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By Jeff Green and Margaret Cronin Fisk
; A7 U% p4 [# u& j6 @March 2 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. National Highway Traffic
% E$ ]1 T: T" j( F! q$ i4 qSafety Administration received four reports from drivers saying
/ w6 D+ f. m6 R5 ^' [( H3 Ttheir Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles experienced sudden unintended: t/ }- b/ J5 W
acceleration after they were supposedly repaired in the
8 J, j! ?" w, B1 tautomaker’s recalls." A4 X+ L* [/ Q6 r
The reports were posted on the regulator’s Web site. A8 ]* @- i7 O: D
Transportation Department spokeswoman, Olivia Alair, said the9 |* J# h) j" Y+ o
agency is looking into the complaints and hasn’t confirmed their
) {; @5 Z! b- u; S; cvalidity. l5 N0 {- P. \( @' c
The complaints were about a 2007 and 2010 Camry, 20091 ?" k- p8 V( h3 Y1 s B1 {
Matrix and a 2008 Avalon that owners said had been repaired at# {* A" s; R) q7 Q
dealerships. Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles
( m1 S" p' c( @globally to modify floor mats and accelerator pedals because of
# F5 w. v- a' d! dprevious complaints.
3 P8 ~3 }8 Q4 o. R* Y; E2 e6 p5 V# W1 ]“We will continue to thoroughly investigate any complaints" @+ {/ j0 b$ M9 i3 g! v" t
involving unintended acceleration,” said Brian Lyons, a Toyota$ @/ I$ w+ q* z7 W
spokesman.
2 Z: ~* A. F8 v% f$ h9 s/ R; {+ FNHTSA said today that Toyota crashes possibly linked to( v' ^; k/ p: _1 {: ]. i: _
unintended acceleration have caused 43 fatal crashes with 52
$ [. n! ^& F* X( P( n" Ddeaths and 38 injuries. About two-thirds of the incidents have6 ?+ ^( ]' ?4 N+ X0 o
been reported since Toyota started recalling vehicles last year0 Y& B2 N5 y- p l# G4 B; Z# [
for unintended acceleration.
8 H: F: W7 w1 k+ _) T* I* U' W6 O7 B9 [
Reported Complaints8 F& G0 b4 ]% g0 @
9 f$ w6 |1 L& L! E: y2 k# cThe owner of the 2010 Camry wrote in the complaint that the
& E! T' D- E! b+ r% ~! X" A4 {car was repaired Feb. 12 and accelerated unexpectedly for five
& `. S$ @ O% M0 \+ ~to six seconds as the driver entered a parking lot on Feb. 17.6 h9 i' Z: s9 `/ k# N2 L
The owner of the Avalon and 2007 Camry said their vehicles were
6 V" V1 W7 o1 ^4 uat the dealership for review after having repeat accelerations
; s. e; y' ~; |+ F1 ?incidents that were supposed to have been repaired earlier.
. z1 I4 o B" yThe owner of the 2009 Matrix said the recall work was
, y. z& D2 h5 y7 W( U( Ucompleted Feb. 10 and on Feb. 26 the car moved forward with the
9 r3 [ s" `$ k8 S! {& ?/ U7 ydriver’s foot on the brake in a parking lot.
6 B0 e) m w" L& k# Y0 P, [- }/ o“I put my other foot on the brake as well,” the
: V# j* J8 \1 k- F4 Wunidentified woman wrote in the complaint. “My son said ‘It’s( `3 v" R* r+ q X; `: M* \5 U
doing it again Mom!’ I put it in neutral, and we both heard the, S- H8 u! Y! R+ @/ M& f
engine wind out like I had pushed the gas pedal to the floor.% b- \. m1 M7 ]6 m
This obviously means the recall ‘fix’ isn’t working!”
& W6 h$ |( f% @Toyota’s American depositary receipts, each equal to two6 f$ g; H+ _. v! b
ordinary shares, rose 78 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $74.42 in New
, s# Z3 [. J$ D( x6 FYork Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have lost $347 k: |- ~& v( |! j( D
billion in value since Toyota announced a recall on Jan. 21. |
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