US authorities find floor mat problems in Toyota cars
New York: Toyota Motor Corp said that US
authorities have found no defects in its vehicles in their
investigation into an earlier safety recall over driver-side
floor mats that could possibly lead to fatal accidents.
A report by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration on the probe, done at the request of Toyota car
owners, denied the need for additional investigation into
unwanted and unintended acceleration of Toyota and Lexus
vehicles, according to the Japanese carmaker yesterday.
"The only defect trend related to vehicle speed control
in the subject vehicles involves the potential for accelerator
pedals to become trapped near the floor by out-of-position or
inappropriate floor mat installations," the report said.
Toyota has begun mailing letters to owners of some of the
affected Toyota and Lexus models, asking them to remove the
floor mat.
At the same time, Toyota is considering modifying such
vehicles to ensure the safety of drivers.
Bob Daly, senior vice president of Toyota Motor Sales of
the United States, said in a statement, "Our engineers are
working hard to develop an effective remedy that can help
prevent floor mat interference with the pedal.
"As soon as it is ready, we will notify owners of the
relevant models to bring their vehicle to a dealer for the
necessary modification at no charge."
Bureau Report