Toyota recall and investigation is not over, yet

Nov 5, 2009 10:54 AM

It turns out the investigation into Toyota/Lexus sudden acceleration, which prompted the largest recall in the company’s history to remove floor mats that could interfere with the accelerator pedal, isn’t over.

On Monday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) denied a petition to conduct an additional investigation into sudden acceleration, noting that the agency had previously investigated several similar complaints and that a new investigation was unlikely to draw any new conclusions.

Toyota quickly jumped on the news to proclaim that NHTSA had found no cause for the unwanted acceleration “other than the risk from an unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mat.” (Original Toyota release.)

Yesterday, NHTSA rebutted that statement with a press release of its own, “correcting inaccurate and misleading information put out by Toyota,” and calling the floor mat recall “an interim measure, not a remedy.”

“This remedy does not correct the underlying defect in the vehicles involving the potential for entrapment of the accelerator by floor mats, which is related to accelerator and floor pan design,” the NHTSA statement says.

In the end, runaway acceleration can happen for lots of reasons. There is no substitute for knowing how to stop the car in an emergency, as we’ve detailed in a series of recent blog entries and tests.

No matter what brand automobile you drive, be sure to read "How to stop a runaway car: Don’t pump the brakes" and "Putting a car in Neutral might save your life." And the report "Owners of Toyota cars in rebellion over series of accidents caused by sudden acceleration" at ABCNews.com.