Toyota Motor Corp is in trouble again for manufacturing vehicles with pedal-entrapment and sudden acceleration issues. According to a news report in the Los Angeles Times, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has requested a recall of Lexus RX 350 and RX 450 H vehicles from model year 2010. Officials say these vehicles have potentially defective floor mats that can cause the accelerator to stick. In such cases, the defective auto part can cause the vehicle to speed out of control. On June 29, 2012, Toyota announced the auto recall involves 154,000 vehicles.
This is not the first time that Toyota has had issues with faulty floor mats and gas pedals. In late 2009, Toyota recalled 6.9 million vehicles because of floor mats that could cause gas pedals to become stuck. That recall eventually included 14 models of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Of the vehicles recalled for problematic floor mats, 85 percent have been brought back and fixed. That means that hundreds of thousands of cars may still be on the roadway with this defective auto part.
Auto manufacturers have a legal obligation to provide safe products and to report any issues that they uncover with their vehicles. When someone suffers an injury because of a defective auto part, the manufacturer can be held liable for the victim’s losses. A product liability claim, for example, can hold a negligent auto company accountable for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other related damages.
The reputed Georgia auto product liability attorneys at The Law Offices of Wayne Grant, P.C., know how to hold auto manufacturers accountable for their defective products. If you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a vehicle defect or design defect, please contact us at (404) 995-3955 for a no-cost consultation.
