Page 16 - Floor Mat News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Last november. there were 2,000 complaints at that time about accelerating toyota cars. including that fatal accident in california. what made you decide to jump in then before there were any major recalls before this became a huge deal? >> because we began to develop information that it was more than floor mats. they blamed that california crash on a floor mat. that was one of the problems. there were other problems from other owners who we talked to as fred was referring, a kind of owner's rebellion took place. they said i didn't have those kind of floor mats. my car hasn't been recalled. it...

>> it is an amazing gift to the u.s. automakers. i don't see it as conflict of interest. this is what the representatives are elected to do is represent their districts and their states if they are senators and they are in states and districts where there are a lot of auto workers so they should be representing them and lambasting the competition. is there is real problem or phoney problem like global warming? how many incidents were there that could be clearly traced to something other than the driver making a mistake or the floor mat not being properly installed? it is questionable to me and...

Will do a complete review of that. but what people should do is go on the website dot.gov and if they have one of the vehicles take the car to the dealer. >> what is taking so long to find out the cause of the sudden accelerations? >> we believe that the floor mat is part of the problem and the sticky pedal is part of the problem. toyota believes that, too, but we have had enough complaints about the electronics that we need to do a review of that, and look at the information that toyota has and look at the information that the professor at siu put together in carbondale, illinois, and he did ...

Figuring out or revealing whether or not there are electronic issues involved with these accelerators because there have been a lot of crashes that have occurred with the accelerator slammed to the floor and no floor mat in the vehicle. >> joan, you've talked to me a number of times way before this turned into what it is now, and you called it. you not only went after toyota and how they kept many things under the table, shall we say, but you're pretty upset with our government and nhtsa for not doing what it should have done a long time ago. >> that's correct. i believe that the agency was as...

Public personally that -- not just apologize but assure them these vehicles are going to be made safe. there's still a very big nagging question about whether or not toyota has been totally transparent about this and whether or not this is an electronic issue and not just a floor mat issue. most people don't believe that it's just the floor mat. >> joan claybrook, we definitely look forward to your testimony and always appreciate your candid testimony with us. thanks, joan. >> okay, thank you. rob marciano tracking that big snowstorm about to pound parts of our country. >> yeah, getting a li...