On Thursday, January 21, 2010, Toyota Motor Corp. announced its second recall in the last four months, this one covering 2.3 million vehicles that could potentially suffer from a dangerous flaw in the accelerator pedal.

Last fall, Toyota recalled the Avalon models spanning the years 2005 through 2010 and Camrys from 2007 forward for an issue in which the vehicles' floor mats could entrap the accelerator causing unplanned speed surges. Many of the same vehicles may also be affected by the pedal sticking issue.

This recall, however, involves Toyota Division models only, whereas some Lexus models were involved in the floor mat recall. The vehicles under the current recall were all built in North America, with pedal mechanisms from a North American supplier. The sticking issue is being attributed to premature wear.

Vehicles involved in the recall in addition to the Avalon and Camry include the Tundra (2007-10), Sequoia (2008-10), Corolla (2009-10), RAV4 (2009-10), Matrix (2009-10), and Highlander (2010). The supplier involved was not named.

Although the pedal sticking problem was termed "extremely" rare by a company spokesman, Toyota said it wanted to "get out in front" or the problem. The first recall resulted in a reshaping of the pedal mechanism to prevent entanglement, but the second problem may require more complicated re-engineering. No resolution for the current problem has been developed at this time.