Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 8, Issue 1, March 2011 WENDOVER, UTAH – Last November, as NASA’s Engineering and Safety Center was dotting the “i”s and crossing the “t”s of its “exacting” study of Toyota’s electronic throttle control, Paul VanAlfen was in a panic. The Utah man was frantically trying to disengage the cruise [...]

Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 7, Issue 2, June 2010 WASHINGTON, DC – The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into pedal entrapment involving the 2010 Ford Fusion, after receiving three complaints of accelerators pedals being trapped by accessory all-weather floor mats.

Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 7, Issue 1, April 2010 WASHINGTON, D.C. – After nearly seven years of complaints and quietly failed Toyota SUA investigations, the floodgates have opened. The last two months have brought more recalls, unprecedented press coverage, political and corporate theater, lawsuits, three new NHTSA investigations and a dribbling of old [...]

Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 6, Issue 6, December 2009 NEW YORK, NY— Toyota ended the old year trying to decisively shut the door on sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) problems in its Toyota and Lexus vehicles, but it’s unlikely that the automaker’s troubles are gone with 2009.

Reprinted from The Safety Record, Volume 6, Issue 3, June / July 2009 SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA – On February 5, 2007, Bulent and Anne Ezal were headed to lunch at the Pelican Point Restaurant in Pismo Beach, California. The restaurant is nestled on the edge of a cliff, affording dramatic views of the Pacific [...]