Dow Chemical

DAVID AUSTEN-SMITH, DANIEL DIERMEIER, AND EITAN ZEMEL

Unintended Acceleration: Toyota’s Recall Crisis

The Crisis

On August 28, 2009, Mark Saylor, an off duty California Highway Patrol officer driving on Route 125 in a 2009 Lexus ES350 sedan on loan from his Toyota dealer, lost control of his car as it accelerated to speeds of 120 mph. Saylor, his wife Cleofe, their 13-year-old daughter Mahala and 38-year-old brother-in-law Chris Lastrella were killed instantly. Most chillingly, the desperate calls 1 of help from Mr. Lastrella to a 911 operator were recorded live and released on the internet. "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." Unable to stop, Saylor’s vehicle sped ahead into an intersection, struck a vehicle, went through a 2 fence, over an embankment and into the bed of the San Diego River. The report on the fatal accident from the U.S. National Highway Transit Safety Administration (NHTSA) mentioned improperly installed floor mats, noting that the accelerator pedal’s lower edge was bonded to the floor mat, the brakes were worn down, and that the design of the pedal 3 could have contributed to entrapment. In fact, the 2008 Lexus ES 350 Saylor was driving had been part of a September 2007 recall to replace the all-weather floor mats, shown to have potential to shift forward and cause the accelerator pedal to stick in a depressed position if improperly installed. The floor mats in Saylor’s vehicle, however, were from a different Lexus 4 model, a Lexus RX400h sports utility vehicle, which had more driver foot-space. On September 29 Toyota issued a recall and Consumer Safety Advisory to the drivers of eight models including the Toyota Avalon, Camry, and Tacoma, as well as the Lexus ES and IS, affecting about 4.2 million vehicles. The Advisory urged customers to remove their floor mats, 5...