Could Defective Floor Mats Have Played A Part In Fatal San Diego Accident?

Last month, there was a tragic car accident involving a Lexus that killed 4 members of a single family. The California Highway Patrol has now released the tape of a 911 call made by one of the passengers in the Lexus.

The tape has Chris Lastrella telling a dispatcher that the car was on state 125 and the accelerator was stuck. Lastrella is heard frantically telling the dispatcher that the car was going 120mph, and there was no brake. The dispatcher asks him if they can turn off the car, but there's no reply. Someone in the car asks everyone to "pray" and "hold on."

Seconds later, the car broke through a fence and struck a dirt embankment. It went airborne, and flipped over several times before bursting into flames. In the car were 44-year-old Mark Saylor, his wife Cleofe, their 13-year-old daughter Mahala and Cleofe's brother Chris Lastrella, who appears to have been the one who made the 911 call.

Witnesses to the accident reported seeing the Lexus traveling at excessive speed before veering off the highway and going over the embankment. All four occupants of the car were declared dead at the scene of the accident, and according to the medical examiner, died from blunt force trauma to the head or torso as the result of the accident.

Mark Saylor was a California Highway Patrol officer. All four victims were residents of Chula Vista. Preliminary investigations into the accident seem to suggest that the accelerator became stuck on a rubber floor mat. The car was on loan from Bob Baker Lexus in El Cajon. The dealer has not yet commented on the accident. Saylor was off duty at the time of the accident. His own car was in the shop, and hence, the loaner car.

According to the San Diego Sheriff's Department accident report, there was some evidence that Saylor had braked heavily just before the accident. Witnesses reported seeing the front and rear tires of the car on fire just before the accident. This suggests that there had been "long, constant heavy braking" just before the crash. Even so, the Lexus was traveling about 120 miles per hour at the time of the crash.

Attention has now been focused on the rubber mats on the 2009 Lexus ES350 that Saylor had been driving at the time of the crash. In November 2007, the mats that had been installed in the 2007 and 2008 models of the same car, had been recalled. A defective design or improper installation caused the mat to slide forward, jamming the accelerator. At the time it was believed that the defect could cause a driver to lose control of the car.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recall report, the mats had led to several instances of sudden acceleration. Toyota representatives insist that the rubber mats were redesigned after the recall, and the new mats come with a different shape and design that prevents the mat from interfering with the accelerator.

According to Toyota, the rubber mats that were included in the recall were meant to be used instead of carpet mats, but some motorists placed them on top of the carpet mats, increasing the risk of sliding and jamming the gas pedal. However according to investigators, the Lexus that Mark Saylor was driving, did not have double mats installed.