Archive for December, 2009

Strickland Sails through Confirmation Hearing

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Former Democratic Commerce Committee staffer David L. Strickland received gentle questioning by his former employers on his goals and intentions as the prospective NHTSA Administrator. The agency has been without an appointed leader since January, when David Kelly departed with the Bush administration. The affection in the hearing room was palpable, as Strickland, who has [...]

Toyota Sudden Unintended Acceleration Complaints Update

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Safety Research & Strategies has completed our latest review of Toyota unintended acceleration complaint data.  Our database consists of incidents from the following sources: Consumer complaints to NHTSA Toyota-submitted claims from several NHTSA investigations into unintended acceleration Incidents reported by media organizations Consumer contacts made to our firm and other firms that are reporting incidents [...]

Toyota Pedal Fix Dress Rehearsal

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

In early December 2005, Toyota learned of two early model Lexus IS250 with accelerator pedals “out of tolerance” – meaning the pedal could become stuck. One instance occurred during a dealer pre-delivery inspection and a second was reported by Toyota Canada during transportation at the port facility. The automaker had received no complaints in the [...]