Toyota has recalled scores of vehicles from around the world owing to the faulty gas pedal. The company formally acknowledged the fault on January 21, 2010. However, a new report suggests that the company had known about the deadly defect as early as 2007.
An American newspaper, The Detroit News, revealed that in 2007 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had investigated the gas pedal. Several Toyota Tundra owners had filed complaints of unintended acceleration which had waved several red flags. Toyota had attributed the problem to improper installation of the floor mats. Toyota commented on the issue and “considered it to be a drivability issue unrelated to safety.” However, Toyota Tundra drivers continued to complain that the gas pedal was ‘sticky’. It either did not return to idle or was extremely slow to come back to normal position. Toyota did not report this problem to NHTSA stating that the material used to manufacture these pedals could swell under humid conditions.
Later in 2008, Toyota started receiving similar complaints from its European operations as well. Toyota opened formal investigation into the problem in March 2009 but even then it did not report the problem to proper agencies about any potential danger.
According to the newspaper report, the US government still heavily relies on facts provided by the auto makers. Therefore, although it made all the efforts to address the issues raised, it could not do much about it. Toyota had reported only about faulty floor mat which enabled it to avoid any in-depth investigation by NHTSA into faulty gas pedal. Although serious links between 2007 probe by NHTSA and Toyota’s current recall are still amiss, nevertheless, the U.S. government has scheduled two hearings with the NHTSA and Toyota.
