The Toyota floor mat issue.

You may have read about the ongoing problem Toyota has with some of its cars where the use of aftermarket floormats, or incorrectly anchored Toyota floormats, can cause the accelerator to stick fully open. Toyota are working on a fix for this problem - most likely the installation of shorter accelerator pedals, but this brings about an interesting question : should Toyota be responsible for the actions of people driving its vehicles? For example - if I stuck my hand in the way of the door and slammed it, should Toyota be expected to design a door that wouldn't injure me? The answer of course is "no" - so why are they having to solve a problem that they didn't create? If the drivers can't be bothered to use the anchoring system on the floor to hold the floor mat back, how is that Toyota's problem? It isn't. The issue is that Toyota recognise that America is a litigious society, and rather than people accepting responsibility for their own actions, they'll likely sue Toyota instead. It's sad that we've reached the stage in society where manufacturers have to change the design of a product to protect them from being sued by people who can't use the product properly. Of course Toyota aren't the first manufacturer to suffer this - any company that's ever built a ladder will tell you that 75% of the cost of the ladder to to you - the buying public - is covering the cost of lawsuits against the ladder manufacturer for people falling off their products.