Previously Recalled Lexus Floor Mats May Have Caused Deadly Car Accident

A fiery car accident that resulted in the death of an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and three of his relatives may have been caused when a floor mat that had been recalled caused the vehicle’s accelerator to stick, a preliminary report has found.

The August 28 accident occurred near the San Diego suburb of Santee. CHP officer Mark Saylor, his wife, their 13-year-old daughter, and his brother-in-law all were killed when the loaner car Saylor was driving while his own Lexus was in the shop careened at high speed off a highway and burst into flames.

Despite evidence showing Saylor had engaged in “long, constant heavy braking” just before the wreck, the vehicle reached speeds of about 120 miles-per-hour and off the road, according to witness statements cited in a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department report on the accident.

The investigative report states that all-weather floor mats in the 2009 Lexus ES 350 Saylor was driving may be to blame. The mats were designed for Lexus vehicles from model years 2004 through 2009, officials said.

Mats Recalled in 2007

The rubber mats installed in 2007 and 2008 models of the Lexus ES 350 sedans were recalled in November 2007 after it was found that if not properly installed or clipped to the floor of the vehicle, the mats might slide forward and trap the gas pedal beneath them. The defect could easily cause a driver to lose control of the vehicle, investigators said.

Toyota sent letters to the registered owners of the 30,500 Lexus cars involved in the recall, asking them to return and replace the driver’s side mats and said it would change the packaging of the mats to warn owners about improper installation, according to a report in the San Diego Union Tribune.

Toyota USA, which manufactures the Lexus vehicle, said the mats were redesigned after the recall. The company said while the all-weather mats are supposed to be used in place of carpet floor mats, some owners put the rubber mats on top of the carpet mats, increasing the risks of the all-weather mats sliding out of place and interfering with control of the vehicle.

However, investigators looking into the wreck of Saylor’s vehicle said the Lexus did not have double mats.

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