Toyota Motor Corporation has announced that it will recall over one million autos in the United States over two unrelated safety issues. The first problem, involving airbag defects, involves approximately 752,000 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles (sold in ‘03, ‘04 models), while the second impacts about 270,000 Lexus IS models (sold between ’06 and early ’12.
The problem with the airbags is that they may inflate when they aren’t supposed to deploy. This can happen if an IC chip located in the control unit of the airbag were to malfunction after experiencing electrical interference from other parts of the auto. The automaker is recalling approximately another 600,000 vehicles elsewhere on the globe over this problem.
Already, there have been reports of minor injuries caused by the airbag defect. Toyota plans to remedy the safety issue by adding an electrical signal filter to the control module. However, in the meantime, vehicle occupants run the risk of unexpected deployment, which could cause a driver to lose control of the car, potentially causing a deadly crash.
NY Daily News reports that one senior analyst in Japan believes this recall will cost the car manufacturer about $55 million. This is Toyota’s third auto recall to affect over a million vehicles globally since October 2012 and occurs just as the automaker had been trying to rebound from having its reputation for safety so badly beaten in 2009 and 2010 following reports that sudden unintended acceleration involving its vehicles was the cause of hundreds of serious collisions.
Meantime, the windshield wiper defect affecting the Lexus autos is over worries that front wiper’s arm might fail to work in certain weather conditions because its arm nut isn’t tight enough. While there have been about 25 reports related to this safety issue, no injuries have been mentioned. That said, if a windshield wiper fails to work when rain and snow are obstructing visibility, this can increase the chances of a deadly auto collision happening.
Auto Defect Cases
The Gilbert Law Group® is a law firm that is known for its experience in
successfully handling vehicle defect cases. Our auto products liability
lawyers work with a full-time engineering team and together, we determine
exactly what happened.
There doesn’t need to be a recall for you to have grounds for an auto defects case. If you believe that your injuries or a loved one’s death occurred because a vehicle and/or one of its parts malfunctioned or was defective in some way, you may be able to pursue damages.
What you don’t want to do is hold off because you are intimated about going after a large manufacturer. At The Gilbert Law Group®, going after giant automakers is what we do. We know how much the product defect-related car crash has cost our clients and we are here to help them obtain damages from the responsible parties. Your initial case evaluation is free so contact us today through our website or call (303) 431-1111.
