Toyota exec memo: 'We need to come clean' on defect

Freep.com:

WASHINGTON -- Toyota's top U.S. public relations executive warned his superiors in January that the automaker needed to "come clean" about sticking accelerator pedals that could trigger sudden acceleration, and that the company "was not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet."

The e-mail from Irv Miller came five days before Toyota launched a recall of 2.3 million vehicles in the United States to fix pedals that were slow to return to normal. The Obama administration said earlier this week that Toyota had hid the problem from U.S. auto safety officials for months before the recall, and slapped Toyota with a $16.4 million fine, the largest ever for a vehicle recall.

In the e-mail obtained by the Free Press, Toyota vice president of environmental and public affairs Irv Miller tells a colleague that "WE HAVE A tendency for MECHANICAL failure in accelerator pedals," using capital letters for emphasis.

"We are not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet. The time to hide on this one is over," Miller wrote on Jan. 16

In a statement Toyota declined to comment directly on Miller's email.

Here is the PDF: Memo regarding Toyota pedal defect