Sep 30, 2009 7:10 pm US/Mountain
Colo. Woman Remembers Toyota Floor Mat Incident
DENVER (CBS4/AP) ―
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The Toyota Prius. (File)
Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
Toyota announced its largest recall ever on Tuesday because of a floor mat that might cause gas pedals to get stuck. 3.8 million cars and SUV'S are involved in the recall. Those cars include the Camry, Prius and some Lexus vehicles.
The government has received 102 reports of accelerators getting stuck including a complaint by a Colorado family.
Elizabeth James still remembers the wild ride in her Prius on Aug. 10, 2006.
"All of a sudden my car is going 90 mph, and I put my foot on the break, and it wouldn't stop, and then I put my foot on the emergency break, and I was still going 90 mph," James said.
She was driving eastbound on Interstate 70 past Idaho Springs when she couldn't get her car to stop.
"I looked up and was like I was gonna go into the back of somebody."
It was a moment when James said the worst thoughts passed through her mind.
"Oh my God I'm gonna die, and then I said I'm not gonna die. I've gotta get off this highway."
James started looking for an open field and soon turned into what she thought was a safe meadow, but Clear Creek wasn't far away. She went down the embankment, and then her car flipped over and over again.
"I landed and l looked around and I was like oh my God, I'm in a creek. But I said to myself, I'm alive, I'm alive. Thank God I'm alive."
In the accident, James hurt her back and legs and after a year of therapy still hobbles.
Three years ago, Elizabeth James' husband talked to Toyota about the accident. He wasn't happy with their response.
"Toyota's official response in a letter to us was they believe the accident was caused by the brakes being worn out prior to the incident which is ludicrous," Ted James said.
Toyota said on Tuesday that it was still working with officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to find a remedy to fix the problem and said owners could be notified about the recall as early as next week.
Toyota spokesman Irv Miller said until the company finds a fix, owners should take out the removable floor mat on the driver's side and not replace it.
"A stuck open accelerator pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop a vehicle, which could cause a crash, serious injury or death," Miller said.
Toyota and the government issued separate warnings to owners of Toyota and Lexus vehicles about the safety problems tied to the floor mats.
The company published on
its Web site Tuesday detailed information about the recall as well as installation instructions for the specified floor mats.
"This is an urgent matter," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "For everyone's sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration."
The recall will affect 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350.
Toyota's previously largest U.S. recall was about 900,000 vehicles in 2005 to fix a steering issue. The company declined to say how many complaints it had received about the accelerator issue.
NHTSA said it had received reports of 102 incidents in which the accelerator may have become stuck on the Toyota vehicles involved.
The Japanese automaker warned owners that if they think their vehicle is accelerating out of control, they should check to see whether their floor mat is under the pedal. If a driver can't remove the floor mat, Toyota advises drivers to step on the brake pedal with both feet until the vehicle slows and then try to put it into neutral and switch the ignition to accessory power.
For vehicles with engine start/stop buttons, Toyota said the engine can be shut off by holding the button down for three seconds.
The safety concern was prompted by a fiery crash in California that killed four family members in August near San Diego. The crash killed California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, 45, and three others on State Route 125 in Santee.
The runaway car was traveling at more than 120 mph when it hit a sport utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames.
In mid-September, Toyota ordered 1,400 Toyota and Lexus dealers nationwide to ensure that each new, used and loaner vehicles had the proper floor mats and that the mats were properly secured.
In September 2007, Toyota recalled an accessory all-weather floor mat sold for use in some 2007 and 2008 model year Lexus ES 350 and Toyota Camry vehicles because of similar problems.
For more information, consumers can contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's hotline at (888) 327-4236, Toyota at (800) 331-4331 or Lexus at (800) 255-3987.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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