According to a Wall Street Journal report, early findings by the United States Department of Transportation are indicating driver error as the cause of some sudden-acceleration accidents related to Toyota automobiles. The Journal report said, “The early results suggest that some drivers who said their Toyota’s and Lexus’s surged out of control were mistakenly flooring the accelerator when they intended to jam on the brakes”.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has yet to release any information on the subject and declined to make any comment in the Journal’s report.
This year has been unfortunate for Toyota who is related to a string of high-profile accidents and lawsuits involving its cars and trucks and has had to institute many recalls, most of which were related to stuck accelerators and floor mats. Also, there were a few recalls relating to electronic issues such as the antilock brake issue with the Toyota Prius.
The United States Department of Transportation has not finalized any decisions yet, so for Toyota there is still some uncertainty in the air. However, Toyota has denied any electronic related issues that may have resulted in sudden unintended acceleration. The Journal’s report seems to be backing Toyota’s position in some ways. Members of Toyota’s internal investigation commented, “The Toyota findings appear to support Toyota’s position that sudden-acceleration reports involving its vehicles weren’t caused by electronic glitches in computer-controlled throttle systems, as some safety advocates and plaintiffs’ attorneys have alleged.”
In Illinois, there are still many great Toyota vehicles available for purchase. At Champaign Toyota dealers there are many unbelievable sales going on. One of the best buys is the used Corolla, Champaign car shoppers would be foolish to not at least test drive this quality and affordable sedan. The Corolla is actually one of the top economy cars on the market today. Most buyers have no trouble putting over 100,000 miles on this car and still report the car to be running smoothly. The current Corolla comes in five trim levels. The base level is well-equipped but lacks some power accessories that the higher trim levels feature. Test drive one today!
