Toyota recently issued a safety recall to address its vehicles’ abnormal acceleration while in operation. This will be considered one of Toyota’s largest recall and perhaps most costly recall in the United States relating to the safety of the vehicle.
The reason why this recall is considered so massive is because it applies to numerous Toyota models, including the ever popular Camry, Avalon, Prius, Tundra, Tacoma, and Lexus.
The actual recall itself is still pretty vague. Toyota’s current recommendation is to remove the floor mat underneath the accelerator to prevent it from sticking between the gas pedal. Toyota still has not issues any official notice for a permanent fix.
Why is Toyota issuing this recall, rather than not doing anything and waiting for consumers to file lemon law claims? Well, Toyota has known about this problem since 2004, when Toyota drivers reported numerous crashes and injuries due to uncontrollable acceleration. Toyota waited Five years later, right up until the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finally issued a warning. (Talk about red tape and bureaucracy in action)!
So, how is a safety recall such as this one different from a lemon law claim in Texas? Both situations pertain to defective cars. However, in a safety recall, the car manufacturer is the entity that proactive will correct the defect. In a lemon law claim, you would have to assert your right through the administrative process, or sue under consumer protection laws such as the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act or Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Also, a lemon law claim is usually smaller scale, while a safety recall involves several hundreds of thousands, if not millions of cars.
Here’s the kicker…Irv Miller, Toyota’s spokesman, really shows how much he cars about consumer safety by saying that if Toyota owner’s can not remove the floor mat, then they should merely “step” on the brake pedal with both feet until the vehicle slows. Right,…because stepping on the brake pedal with one feet is obviously not enough.