Toyota is having to expand its original 2009 recall on vehicles because of the gas pedal getting stuck, to include a total of 2.2 Million vehicles. There are multiple reasons why the pedals are sticking, but in terms of immediate safety, that is irrelevant. If your gas pedal gets jammed, for whatever reason, it presents a VERY serious safety hazard and puts your life and the lives of any passengers in jeopardy.

The original recall in 2009 began because pedals were becoming stuck when the original floor mats were replaced by thicker, weather-resistant mats. Now included in this up-dated recall are approximately 761,000 model year 2006-’10 RAV4s, 17,000 model year 2008-’11 Lexus LX570 SUVs and 603,000 model year 2003-’09 4Runner SUVs.

The NHTSA decided to take a second look at Toyota’s original 2009 recall to determine if the auto-manufacturer had gone far enough to cover all possible ways the pedal could stick. Its no surprise that the NHTSA reevaluated the recall and expanded it to cover more vehicles, as more ways for the pedal to stick emerged.

About 20,000 Lexus GS300s and GS350s with All-Wheel drive and a 2006 or 2007 model year are being included in the recall. It was found that in these vehicles, the pedal can get jammed on the plastic pad part of the driver’s side floor mat.

Toyota is now recalling 372,000 Lexus model year 2004-’07 RX330, RX350 & RX400h Sport Utility Vehicles as well as about 397,000 model year 2004-’06 Highlander & Highlander Hybrids. The issue with these vehicles is that a retention clip in the vehicles’ center console can start to dislodge and hinder the gas pedal from operating properly.

According to David Strickland, administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said the NHTSA “reviewed more than 400,000 pages of Toyota documents to determine whether the scope of its recalls for pedal entrapment was sufficient […] As a result of the agency’s review, NHTSA asked Toyota to recall these additional vehicles” totaling the number of recalled vehicles to 2.2 Million, all together.