On the heels of Toyota’s Sudden Acceleration Recalls, Toyota now is under scrutiny for stopping outcomes for the Toyota Prius, Toyotas popular hybrid. According to Ray LaHood, Transportation Secretary, Transportation officials will commence an inquiry after accounts were acquired that the Japanese authorities has broached an investigation in brake error charges, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.
According to a charge filed with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA): My 2010 Toyota Prius has a serious braking problem, the car lunges forward after (I) apply my brakes over a bumpy surface. This is very unexpected and luckily no one was in front of me otherwise I would have hit them. This already happened several times, took my car to the dealer and no solution, I dont know what to do with a brand new (car) like this. There are many complaints with similar descriptions around problems when encountering even minor bumps and potholes with the 2010 Prius.
This current problem is in addition to Toyotas recall of 3,800,000 cars in Nov. 2009 to mend throttle pedals and software to address what was reported as sudden acceleration troubles, which was followed by the newest sudden acceleration recall on Jan. 21, ‘10 when Toyota Motor Sales declared a recall for 2.3 million autos. Contained in a USA work titled “100 Toyota drivers filed complaints before recall”, there were more than 1 hundred charges registered prior to Toyota filing the recall.
Recently, Ray LaHood made statements which call into question Toyotas process on the sudden acceleration affair. According to Mr. LaHood, “Today, Toyota is apparently taking the right steps to address these safety issues. Unfortunately it took much effort to get to this point.” While at a Congressional hearing on February 3rd, the Transportation Secretary stated that drivers of recalled Toyotas should cease driving the autos until the Toyotas are remedied.
And now Toyota written documents, which Toyota is seeking to retain from the public may suggest a potential cover up. A past Toyota attorney, Dimitrios Biller, as a section of his legal complaint against Toyota has proclaimed that Toyota has hid safety evidence in rollover lawsuits. During Dec., Biller notified Toyota that he was determined to render a thorough copy of the papers he controlled to the LA Times. Toyota replied by requesting a California arbitrator to prevent Biller from showing the written documents to anyone. If Toyota holds nil to cover up in the rollover suits and has shown another attorney the exact written documents that Biller possesses, as Toyota has proposed, what does Toyota have to conceal?
These latest series of events, the Prius brake issue and the departed lawyer insinuating that the automaker hid written documents, in addition to the Transportation Secretarys comments regarding the auto makers handling of the sudden acceleration recall are wreaking a bunch of heat on Toyota, questioning the companys reliability. Can Toyota be able to reclaim it?