Toyota Orders Inspection Of Lexus Floormats After Tragic Crash Kills Family Of Four

After improperly fitting all-weather floor mats in a Lexus sedan were named as a possible cause of a fatal car accident near San Diego, Toyota is ordering its dealers to inspect the mats in all Lexus and Toyota vehicles.

Plastic floor mats that were not the right size for the 2009 Lexus ES 350 are suspected of causing the August 28 accident that claimed the lives of an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer, his wife, their daughter, and his brother in law.

911 Call Captures Family's Final Moments

CHP Officer Mark Saylor was driving the loaner vehicle from a Lexus dealer while his car was in the shop when the accident occurred. A preliminary investigation into the wreck concluded that all-weather floor mats in the vehicle were not the proper size for the vehicle and may have slid forward and pinned the vehicle’s accelerator to the floor, causing it to speed out of control.

Saylor’s wife called 911 seconds before the crash to say the vehicle was out of control and traveling in excess of 120 miles per hour. The vehicle rear-ended another vehicle on the freeway before launching off the road, investigators said.

2009 Frankfurt Auto Show Photo Gallery