Preliminary Injunction Filed to Require Toyota to Install Brake Override Systems in Recalled Vehicles

CINCINNATI, March 2 -- Today, Stanley M. Chesley of the Cincinnati-based law firm of Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley Co., L.P.A. requested a federal court in Ohio to require Toyota to live up to the commitment it made to the federal government National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), its regional offices and to all of its dealers, that it will install brake override systems in all recalled Toyota vehicles.

A brake override system is a safety mechanism that cuts engine power in the event that the accelerator and the brake are simultaneously engaged. Despite Toyota's explicit promises in November and December 2009, Toyota's February 2010 Safety Recall Announcement made no mention of installing a brake override system. Instead, Toyota's recall merely added a shim modification to accelerator pedals - a "fix" Toyota's top officials now admit won't protect the public from sudden unintended acceleration.

During a March 2, 2010 congressional hearing, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, testified that a "brake override system would prevent sudden unintended acceleration" and that other auto manufacturers adopted this system "years ago." Secretary LaHood agreed with Chesley that installing such systems "is not a costly mechanical fix;" it involves simply changing the instructions in the vehicle's computer.

Chesley stated, "The highly qualified experts we have retained in this case indicate that installing brake override systems in these vehicles can be done with minimal expense and time; they've also indicated that, despite what Toyota continues to say publicly, all of their problems are interconnected - meaning that we could be dealing with defects in the vehicles' electronic systems." Chesley commented that, "These systems must be tested by the appropriate governmental authorities, similar to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and airplane black boxes."

"Toyota appears willing to install the brake override system on new cars, where it can encourage trade-ins, but now it is refusing to install these systems on Toyotas that are currently on the road," Chesley noted. "This is yet another example of Toyota officials trying to cover up their mistakes, then publicly promising to fix those mistakes, and then not living up to their promises."

The case, captioned Cox v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., is filed in federal court in the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.