On the heels of Toyota Motor Corp.’s Sudden Acceleration Recalls, Toyota Motor Corp. has come under pressure for stopping concerns for the Prius, Toyotas popular hybrid. According to Ray LaHood, Transportation Secretary, Transportation officials will set about an inquiry after written reports were incurred that the Japanese administration has broached an investigation regarding brake malfunction complaints, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.
Reported by 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 ongoing concern is in addition to Toyotas recall of 3,800,000 motorcars in November 2009 to mend throttle pedals in addition to computer software to cover what Toyota described as sudden acceleration problems, which was succeeded by the latest sudden acceleration recall on Jan. 21, 2010 when Toyota Motor Sales asserted a recall for 2.3 million vehicles. According to a USA article titled “100 Toyota drivers filed complaints before recall”, there were more than 1 hundred charges filed prior to Toyota filing the recall.
Lately, Ray LaHood provided assertions which call into question Toyotas action on the sudden acceleration issue. According to Secretary LaHood, “Today, Toyota is apparently taking the right steps to address these safety issues. Unfortunately it took much effort to get to this point.” During a Congressional hearing on February 3, 2010, the Transportation Secretary said that possessors of recalled Toyotas should halt driving the autos until the autos are mended.
And recently Toyota papers, which Toyota is seeking to retain from the public may suggest a possible cover up. A former Toyota attorney, Dimitrios Biller, as part of his legal charge against Toyota has declared that Toyota has concealed safety evidence in rollover hearings. In December, Biller sent word to Toyota that he intended to furnish a complete copy of the papers he possessed to the Los Angeles Times. Toyota reacted by asking a California arbitrator to obstruct Mr. Biller from presenting the documents to anyone. If Toyota possesses nothing to cover up in the rollover lawsuits and has presented another attorney the precise papers that Biller holds, as it has suggested, what does it have to conceal?
These latest series of events, the Prius stopping concern as well as the past lawyer intimating that the automaker concealed papers, in addition to the Transportation Secretarys remarks concerning the auto makers handling of the sudden acceleration recall are imparting a bunch of pressure on Toyota, questioning the companys reliability. Can the car manufacturer be able to regenerate its reputation?