NHTSA Complaint #10313421 — 2009 TOYOTA MATRIX

AT 12:30 P.M. I WAS HEADING NORTH ON OH-25 IN BOWLING GREEN, OHIO. MY CAR BEGAN SHAKING, BUT I WAS NOT OVERLY CONCERNED AS WE OFTEN HAVE WINDY DAYS. I TURNED RIGHT ONTO OH-582 AND BECAME SLIGHTLY MORE CONCERNED WHEN THE SHAKING IN THE CABIN DID NOT CEASE. I NOTICED THAT THE CAR DID NOT SHAKE BELOW ABOUT 45 MPH BUT AGAIN ATTRIBUTED THE SHAKING I EXPERIENCED TO MY CAR FIGHTING AGAINST WINDS. I TURNED LEFT ONTO I-75 N AND ACCELERATED TO MERGE WITH TRAFFIC. AFTER MERGING SAFELY INTO THE RIGHT-HAND LANE, I CONTINUED ACCELERATING UNTIL I REACHED 55-60 MPH AND MERGED INTO THE LEFT HAND LANE. SHORTLY, I REACHED 65 MPH. WHEN THE SHAKING, WHICH I HAD SUPPOSED TO BE DUE TO STRONG WINDS, DID NOT CEASE, I ATTEMPTED TO DECELERATE. I PRESSED LIGHTLY ON THE BRAKES TO BEGIN A SLOW DECELERATION, WITH THE INTENTION OF MERGING INTO THE RIGHT HAND LANE AND PUTTING ON MY HAZARD LIGHTS UNTIL I COULD COME TO A SAFE PLACE TO PULL OVER. INSTEAD, WHEN I BEGAN TO PUT LIGHT PRESSURE ON THE BRAKES, THE CAR VEERED UNEXPECTEDLY TO THE LEFT. SURPRISED, BUT NOT OVERLY ALARMED, I LET OFF THE BRAKES AND ATTEMPTED TO CORRECT THE TRAJECTORY OF THE VEHICLE, WHICH I DID NOT JUDGE TO BE A DIFFICULT MANEUVER. INSTEAD OF COMING BACK INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE AS EXPECTED, THE CAR OVERCORRECTED AND SPUN PERPENDICULAR TO THE FOLLOWING TRAFFIC AND THE SEMI BESIDE ME IN THE RIGHT HAND LANE. THE CAR THEN SLID TOWARD THE SEMI, PARTIALLY UNDER THE BED OF THE TRUCK AND AS MY CAR SLOWED, THE FRONT RIGHT END OF THE CAR MADE CONTACT WITH THE BACK LEFT WHEELS OF THE TRUCK. ON IMPACT, THE FORCE OF IMPACT PUSHED MY CAR BACK OUT THROUGH THE LEFT-HAND LANE AND INTO THE GRASSY MEDIAN WHERE IT CAME TO A HALT. *TR