Sorry to pile on Toyota, but the news seems to be going from bad to worse. The lead story in today’s Wall Street Journal tells the tale. It seems the US government is getting even more serious and aggressive about its response to the crisis and is pushing Toyota hard on its "fix" for the sticky accelerator problem, which can lead to deadly unintended acceleration.

And therein lies the real danger for Toyota. Would that the "only" problem for the beleaguered car company be sticky accelerator pedals and recalcitrant floor mats. Toyota announced its fix for the accelerator pedals earlier this week and will be making the repairs to the millions of affected cars in the new several weeks.

But, the government and a number of experts believe that the sticky pedals might not be the only cause of Toyota’s growing Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA) problem. These  occurrences of SUA have led to numerous accidents involving Toyota vehicles and one catastrophic crash that killed four people in San Diego last summer.

If it’s true that the sticky accelerators and the floor mats are indeed not the only causes of the SUA problem, then all bets are off for Toyota. Jim Lentz, Toyota’s US President, seemed to hedge his bets during his media interviews this past Monday when he said that his company’s repairs "solve the issues that we know of."

"…that we know of." You could drive a 747 through that caveat!

Yep, there very well could be other causes to the problem. Some are pointing to an electronic glitch, but Toyota dismisses this. The truth is, no one (including Toyota) really knows for sure the full story of what is making some Toyota vehicles accelerate out of the control of their drivers. And that uncertainty is causing a lot of fear and consternation…as well as risk for everyone involved, from the vehicles owners themselves to Toyota and its dealers.

Now more than ever, Toyota needs to be even more open, transparent and fully focused on and committed to the public interest. The truth is going to come out eventually, and Toyota needs to be on the side of the angels regarding that truth (which is to say, not trying to cover it up).

No less than the "gold plated" Toyota brand hangs in the balance.

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