NHTSA warned about Toyota, Lexus models in 2007 Says USA Today

DETROIT February 8, 2010; Sharon Silke Carty writing for USA Today reported that as Toyota grappled Sunday with reports that it was recalling its Prius hybrids in Japan and may do so in the United States, evidence continued to beg whether the automaker and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration responded quickly enough to reports of sudden acceleration in some of its other models.

The Prius concerns center over braking delays, but insurer State Farm told USA TODAY that it notified NHTSA in late 2007 that it was seeing an increase in sudden acceleration trends with other Toyota and Lexus models.

The automaker has undergone several investigations about such concerns starting in 2004, when complaints began filtering in about 2002 and 2003 Toyota Camry and Lexus ES models. And NHTSA opened a file on Toyota in 2007 to look into acceleration issues on Lexus models, but closed it seven months later.

It wasn't until this fall, though, after the death of a California state policeman and his family in a Lexus incident that was recorded on a 911 call, that the automaker reacted with recalls. It has since recalled 5.2 million Toyota and Lexus models in the U.S. for floor mat issues, and 2.5 million in January over sticky gas pedals.

State Farm said it "has received numerous inquiries about alleged unwanted acceleration problems in Toyota and Lexus vehicles in recent years."

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