Toyota’s Safety Problems Trigger Criminal Probe
The sudden acceleration safety problems that have dogged Toyota are no longer limited to recalls and public relations. Criminal investigations are now a consideration, the Associated Press reports.
On Feb. 8, Toyota received a grand jury subpoena from the Southern District of New York. Toyota refused to comment on the contents of the subpoena and a spokeswoman with the federal prosecutor’s office declined to comment.
In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission began looking at statements Toyota made to investors.
The criminal probes were revealed just before Toyota executives were scheduled to testify in Washington D.C. on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. It is expected the lawmakers will be asking the company executives what knew and when they knew it.
Questions will also likely focus on a study commissioned by the automaker that discounted the possibility that electronic defects caused the sudden unintended acceleration. Some lawmakers believe the study was flawed and hastily conducted.
The Congressional committees examining the Toyota safety recall have also discovered:
• Toyota personnel reviewing consumer complaints found that sticky gas pedals and floor mat entrapment accounted for only 16 percent of the unintended sudden acceleration reports.
• Of the sudden acceleration reports contained in a Toyota customer call database, nearly 70 percent involved vehicles that are not included in the floor mat or stick gas pedal recalls.
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received 2600 complaints of sudden unintended acceleration from 2000-2010.
• In March 2004, the NHTSA only conducted its only investigation into the link between sudden acceleration and the electronic throttle controls. Since then, it has rejected four petitions from owners asking for investigations.As the hearings get underway today, lawmakers are expected to probe not only Toyota’s conduct but that of the NHTSA.
If you or someone you love has been involved in an accident involving sudden acceleration of a Toyota, Lexus or Pontiac auto, contact the sudden-acceleration recall attorneys at St. Louis-based Carey & Danis by filling out our online contact form or calling 800-721-2519 toll free.
