The 2010 Toyota vehicle recall refers to two separate but related recalls of automobiles by Toyota Motor Company, occurring at the end of 2009 and start of 2010. Toyota initiated the recalls, with the assistance of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, after several vehicles experienced unintended acceleration. The first recall, on November 2, 2009, was to correct a possible incursion of an incorrect or out-of-place front driver's side floor mat into the foot pedal well, which can cause pedal entrapment. The second recall, on January 21, 2010, was begun after some crashes were shown not to have been caused by floor mat incursion. This latter defect was identified as possible mechanical sticking of the accelerator pedal, causing unintended acceleration (referred to as Sticking Accelerator Pedal by Toyota). The original action was initiated by Toyota in their Defect Information Report, dated October 5, 2009, amended January 27, 2010.[1] Certain related Lexus and Pontiac models were also affected.
As of January 28, 2010, Toyota had announced recalls of approximately 5.2 million vehicles for the pedal entrapment/floor mat problem, and an additional 2.3 million vehicles for the accelerator pedal problem. Approximately 1.7 million vehicles are subject to both.[2][3] On January 29, 2010, Toyota widened the recall to include 1.8 million vehicles in Europe and 75,000 in China.[4] As of January 29, 2010, the worldwide total number of cars recalled by Toyota stood at 9 million.[5]
Initial reports indicated certain accelerator pedal mechanisms might mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position. The recall was spurred by a crash on August 28, 2009, which killed four people riding in a Lexus ES 350 in San Diego, California.[6] However, the company stated, "The condition is rare and does not occur suddenly. It can occur when the pedal mechanism becomes worn and, in certain conditions, the accelerator pedal may become harder to depress, slower to return or, in the worst case, stuck in a partially depressed position."[7] In another incident, on December 26, 2009, four people died in Southlake, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, when their 2008 Toyota Avalon sped off the road and through a fence, landing upside down in a pond. The car's floor mats were found in the trunk of the car, where owners had been advised to put them as part of the recall.[8]
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