Update: Toyota recall progress, EDR readers

Toyota has announced that they have fixed more than 3 million vehicles related to the three recalls that occurred since last fall.

So far, 1.6 million (or roughly 70 percent) of the vehicles related to the sticky accelerator pedals have been repaired. Toyota claims to have also repaired 1.5 million vehicles for the potential floor mat pedal entrapment (about 27 percent of the total), and 115,000 (75 percent) of the 2010 Toyota Prius and Lexus models related to the antilock brake system. Over 732,000 vehicles have received both the floor mat and sticking pedal fixes.

There is still more work to be done. It's important for owners to continue to bring their recalled vehicles into Toyota dealerships to make these necessary fixes. To find out if your vehicle is part of any of these recalls, see safercar.gov or visit Toyota.com/recall.

In other news, Toyota has also announced an increase in Event Data Recorder (EDR) readout devices from one to 150 units. The additional EDRs and related training will help assist accident investigations and possible evaluation of unintended acceleration incidents. Ten of the devices have been sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for their use in Toyota and Lexus investigations.

In February, Consumers Union called on manufacturers to make information from black box recording devices more immediately accessible to government investigators. Further, we feel EDR information must also be standardized--and much of it will be, based on a 2006 mandate from NHTSA that defines detailed monitoring requirements for EDRs, including which systems should be recorded and for how long. These standards must be implemented in EDRs that are installed in the 2013 model-year cars. We encourage carmakers to apply these monitoring standards to their vehicles as soon as possible, with the appropriate privacy controls--don't wait till 2012 to do so.

For more on EDRs and how they work, see Black Box 101: The basics of Event Data Recorders.

For more on safety features and resources, see our car safety section. Also see our unintended acceleration guide.

—Liza Barth

Related:
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Consumers Union calls for changes to strengthen U.S. car-safety net
Eight things that can dramatically improve auto safety
Five key fixes automakers should make now to reduce unintended acceleration
How to tell if your Toyota is affected by the recent recalls
How to stop a runaway car: Don't pump the brakes