Car maker ignored warnings to fit brake override system
Toyota ignored evidence of acceleration problems in its vehicles and failed to install a brake override system it knew could have prevented accidents, an amended federal lawsuit filed on Monday claims, Reuters reports.
The appellants cited an internal company memo as saying that Toyota's US sales arm had requested a "fail-safe (brake override) option" in 2007, three years before the company made that safety feature standard.
Toyota also failed to address a rise in complaints about sudden unintended acceleration starting in 2002, the year a new electronic throttle control system became standard equipment in its cars and trucks, the lawsuit claims.
Driver error
Toyota says the defects were ill-fitting floor mats and sticking gas pedals -- both addressed in safety recalls. Other problems were driver.
"Toyota firmly believes that the system is completely safe and that reliable scientific evidence will demonstrate the safety of our vehicles in the investigations currently under way and, ultimately, to the court," it said in a statement.
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