On Oct 14th 2006 at about 4:45 pm I was driving in a parking lot at slow speed. I came to a stop and then tried to make a right turn. As I turned the wheel and applied the gas the steering column made a noise like breaking plastic and the car moved in a straight line despite the wheel beeing turned. I increased the turning motion until it was clear steering had failed. Since the lot was empty I brought the car to a stop without incident. I had the car towed to sandy springs Toyota and was told that the steering shaft had broken at the "knuckle" where the column connects to the shaft. In addition I was told that the spiral cable to the airbag had been damaged in the incident. My concerns are that had this occured at high speed or while already in a turn or in traffic the results would have been catastrophic. In addition the failure of the air bag meant that had I in fact had a collision I would not have had the protection of the airbag. I drive this car daily and I did not detect and change in steering or handling that would have been a warning. The car was repaired and has driven nromally since. I do not know what happened to any replacement parts.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

The steering wheel was turned in the right position and the driver was in the process of straightening it when it locked up. This caused lost of control of the vehicle. The vehicle had gone into the highway divider and was totaled. The cause of the failure was undetermined.

- Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA