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 Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:59 am |
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toyota republicans and their killer cars:toyota deliberately left out
safety features for more profit:Toyota failed to incorporate important
failsafe measures allowing drivers to control the vehicles, the 3.8
million recall failed
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=a4H_6VytE09Q
Toyota Sued by Consumers Over Sudden Acceleration (Update1)
By Margaret Cronin Fisk and Alan Ohnsman
Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. has failed to correct a
problem with the throttle control system on some of its vehicles,
causing them to suddenly accelerate, lawyers for consumers said in a
lawsuit.
Los Angeles residents Seong Bae Choi and Chris Chan Park, who claim
they experienced multiple instances of unintended acceleration, filed
the suit as a class action yesterday, seeking to represent all U.S.
owners of certain Toyota and Lexus models.
Toyota last month said it would recall as many as 3.8 million vehicles
including Lexus ES luxury cars, Camry sedans and Prius hybrids over a
potential flaw in which floor mats shifting out of position could jam
the accelerator pedal. The mats aren’t the problem, plaintiff’s lawyer
David Wright said.
“Neither driver error nor floor mats can explain away many other
frightening instances of runaway Toyotas,” Wright said in a statement.
“Until the company acknowledges the real problem and fixes it, we
worry that other preventable injuries and deaths will occur.”
John Hanson, a spokesman for Toyota’s U.S. sales unit, said he hadn’t
seen the suit and declined immediate comment.
2,000 Complaints
The plaintiffs claim Toyota and Lexus owners have made more than 2,000
complaints of sudden acceleration to the company and government
agencies. They also allege that sudden acceleration episodes have
resulted in accidents causing 16 deaths and 243 injuries.
Toyota failed to “incorporate important failsafe measures” allowing
drivers to control the vehicles, the lawsuit said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Oct. 30 declined
a request to investigate Lexus ES models for possible flaws related to
vehicle electronics that may also cause unintended acceleration.
The plaintiffs in the California lawsuit claim that unintended
acceleration episodes are linked to an electronic throttle control
system called ETCS-i in these vehicles.
An initial design called for “an electronic throttle control and a
redundant mechanical linkage between the gas pedal and the engine
throttle control as a failsafe in the event of a sudden unintended
acceleration,” according to the complaint.
This feature would disconnect the electronic throttle control and
allow a driver to stop the vehicle, the plaintiffs said. The company
began selling vehicles without this feature around 2001, the consumers
allege in the lawsuit.
‘Failsafe Measure’
They also claim Toyota failed to include another “failsafe measure”
that would “automatically reduce the engine to idle when the brakes
are being applied while the throttle is in an open position,”
according to the complaint.
The plaintiffs are asking for an injunction, ordering the company to
recall all Toyota and Lexus vehicles equipped with ETCS-i.
On Oct. 30, in a statement posted to the Federal Register denying a
request for further investigation of Lexus ES models, NHTSA said “the
only defect related to vehicle speed control in the subject vehicles
involved the potential for accelerator pedals to become trapped near
the floor by out-of-position or inappropriate floor mat
installations.”
The agency said that after interviewing the Lexus ES owner who sought
a federal investigation, examining his vehicle and conducting a range
of tests on drive-train and electric systems, it failed to find
sufficient evidence of electronic flaws.
The agency said that denying the petition “does not constitute a
finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist.”
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, has its U.S. sales headquarters
in Torrance, California. The company is based in Toyota City, Japan.
The lawsuit is Choi v. Toyota Motor Corp., CV 09-08143, U.S. District
Court, Central District of California.
To contact the reporter on this story: Margaret Cronin Fisk in
Southfield, Michigan, at mcfisk at (no spam) bloomberg.net; Alan Ohnsman in Los
Angeles at aohnsman at (no spam) bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: November 6, 2009 19:10 EST |
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