On 11 February 2010 I was driving my nine-month-old automatic Yaris on the A65 between Skipton and Ilkley in Yorkshire. As I approached some temporary traffic lights that were at red - with a queue of vehicles ahead waiting for the lights to change - I applied the brake only to find nothing happened except the speed of the car increased. I remember my mind registering that I was travelling at 44 mph. When I hit the car in front of me the speed was much faster. Fortunately the air bags saved my passenger and I from serious injury, but we were both badly shaken and bruised, my passenger sustaining a broken rib. I suffered serious bruising on my right ankle and leg because I had my foot hard down on the non-functioning brake pedal at the moment of impact. I still suffer from a recurring nightmare that while driving the Yaris I am unable to stop and kill a child. We both subsequently received medical treatment. The Toyota dealer who sold me the car asked that I should not allow anyone else to touch the damaged car until its own inspector had examined the vehicle. The inspector's verdict was that there was nothing wrong with the accelerator mechanism. He made no comment about the reliability of the car's electronic installation and its relation to the accelerator and brakes. As he had removed the accelerator mechanism from the vehicle it was difficult for the independent inspector appointed by my insurance company to draw any definite conclusions as to what might have happened. The insurance company offered me a brand new Yaris as a replacement for the written-off vehicle. This I refused. My husband and I are now both too scared ever to travel again in a Toyota-manufactured vehicle.
I would like my terrifying experience in the Toyota Yaris to be placed on record beside other motorists who may have had similar accidents. One day, perhaps a long way in the future, I am sure our stories will be believed as a true account of what happened to us. Do you have any suggestions as to who might be keeping such a record? Perhaps you might undertake the task yourself.