New Toyota Recalls Affect Millions of Vehicles

It seems that massive vehicle recalls have become commonplace over the last several months and years. Mere months after General Motors recalled more than 2.6 million vehicles over its infamous and deadly ignition switch malfunction, Toyota has agreed to a recall that could impact 6.4 million vehicles worldwide, 1.8 million of which are in the United States. This is in conjunction with several other recall programs, bringing Toyota’s total for 2014 to just short of 3 million vehicles.

While many of Toyota’s recent recalls involve relatively minor corrosion issues stemming from road salt becoming trapped in the underbody (that could only be a problem if left unaddressed), other recalls involve potentially serious safety risks. This comes after Toyota agreed to pay the largest criminal penalty in U.S. history for hiding those and other safety defects from regulators and the public at large. Consider the following recalls:

• 1.3 million vehicles with air bag issues, including failure to deploy
• 472,000 vehicles whose seats could become unlocked
• 10,000 vehicles whose brake systems can cause unexpected deceleration

Toyota’s recalls involve vehicles sold as early as 2006, and some people who were injured in accidents many not have realized at the time that manufacturing and design issues could have played a role. Car manufacturers can be held liable when defects in the design or workmanship of their vehicles lead to accidents and resulting injuries. While a recall is not necessarily an admission of guilt or liability, it may be worthwhile to follow up with an attorney if you or a loved one was injured in an accident involving a recall-covered Toyota vehicle in Fort Lauderdale or elsewhere in Florida.