Toyota: Insurer warned of sticky pedals in 2007

Toyota, already reeling from a series of technical problems with its cars, announced today, as predicted, that it is recalling more than 400,000 Prius hybrid cars worldwide. The Japanese car giant announced the latest recall as it emerged that the US government was repeatedly warned about problems with Toyota accelerators from as early as 2007.
 
The Prius recall has been prompted by problems with brakes, but many of last month's 8m recalls of various Toyota and Lexus models concerned sticky accelerators.

According to the Washington Post, State Farm – the largest car insurer in America, with more than 40m customers – first tipped off the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in September 2007 about a rise in cases of unexpected acceleration in Toyotas.
 
Now, the newspaper says, Congress has instructed investigators to establish why it was more than a year before the agency began to put pressure on Toyota to recall the vehicles. Ten years ago, the NHTSA was severely criticised in Congress after it seemed sluggish in responding to concerns over accidents involving Firestone tires and the Ford Explorer.
 
A spokesman for State Farm said the warnings it received from customers were “numerous” and “everyday”. He added: “When we see something helpful, we pass it along.”
 
Toyota says the accelerator problem is extremely rare, and that only 26 reports of the pedal sticking have emerged in Europe. However, that is counter-balanced by one particularly chilling example from the US which came in the form of a recording of an emergency call made by a family of four before they died driving a Lexus in California.
 
The person calling tells the 911 operator: "We're in a Lexus… and we're going north on 125 and our accelerator is stuck… we're in trouble… there's no brakes… we're approaching the intersection… hold on… hold on and pray… pray." ·