News Tagged ‘National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Traffic fatalities fall for fourth consecutive year

dot 100x100At a time when the news is full of reports of cars accelerating out of control and crashing, drivers texting behind the wheel and car roofs crushed in deadly rollovers, here’s some welcome news: the number of people killed in U.S. traffic accidents is the lowest since 1954.

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NHTSA wants more states to ban texting while driving

nhtsa logoThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has developed a legal template that will help states develop legislation banning the act of texting behind the wheel. The sample law is modeled after the Executive Order issued by President Obama in October of last year that prohibited federal employees from texting while driving.

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Transportation secretary says people should stop driving recalled Toyotas

ray lahoodToyota’s recent of 2.3 million cars and sport utility vehicles over “sticking” accelerator pedals follows a larger last October of 4.2 million vehicles for possible floor mat entrapment. The recalls have created an undercurrent of fear of confusion among Toyota owners, many of whom no longer feel their cars are safe to drive.

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Toyota will expand latest recall to include European vehicles

toyota logoLast week, Toyota announced a of approximately 2.3 million cars and trucks in the United States because of faulty throttle assemblies that could wear over time, causing the accelerator pedal to stick or return to idle too slowly. This week, Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper reports that Toyota is expanding that to include about 2 million vehicles in Europe.

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Toyota will make brake override system standard in all US vehicles

toyota capToyota Motor Corp. will install a new brake override system in all of its newly built vehicle models in North America by the end of 2010, said the company’s highest ranking U.S. Executive Yoshimi Inaba.

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Toyota says it mishandled unintended acceleration problem

toyota capYoshi Inaba, Toyota’s highest ranking executive in the United States, says that his company’s latest of millions of vehicles has taught Toyota some valuable lessons. Speaking to an audience gathered at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit, Inaba seemed eager to hit the re-set button with the American public through admission of Toyota’s past errors.

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Toyota recalls the most vehicles for first time ever

Black CamryFor the first time ever, Toyota took top spot in the U.S. auto industry for the total number of vehicles recalled within a year. Toyota’s most recent of 4.3 million vehicles for sudden, unintended acceleration problems hurdled the company to the top of the 2009 list, just above Ford.

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Toyota mails recall announcements, but no fix yet

toyota logoYesterday I finally received the letter from Toyota announcing the of my Tacoma truck and 7 other Toyota and Lexus models manufactured in recent years. Toyota announced last month that it would notify owners of certain models that their vehicles had the potential to accelerate suddenly and unexpectedly. The company has been working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to discover the cause of the problem, develop a solution, and keep consumers informed.

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California men file sudden acceleration lawsuit against Toyota

toyota logo“Neither driver error nor floor mats can explain away many other frightening instances of runaway Toyotas,” said an for two men who filed a lawsuit against the car manufacturer in a California federal court on November 5. “Until the company acknowledges the real problem and fixes it, we worry that other preventable injuries and deaths will occur,” the for the men said.

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Toyota issued misleading and inaccurate recall info, NHTSA says

toyota capThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a statement on Thursday to correct what it said was “inaccurate and misleading information” announced and circulated by Toyota about its latest . The car manufacturer is recalling 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles to correct a defect that can cause the vehicles to accelerate suddenly and unintentionally.

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