Floor Mat Defects Can Cause Death and Serious Injury

In August 2009 a father, his wife, daughter and brother in law, were all killed when he was unable to stop the Toyota car he was traveling because the accelerator pedal had been jammed to the floor by the vehicle’s floor mat.

Toyota recalled 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus cars back in November 2009 following this incident, citing the possibility that the floor mat could catch the accelerator pedal and cause the vehicle to accelerate to high speeds, regardless of whether the driver pressed the brakes. A month or two later and Toyota issued a further recall notice for another 1.1 million cars. Toyota declared that their vehicles had no unintended acceleration issues and that the vehicles themselves were not defective, but that incorrectly fitted floor mats or floor mats of the wrong size could interfere with the accelerator pedal and make it stick.

>The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it had received over 50 reports about defective floor mats in one particular type of vehicle and that a number of these incidents had led to crashes. And according to the federal government figures, just over a 100 drivers have reported cases of the accelerator pedal becoming jammed due to a problem with the floor mat. In a government statement this defect was cited as the cause of thirteen crashes and five deaths.

Any defect that causes the accelerator pedal to be come stuck down can lead to serious personal injury and even wrongful death. If a motorist cannot stop a car accelerating out of control, then there is a very high chance the vehicle will end up colliding with another vehicle, hurtling off the road of hitting some other stationary object. And with the vehicle traveling at high speeds, the occupants of the car are likely to suffer horrendous injuries on impact.

This article is for informational purposes only and not legal advice.

Further Legal Information: If you would like to know more about claiming for personal injury caused by a defective product please visit the attorneys at The Barber Law Firm. Serving clients in the Dallas, Texas area.