleration despite the vehicles’ undergoing a series of modifications at Toyota dealerships designed to resolve the issue. Read the full story on the LA Times website.

Original post

Since 2002, there have been multiple government investigations and over 2,000 consumer complaints of unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles. However, only in 2010, did Toyota apparently acknowledge the full scope of the problem. As Bill Vlasic, automotive reporter for the New York Times, has observed,

At almost every step that lead to its current predicament, Toyota underestimated the severity of the sudden-acceleration problem affecting its most popular cars. It has veered from discounting early reports of problems to overconfidently announcing diagnoses and insufficient fixes.

Toyota claims it has developed a fix to the gas pedal of its vehicles that will stop sudden acceleration.  Yet, CTS Corp. of Elkhart, Ind., the manufacturer of the pedals, said in a statement that it had “deep concern that there is widespread confusion and incorrect information” about its products linked to the sudden-acceleration issue and pedal denies they were defectively made:

CTS stated that since the problem of sudden unintended acceleration has been reported to have existed in some Lexus vehicles and Toyota vehicles going back to 1999 when CTS did not even make this product for any customer, CTS believes that the rare slow return pedal phenomenon, which may occur in extreme environmental conditions, should absolutely not be linked with any sudden unintended acceleration incidents.

Of the 2,000 complaints of sudden acceleration, just 5% blamed a sticking gas pedal.  No government investigation of sudden-acceleration problems in Toyota vehicles has identified a sticking pedal as a potential cause.

The reason why Toyota’s cars are suddenly accelerating may be due to a software or other defect in the vehicles’ electronic throttles. As noted in a Los Angeles Times investigative report,

The electronic throttle system uses sensors, microprocessors and electric motors, rather than a traditional link such as a steel cable, to connect the driver’s foot to the engine. In recent interviews, two former NHTSA administrators, Ricardo Martinez and Joan Claybrook, have said they believe that some kind of electronic glitch may be causing the Toyota problems. Similar conclusions are being drawn by independent automotive safety experts, forensic mechanics and automotive electronics researchers, as well as many consumers.

The Washington Post reported in January:

Toyota Motor began facing complaints of runaway cars years ago, but the company did not install “brake override” systems in those vehicles, even as several other automakers deployed the technology to address such malfunctions.  The brake override systems allow a driver to stop a car with the footbrake even if the accelerator is depressed and the vehicle is running at full throttle. The systems are an outgrowth of new electronics in cars, specifically in engine control.

This system – known as “brake to idle” or “brake override” - is common in vehicles manufactured by other companies.  The article continues:

“If the brake and the accelerator are in an argument, the brake wins,” a spokesman at Chrysler said in describing the systems, which it began installing in 2003. Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz also install such systems in at least some of their cars, the companies and industry experts said, some as far back as 10 years ago. General Motors installs brake override in all of its cars in which it is possible for the engine at full throttle to overwhelm the brakes.

Subsequently, Toyota announced that most of its new 2010 vehicle will be equipped with brake override.  Joan Claybrook, former NTHSA administrator, observed last year that when Toyota announced that it was recalling the floor mats, the automaker also agreed to install an electronic brake override in many of the cars affected.  “If it was just a floor mat problem, taking the floor mat out would correct the problem — so why are they putting the brake override in?” Claybrook stated to the Washington Post.

On February 22, 2010, Toyota announced it was installing a brake override system in three more models:  2005-2010 Tacomas, 2009-2010 Venzas and 2008-2010 Sequoias.  Toyota previously said it was installing the systems in five other existing models.

Sudden Unintended Acceleration Lawsuit Allegations

In a lawsuit filed against Toyota by a client represented by Lieff Cabraser the complaint charges:

Beginning in the late 1990s, Toyota manufactured, distributed and sold vehicles with an electronic throttle control system (“ETC”).

Unlike that of traditional throttle control systems, where a physical linkage connects the accelerator pedal to the engine throttle, in the ETC system, the engine throttle is controlled by electronic signals sent from the gas pedal to the engine throttle.  A sensor at the accelerator detects how far the gas pedal is depressed and transmits that information to a computer module which controls a motorized engine throttle.  The computer module determines how far the accelerator is depressed, and, in turn, tells the engine throttle motor how far to open the throttle valve.

When Toyota first introduced the ETC, they continued to include a mechanical linkage between the accelerator and the engine throttle control.

Beginning with the 2002 model year, however, Defendants began manufacturing, distributing, and selling vehicles without such mechanical linkage.

Further, Defendants’ ETC system also fails to include a failsafe measure incorporated by other vehicle manufacturers which instructs the ETC system to automatically reduce the engine to idle whenever the brakes are applied without success.

The combination of the lack of these two safety systems allows the ETC to set the engine throttle to any position regardless of the position of the accelerator, and with no mechanical or electronic failsafe mechanism to allow the driver to effectively stop or slow the car in such circumstances, resulting in numerous injuries and deaths.

Toyota knew that a properly designed brake-to-idle override system was necessary to allow drivers to bring a vehicle under control in the event of a sudden acceleration incident.  Toyota made the following statement in November 2009 when they announced their solution to the sudden acceleration problem:  “In addition, as a separate measure independent of the vehicle-based remedy, Toyota will install a brake override system into the involved Camry, Avalon, and Lexus ES 350, IS 350 and IS 250 models as an extra measure of confidence. This system cuts engine power in case of simultaneous application of both the accelerator pedal and brake pedals.”

Yet, Toyota has failed to install this safety feature on all of the affected vehicles, including the vehicle the subject of this complaint.

The complaint further charges that

• Toyota was aware for years its vehicles were susceptible to incidents of sudden, unintended acceleration, posing a significant risk of injury and death to vehicle occupants, other motorists, and pedestrians.
• Toyota never made any significant changes to improve the acceleration system and the electrical system, in spite of the availability of several safe and inexpensive alternative designs and feasible modifications.

Learn more about the Toyota recall and sudden acceleration dangers or contact the personal injury attorneys at Lieff Cabraser who are representing families of loved ones who died in Toyota vehicle accidents.