Toyota Fixing Deadly Killer Floor Mats With... Zip Ties!

Toyota's told dealers to attach recalled floor mats to seat frames on the driver's side of affected vehicles with self-locking zip ties to prevent them from snagging on gas pedals, causing unintended acceleration and then, fiery death. Yes, zip ties.

Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons told Automotive News: "We have reviewed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration what we're calling a semipermanent floor mat installation process, and we're providing these instructions to our dealers."

Lyons says the mats are to be secured to the driver's seat frame with "nylon self-locking wire ties," described as plastic straps that loop back into themselves and lock when pulled tight. In other words "zip ties."

Dealers also are to attach a label to the wire tie warning dealers and customers to ensure that the mat is secured with restraining straps and not to stack one mat over another.

Although we always knew either duct tape or zip ties would save us all from fiery death, but we'd love to see some proof in the way of the "mat installation process" from a Toyota dealership. Anyone out there have the instructions or can find them for us? Similarly, anyone have pictures of the "semipermanent" solution in action?

Also, in case you're unsure whether your car is affected, here's our handy flow-chart. [AutoNews via TCC]