NHTSA Complaint #11252767 — 2010 TOYOTA COROLLA

ON 08/30/2019 I WAS DRIVING DOWN A SUBURBAN CITY STREET GOING 40MPH AND SLOWED DOWN TO MAKE A LEFT TURN, BUT WAS UNABLE TO MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL BECAUSE IS HADU LOCKED UP AND WOULD NOT TURN. I WAS TERRIFIED BECAUSE I HAD TO COME TO A COMPLETE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET BECAUSE THE CAR KEPT MOVING STRAIGHT AHEAD. I WAS AFRAID OF BEING HIT, BECAUSE I COULD GET THE STEERING WHEEL TO TURN. OUT OF DESPERATION AND FEAR, I GRABBED THE LEFT SIDE OF THE STEERING WHEEL WITH BOTH HANDS AND TRIED TO PULL DOWN TO MAKE THE STEERING WHEEL TURN...I WAS USING EXTREME FORCE, PULLING NUMEROUS TIMES BEFORE THE STEERING WHEEL FINALLY MOVED THE WHEELS TO THE LEFT SO I COULD MAKE THE LEFT HAND TURN. BUT WHEN I TRIED TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL TO THE RIGHT TO STRAIGHTEN THE WHEELS AND CONTINUE MOVING STRAIGHT AHEAD, THE SAME THING OCCURRED....THE STEERING WHEEL REQUIRED EXCESSIVE FORCE, USING TWO HANDS PULLING DOWN ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE STEERING WHEEL REPEATED TIMES TO GET THE CAR IN POSITION TO MOVE FORWARD. BY THE GRACE OF GOD, NO TRAFFIC CAME DOWN THE ROAD IN EITHER DIRECTION. I CONTINUED TRAVELING DOWN THE STRAIGHT ROAD FOR TWO MILES, UNTIL I CAME TO A STOPLIGHT WHERE I HAD TO MAKE ANOTHER LEFT TURN. WHEN THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN, THE SAME THING OCCURRED...I HAD TO REPEATED APPLY EXCESSIVE FORCE TO GET THE STEERING WHEEL TO TURN, WHICH SEEMED LIKE AN ETERNITY. THIS TIME THERE WAS TRAFFIC BEHIND ME BEEPING THEIR HORNS TO GET OUT OF THE WAY, BUT SINCE THE POWER STEERING WAS NOT WORKING, IT TOOK ABOUT 1-2 MINUTES PULL THE STEERING WHEEL TO TURN THE CAR. I TURNED ON THE FLASHER LIGHTS, DROVE 10MPH AND CONTINUED HOME. THE CAR DROVE STRAIGHT: STEERING WHEEL LOCKED-UP AND REQUIRED EXESSIVE FORCE FOR NEXT FOUR RIGHT/LEFT TURNS I HAD TO MAKE TO GET HOME. AFRAID TO DRIVE CAR; INJURED RT ROTOR CUP USING SUCH FORCE TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL.TAKING TO TOYOTA DEALER TOMORROW FOR DIAGNOSIS.