Mona Braddy: 'my Toyota wouldn’t slow down' Local woman’s vehicle speeds out of control involuntarily
by KARISSA STEWART
Jun 22, 2010 | 1360 views | 4 4 comments | 13 13 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Driver Mona Braddy crashed into a metal shed in her 2008 Toyota Land Cruiser Monday. Braddy accelerated suddenly when she tried to park at her sister’s home in Calhoun. No one was injured, but the crash has her concerned that she is driving a model that should be on the recall list.
Driver Mona Braddy crashed into a metal shed in her 2008 Toyota Land Cruiser Monday. Braddy accelerated suddenly when she tried to park at her sister’s home in Calhoun. No one was injured, but the crash has her concerned that she is driving a model that should be on the recall list.
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The owner of a Toyota Land Cruiser is concerned that her vehicle is defective after it sped out of control and crashed into a metal storage shed in Calhoun.

Driver Mona Braddy said she panicked when she pulled up into her sister’s driveway Monday morning; she was slowing down to park but instead felt her 2008 Land Cruiser accelerate suddenly.

“Terror! I knew that I nearly killed my sister and her husband,” Braddy recalled.

Sister Shelia Hood, who witnessed the incident firsthand, said she was standing at the gate of her pool at the time the vehicle began accelerating.

“My sister drove up and when she was stopping the engine revved up. When I looked up, it looked like she (in the car) was almost flying,” Hood recalled.

Hood watched as her sister sped down the driveway, across the yard, through the garden and into a metal storage shed where the vehicle stopped traveling.

“When I went down to get her out of the car the wheels were spinning fast and I got her to turn the key off,” said Hood.

At the time of the crash, Hood was only a few feet shy of crossing into the vehicle’s path. She said that she normally walks onto the driveway to greet her sister, but didn’t on this day.


Is your Toyota at risk? Call Toyota’s customer line at 1-800-331-4331 for more information.

Here is a list of models involved in the recall:

2009-2010 RAV4

2009-2010 Corolla

2009-2010 Matrix

2005-2010 Avalon

2007-2010 Camry

2010 Highlander

2007-2010 Tundra

2008-2010 Sequoia


“God sent us angels because we are both still here,” Braddy said.

Hood agreed.

The pair shut off the push-button ignition and Braddy climbed out of the vehicle uninjured. She then called her insurance company and a Toyota dealership in Rome to notify them of the problem.

“I had no reason not to feel safe in a Toyota. My daughter and son drove it a few days ago. I’m still traumatized and shocked. We could be planning a funereal,” said Braddy, who continues to have flashbacks of the crash.

Now, Braddy is waiting to hear back from the Toyota headquarters, but wants to caution Toyota owners in the meantime:

“Toyota needs to make this wrong right. I will never drive a Toyota again. Have your car checked out and don’t buy a Toyota,” she said.

Braddy mentioned that the vehicle was purchased new and she has never had any wrecks in it.

A call placed with the Toyota’s customer hotline Wednesday by the Cahoun Times was not returned by press time.

Visit toyota.com/ and click on Toyota Safety to learn more information about the recall models and what to do if the vehicle’s accelerator peddle depresses involuntarily.
Comments
(4)
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magichenry
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June 22, 2010
Way to go Times, Prius models also under recall notice for pedal modification

RobertELee
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June 22, 2010
Seems like you reserve the right to post stories you can't prove, ownership has its privileges.

Good that no one is hurt.
Polecat
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June 22, 2010
Sounds like she didn't really have time to respond, just hang on!

Welltraveled
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June 22, 2010
I really don't want to sound callous, but to all drivers affected by this "unintended acceleration"; why does No One simply shift the vehicle into NEUTRAL (N)? The engine may "rev up" but the vehicle won't move, and you still have brakes and steering. Also, why is the media focused on Toyota so much, in light of the more recent and massive recalls by both GM and Chrysler?
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