Toyota slow to recall, acknowledge problems

These have been the themes of multiple stories this past week, here, here and here. Read the latest here, "Toyota Has Pattern of Slow Response on Safety Issues." The lede follows:

Toyota’s recalls and disclosures in recent months are part of a lengthy pattern in which the automaker has often reacted slowly to safety concerns, in some instances making design changes without telling customers about problems with vehicles already on the road, an examination of its record shows.

Toyota received complaints from customers in Europe about sticking accelerator pedals as early as December 2008 and started installing redesigned pedals on new vehicles there last August. Months later, in January, similar concerns in the United States led to a pedal recall of 2.3 million vehicles.