Toyota Will Offer To Fix Gas Pedals On Cars Involved In Recall
Gas Pedal Fix Will Be Voluntary
The Japan Times is reporting that Toyota Motor Corporation will be offering to fix the gas pedals of the 3.8 million cars involved in its floor mat recall. The recall is expected to be voluntary rather than mandated by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
According to the Times, "Toyota opted to offer to fix the gas pedals rather than issue a recall because it says the pedal's shape is not faulty."
The cost to Toyota is expected to be in the tens of billions of yen.
While helpful, I do not think this action will necessarily dampen the suspicion that something other than floor mats or the gas pedal are the root cause of the spate of sudden unintended acceleration accidents involving Toyota vehicles.
Toyota's view on the subject can be found here.
Robert N. Charette is a Contributing Editor to IEEE Spectrum and an acknowledged international authority on information technology and systems risk management. A self-described “risk ecologist,” he is interested in the intersections of business, political, technological, and societal risks. Charette is an award-winning author of multiple books and numerous articles on the subjects of risk management, project and program management, innovation, and entrepreneurship. A Life Senior Member of the IEEE, Charette was a recipient of the IEEE Computer Society’s Golden Core Award in 2008.