ABC World News (1/21, lead story, 3:10, Sawyer) reported, “Breaking news this evening. Toyota is recalling 2.3 million cars and trucks tonight, trying to tackle the frightening problem of cars suddenly speeding out of control.” The CBS Evening News (1/21, story 8, 0:20, Couric) noted that “late last year Toyota recalled more than four million vehicles because the accelerator pedal can get stuck in the floor mats. Well, today another huge recall. More than two million Toyotas covering eight model years from 2005 to 2010. The accelerator can get stuck in those vehicles as well, even without a floor mat.”

The most recent recall, according to NBC Nightly News (1/21, story 6, 0:20, Williams), “is in addition to 4.3 million Toyotas recently recalled for a floor mat problem that could cause the accelerator to stick.” The New York Times (1/22, B8, Bunkley) points out, “The first recall was to fix a design flaw that could cause the gas pedal to become trapped under the floor mat.” But Toyota “continued to be dogged by reports of unintended acceleration and stuck pedals even in cases where the floor mats had been removed, a stopgap measure recommended” by the company. The Times says the recall affects some year models of the Avalon, Camry, Tundra, Sequoia, RAV4, Corolla, Matrix, Highlander, and “the Pontiac Vibe, a mechanical twin to the Matrix.” Not affected are “Lexus or Scion models” or the Prius.

The AP (1/22, Strumpf, Manning) reports Toyota said yesterday’s “recall is due to potential problems with the actual gas pedal mechanism, causing the accelerator to become stuck regardless of whether the vehicle contains a floor mat.” That automaker “said in certain rare cases, the gas pedal mechanism wears down, causing the accelerator to become harder to press, slower to return or, in some cases, stuck.” The Wall Street Journal (1/22, Linebaugh) reports the last recall adds pressure on the Japanese automaker whose reputation in product safety and quality may be at stake due to a series of recalls in the US. The Los Angeles Times (1/22) and USA Today (1/22, Healey, et al.) also report the recall.