A good friend of ours passed away the other day along with his sister, her husband and their 13 year old daughter due to Sudden Acceleration. They were driving a 2009 Lexus ES350 LOANER FROM THE DEALERSHIP since their car was in for service. There has been numerous incidents of this happening with this model along with other Toyota models but I’m very concerned because the news and Toyota Motors is saying the root of the accidents in these ES350s (as well as prius’s and other toyota/lexus models) are caused by floormats that slip above the pedal and cause the accelerator to get stuck. (take a look at that photo. how does a non slip rubber floormat all of a sudden jump up and grab the pedal and pin it down?) In 2007 there was a recall for these mats so you would think the problem would be fixed in 2008 models, right? That’s what the fuck a recall is for. (Sorry for being a bit pissed but I am.)

So fast forward 2 years later, 2009 models shouldn’t even have this problem because the recall was in 2007. Again, they were driving a 2009 Loaner from the dealer. The news just reported it today that stacking floormats is very dangerous. Do you really think this 2009 has stacked up floormats, being it was a LOANER??? Even if the floormats were slightly longer like some article said, Lexus/Toyota already knew about the 2007 Recall. They are the Manufacturer. Im very skeptical to think a floormat can cause this problem and think that the problem is in their electrical system. It’s happened in many Toyota’s and Lexus’s (Google Sudden Acceleration) but seems there is some kind of cover-up going on. I hope something good comes out of this and it isn’t just swept under the rug.

What I want to get out of this post is not to rant and talk shit about Lexus/Toyota but I’d like to get everyone aware. Many of your parents, friends, and loved ones own these cars (Prius, IS250, ES350, GS, etc) and I would tell them immediately to go to their dealer and have them take a look at the car.

There are a ton of things that many drivers that drive cars can do to possibly have stopped the car but it happened very fast. Chris’s brother in law was a CHP and has the knowledge of driving cars and was into cars so you would think neutral would be an option. I’m unsure if it was an option but I know we’ll never see him again but the best you can do is just be aware and tell people about it.

If you’d like to read about the accident and hear the 911 call my friend, Chris Lastrella, made, they just released it a few days ago. Their funeral was last monday and only til now I felt like I should do something cause I was still in shock about the crash. In any case, a Lexus/Toyota killed my friend and his family and there’s no getting them back but it’s definitely something that needs to be voiced out there.

http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Santee-Saylor-CHP-San-Diego-runaway-car/tnzwN-1KzkaL6AGAjQsByg.cspx
http://www.kusi.com/home/58819852.html?video=YHI&t=a

Here’s a video where it happened to someone in their is250. Tell me how the rubber floormat moves up?
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3lq3839H…