Breaking: Transportation Secretary Tells Toyota Owners not to Drive Recalled Cars
If you are currently driving a recalled Toyota model, you shouldn’t be, says Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (above). In a statement given at a House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, looking into the recent Toyota recalls, LaHood told owners to, “stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it.”
Toyota currently has two major recalls, the first being a floor mat entrapment issue for 5.5 million vehicles, and the second is a sticking gas pedal recall for 2.3 million vehicles.
LaHood urged owners of recalled cars to contact their dealer and, “exercise caution until repairs can be made.”
Toyota recently announced a fix for the 2.3 million recalled models, which include the 2009-2010 RAV4, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2007-2010 Camry, 2010 Highlander, 2007-2010 Tundra and 2008-2010 Sequoia. The automaker has insisted that the recall is due to a mechanical fault, saying in a statement that:
“After many years of exhaustive testing—by us and other outside agencies—we have found no evidence of a problem with our electronic throttle control system that could have caused unwanted acceleration. Our vehicles go through extensive electromagnetic radiation testing dynamically. We have our own test facility in Japan, we are also building one in Ann Arbor. The testing examines microwave radiation and every other type of magnetic wave and we have never been able to force our systems to fail through any of the tests that are done on them. There are many redundancies and fail safes that are built into our system. If the accelerator pedal and the throttle on the engine don’t match in their communication to each other the throttle returns to an idle position.”
The U.S. Ministry of Transportation has also been investigating electronic throttle issues and unintended acceleration issues on Toyota and Lexus vehicles for years but has never been able to find a problem. The Ministry of Transportation, has now said it will look at the possibility that unintended acceleration is related to electronics and not a mechanical issue with the pedal.
For more information on Toyota recalls, visit the automaker’s new recall website:
[Source: CNBC]