NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Defect Petition DP09-001: UNWANTED AND UNINTENDED ACCELERATION
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Defect Petition DP09-001 on April 8, 2009 and closed it on October 29, 2009. NHTSA's investigations file lists the Lexus ES300 and ES350 for it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- DP09-001 (also written DP09001)
- Investigation type
- Defect Petition A petition asking NHTSA to open a defect investigation; NHTSA grants or denies it, and granting one opens an investigation.
- Status
- Closed October 29, 2009
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Toyota Motor Corporation
- Component
- Vehicle Speed Control
- Vehicles and equipment
- Lexus ES300 and ES350
A recall appears here only when NHTSA's investigations file links one to the investigation; NHTSA's summary or record can name others.
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Defect Petition DP09-001.
THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) OPENED DP09-001 ON APRIL 8, 2009, TO EVALUATE A DEFECT PETITION REQUESTING ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATION OF POTENTIAL THROTTLE CONTROL SYSTEM DEFECTS UNRELATED TO FLOOR MAT INTERFERENCE WITH ACCELERATOR PEDALS IN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2007 LEXUS ES 350 VEHICLES.THE PETITIONER REFERENCED AN EARLIER ODI INVESTIGATION CONCERNING FLOOR MAT INTERFERENCE WITH ACCELERATOR PEDAL RETURN (PE07-016/EA07-010), WHICH HE STATED WAS TOO NARROW IN SCOPE AS IT DID NOT INCLUDE ALL INCIDENTS OF UNWANTED ACCELERATION AND CONSIDER ALL POTENTIAL CAUSES OF VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL CONCERNS.THE PETITION ALSO REQUESTED AN INVESTIGATION OF MY 2002-2003 LEXUS ES300 FOR THOSE 'LONGER DURATION INCIDENTS INVOLVING UNCONTROLLABLE ACCELERATION WHERE BRAKE PEDAL APPLICATION ALLEGEDLY HAD NO EFFECT' THAT WERE DETERMINED NOT TO BE WITHIN THE SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION PE04-021. AS BACKGROUND, THE PETITIONER OWNS A MY 2007 LEXUS ES350 THAT ALLEGEDLY EXPERIENCED AN UNWANTED AND UNCONTROLLED ACCELERATION EVENT (ODI COMPLAINT NUMBER 10261660).
TOYOTA CONCLUDED THAT THE INCIDENT WAS CAUSED BY AN UNSECURED FLOOR MAT. TO ASSESS THE PETITIONER'S REQUEST, ODI INTERVIEWED THE PETITIONER, INSPECTED HIS VEHICLE, REVIEWED INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY TOYOTA, REVIEWED OWNER COMPLAINTS ALLEGING INCIDENTS OF UNWANTED ACCELERATION IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES AND MATERIAL RELATED TO THE INVESTIGATIONS CITED BY THE PETITIONER.ODI IDENTIFIED 64 COMPLAINTS ALLEGING INCIDENTS OF UNWANTED ACCELERATION IN MY 2007 LEXUS VEHICLES, RESULTING IN 8 CRASHES AND 15 INJURIES.ODI'S ANALYSIS OF THESE COMPLAINTS DETERMINED THAT 50 (78%) INVOLVED INCIDENTS OF FLOOR MAT INTERFERENCE, INCLUDING 7 (88%) OF THE CRASHES AND ALL 15 INJURIES.THEREFORE, ODI'S ANALYSIS FOUND THAT THE ONLY DEFECT TREND RELATED TO VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES INVOLVED THE POTENTIAL FOR ACCELERATOR PEDALS TO BECOME TRAPPED NEAR THE FLOOR BY OUT-OF-POSITION OR INAPPROPRIATE FLOOR MAT INSTALLATIONS. ON OCTOBER 5, 2009, TOYOTA INITIATED A SAFETY RECALL (RECALL 09V-388) TO ADDRESS CONCERNS WITH POTENTIAL ACCELERATOR PEDAL ENTRAPMENT BY FLOOR MATS IN APPROXIMATELY 3.8 MILLION VEHICLES, INCLUDING THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.EXCEPT INSOFAR AS THE PETITIONER'S CONTENTIONS RELATE TO THAT RECALL, THE FACTUAL BASES OF THE PETITIONER'S CONTENTIONS THAT ANY FURTHER INVESTIGATION IS NECESSARY ARE UNSUPPORTED. IN OUR VIEW, ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATION IS UNLIKELY TO RESULT IN A FINDING THAT A DEFECT RELATED TO MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY EXISTS OR A NHTSA ORDER FOR THE NOTIFICATION AND REMEDY OF A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT, AS ALLEGED BY THE PETITIONER, AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE REQUESTED INVESTIGATION.THEREFORE, IN VIEW OF THE NEED TO ALLOCATE AND PRIORITIZE NHTSA'S LIMITED RESOURCES TO BEST ACCOMPLISH THE AGENCY'S SAFETY MISSION, THE PETITION IS DENIED.THIS ACTION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT DOES NOT EXIST.THE AGENCY WILL TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED BY FUTURE CIRCUMSTANCES.PLEASE SEE THEFEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Defect Petition DP09-001. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Lexus
All Lexus recallsWhat an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Lexus VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for DP09-001
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.