News Trends Today

Toyota announced that they will issue a recall to about 4 million cars in the US; the largest recall ever in Toyota history. This move was a result of a accident that led to 4 deaths in California, which was suspected to be caused by a jammed accelerator.

Drivers reported sudden unexpected acceleration according to the U.S. Transportation Department. The carmaker also said that they will install a brake override system on some of the recalled cars. The recall will include the Camry, Lexus, Prius, Tacoma and Tundra trucks.

Toyota will be reconfiguring the gas pedal and shape of the floor if needed. Previously, unsecured floor mats would slide out of place and accidentally push at the gas pedal. This presented obvious danger to the passenger and pushed Toyota to make the recall.

The override brake system is an additional safety precaution that will be added to the cars. When the gas and brake pedals are used at the same time, it would cause the car to come to a halt. This is done to make sure the car stops if ever the gas pedal accidentally is pressed by the carpet, and the driver is trying to stop the vehicle by braking. Without it, the car would continue to accelerate during the braking. The pedal would be reduced in size to prevent it from touching the floor mat.

For those who do have a Toyota, the company website released the models that are currently being recalled. They are 2007 to 2010 MY (model year) Camry, 2005 to 2010 MY Avalon, 2004 to 2009 MY Prius, 2005 to 2010 MY Tacoma, 2007 to 2010 MY Tundra, 2007 to 2010 MY ES350, 2006 to 2010 MY IS250, and 2006 to 2010 MY IS 350.

This recall poses additional strain on the company as sales have slumped this year in the US. The first ten months of this year have seen a drop of 26% in sales.

The previous largest recall by Toyota was 1.53 million pickups. In the US the largest was 978,000 in 2005.