Toyota proposing $1.1 billion unintended acceleration settlement in US

Toyota are setting aside an additional $1.1 billion to settle claims in the US of unintended acceleration in their cars.

In the ongoing saga of unintended acceleration in the US caused by floor mats, Toyota has revealed it is to set aside an additional $1.1 billion to settle claims and fit new equipment to cars affected by the floor mat problem.

Toyota are going to install a brake override system in 3.25 million vehicles, set aside $250 million to compensate owners who have already sold their cars, another $250 million for affected owners whose cars can’t get the brake override system, throw in a care plan  for parts related to unintended acceleration and throw $30 million at research in to car safety.

It all adds up to a whopping cost for Toyota – which could end up being as much as $3 billion when you take in to account what they’ve already spent – especially as all the problems are stemming from floor mats that moved and not any electronic components of the throttle control.

All of which is the legal system gone mad.

Haven’t we all driven a car where the mats have moved and jammed the pedals? What did we do? We knocked the car in to neutral, stopped and put the mat back where it was. If you aren’t capable of doing that, are you safe to be behind the wheel?

Still, expensive or not, this proposal should draw a line under Toyota’s ‘liability’ on this issue and stop it being a dark cloud over Toyota’s reputation.