Do Toyota Corolla Cars Have Steering Problems?

Salt Lake City, Utah - It's Sunday when I'm writing this and I can hear the wind raging through the trees outside. It's bitterly cold, blustery and snowing. But in Salt Lake last Friday it must have been the same because of the number of accidents in I-80. In the first there were multiple people injured and the I80 ramps were closed. Driver was cited for improper land change.

Hickory County, Missouri - In our second accident one Iowa resident was killed and another injured. The person that died was only 45-years-old, the driver 49. According to the report the driver said the steering on his car failed, causing him to lose control. The car went off the pavement, into a tree and then turned over. The passenger was the person that died. She was Judy Shaw. The accident happened in Hickory County, Missouri and was investigated by the Missouri Highway Patrol. Accident occurred on U.S. 65 about three miles north of Preston. They were driving a 2006 Toyota Corolla. I've not heard of steering problems in those cars, but a quick check on the Internet indicates otherwise. In February of this year steering problems were reported in 2009 and 2010 Toyota Corollas. The federal agency in charge of investigating the Toyota steering problem reports about 80 complaints from drivers of the 2009 and 2010 Corollas. I have to wonder if the 2006 model may not also have problems. See this last article indicating Toyota has received 83 complaints, 76 of which caused the car to veer right or left at speeds over 40 mph. Because of this issue there have been at least 10 accidents. Toyota has offered to fix the problem. Continued problems have been reported and like the Audi issue years ago the manufacturer is saying there is no problem. It's within the specs is the auto-speak you will probably hear at the dealer. That means I've got it set up like the manufacturer wants it set up, but there is no affirmative statement there is not a problem.

In this case the owner of the car, or the reported driver, should preserve the car and not have it scrapped. The driver and the passenger's family may have a claim against Toyota, but without the car they will have no claim. The driver is reported to be Eugene Perkins, 49, although they don't say where he's from. This point goes back to my post on the systematic destruction of evidence.

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News 1 new result for Iowa highway collision

Iowa resident dies in Hickory County wreck News-Leader.com One resident of Knoxville, Iowa, died and another suffered moderate injuries after a crash Thursday morning in Hickory County, the Missouri Highway Patrol ... See all stories on this topic »