Sen. Moore calls on State Purchasing Agent to ensure safety of state drivers

February 25, 2010 ... Taking notice of a number of Toyota Prius automobiles sporting state license plates, Sen. Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, recently took action in ensuring employees’ safety, given the nationwide recall on many Toyota car models. In a letter addressed to the Massachusetts State Purchasing Agent, Sen. Moore inquired as to how many Prius’ the state has in its possession, and whether or not any action had been taken in bringing the models to the manufacturer for inspection.

“While energy conservation and fuel efficiency are important goals, the primary goal in purchasing state vehicles must be safety: for the state employees using the vehicles and for the driving public in vehicles around them,” Sen. Moore stated. “We should make sure that the manufacturer takes full responsibility for any repairs.”

Receiving a prompt reply from Ellen Bickelman, the State Purchasing Agent, Sen. Moore discovered that the Commonwealth currently owns 82 Toyota Prius’ in its vehicle inventory. Fortunately, the current Toyota recall for brake pedals only affects Model Year 2010 Prius’, of which Massachusetts has none.

The original Toyota recall involved a floor mat issue, where accelerator pedals were becoming stuck on the edge of the mat, resulting in an inability to brake. While none of the Prius models purchased by the state were fitted with floor mats, Bickelman told Sen. Moore that the Director of the Office of Vehicle Management (OVM) notified state agencies at the time of the initial recall to see if any state agencies had subsequently purchased floor mats. Sen. Moore was once again reassured, as agencies responded with no reports of floor mats having been purchased since their initial acquisition of the vehicle.

As of now, the OVM has not received any reports of performance issues from state employees assigned to Prius’. Additionally, the OVM has not received any report of an accident involving Prius’ which may have been caused by manufacturer defect. Given the nature of Bickelman’s responses to Sen. Moore’s inquiries, it appears that there is little to no reason for employees to be at risk of an accident as a result of the current defects in recall.

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