On the heels of its massive floor mat recall, Toyota has unveiled a new plan to handle a sudden acceleration problem in 4.26 million of its most popular models.

The underlying problem behind the acceleration appears to be something called fly-by-wire technology. Fly-by-wire simply means that the car is powered electronically rather than through traditional mechanical cabling.

According to Toyota, the following makes and model years are affected:

• 2007 to 2010 Camry
• 2005 to 2010 Avalon
• 2004 to 2009 Prius
• 2005 to 2010 Tacoma
• 2007 to 2010 Tundra
• 2007 to 2010 Lexus ES350
• 2006 to 2010 Lexus IS250
• 2006 to 2010 Lexus IS 350

This recall is serious. It initially gained media attention when it was suspected of contributing to the road death of a California state trooper behind the wheel with his family.

Meanwhile, safety data shows that more people have been killed by sudden acceleration in Toyotas since they went to fly-by-wiring than all other makes and models of vehicles combined.

Toyota's remedy is a multi-step process of removing a part of your gas pedal to ensure there's no possible contact with the floor mat. Then they'll add a "smart pedal" already in use by BMW, Audi, Porsche and others. The smart pedal automatically disengages the accelerator when you brake.

As a general rule, if you're ever in any kind of car and you experience sudden acceleration, Clark recommends putting your car into neutral. Braking alone will not stop the car. By putting it into neutral, you may blow out your engine, but you won't lose your life.

Recall alert: Refrigerated and frozen Toll House cookie dough has been recalled by Nestlé because of E. coli contamination.

To make matters worse, it has now emerged that the Danville, Va., plant responsible for the contamination had been non-compliant with FDA inspectors for five years, according to The Wall Street Journal.

For example, an inspector who found dirty equipment and live insects at the plant in September 2006 wanted to access various records as part of an investigation. But the plant would not cooperate.

In fact, Nestlé even presented a list in writing of what they wouldn't allow inspectors to see or do. That listed denied access to the plant's consumer complaint records, pest control records, environmental testing records...and it even banned photography!

The E. coli outbreak is now in 30 states, according to the CDC. This is ugly stuff. Think of the cost to Nestlé of having to recall cookie dough from all across the country. Think of the cost to individuals who have to be hospitalized after getting sick from the cookie dough.

The saddest part of all is that, under current food safety law, the plant did not have to cooperate with food safety inspectors. Wow.

In Clark's estimation, the government needs to overcome the lobbyists and pass new rules that would require food companies to give FDA inspectors access to their records. Period.

Fortunately, no one has died as a direct result from eating the cookie dough. But why should it have to come to that to get some results??

Are you concerned about the safety of goods from communist China? The tainted pet food, the lead in children's toys, the melamine in dairy products. It's enough to scare any sensible consumer.

Ferreting out a suspect product after it's been put in a container and shipped to our ports is like looking for a needle in a haystack. That's why the United States has struck a deal to have U.S. inspection offices on Chinese soil. The goal is for U.S. employees to monitor goods in communist China before they leave the factory. The communist party agreed because they want to make sure Western consumers don't lose confidence in their products.

Clark often takes calls from people who feel that we should just put barriers on trade with foreign nations. There's a tendency to want to call a "timeout," but our global economy doesn't work like that. Free trade is ultimately responsible for making our society and others much wealthier.

Of course, if you lost a job at a factory because of outsourcing, Clark knows his words ring hollow and may seem callous.

But the reality of economics is that jobs continually shift. We have to be lifelong learners who can adapt our skills to a new climate. Clark thinks about the way his show has changed and adapted to new technologies over the years. If he never changed, he would be an extinct dinosaur.

Creative destruction dictates that long-term growth requires old industries to fall by the wayside so new ones can spring up. Think about all the people who trained in Morse code to be telegraph operators. Then the telephone came along and made telegraphs obsolete.

The bottom-line is that we have to continually adapt. You have to seek the skills that will allow you to create a paycheck as jobs disappear and new ones are created.

RECALL WARNING: Can your stove kill you? Imagine dying because it tips over and crushes you or scalds you badly. That may sound impossible, but Sears ranges are now being recalled for that very reason. These ranges are front heavy and were not anchored properly during installation. Sears has now agreed (after a lawsuit settlement) to properly bolt ranges that have been sold since 2000. Go online to SearsRangeSettlement.com for complete details. They'll also be bolting all ranges as part of installation through 2011. This settlement will cost Sears untold millions as an estimated 4 million homes have improperly installed stoves. But how many of the 4 million homeowners will actually do anything about the problem? Historically, recalls don't yield high results.

Meanwhile, there's been another recall of cribs with faulty railing. Make sure your child is not in danger if you have a crib sold under any of the following names: Majestic Curved Top and Flat Top Cribs, Essex Cribs, Brighton/Sussex Cribs and Captiva Cribs. If you're in doubt, contact the importers at Munire Furniture or call 866-586-9639.

As a parent, Clark is sick over the fact that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is not doing its job of ensuring that toys are made and sold in a safe manner. CPSC honcho Nancy Nord instead sees her job as protecting manufacturers who have unsafe products on the market. Congress recently gave her the authority to ban lead-filled toys and children's trinkets. But she refused to do so and continues to allow the toys to be sold. If you have young girls, you need to be especially cautious about cheap jewelry and trinkets that are made to look like real silver. Clark advises parents to quietly dispose of these potentially lead-filled trinkets.

It's just insane that Nord has worked to put kids in harm's way in order to protect manufacturers. Clark is beyond anger over her activities; at this point, he's just deeply saddened. The whole thing becomes even more incomprehensible when you consider that Nord is a mother herself. The policy on her watch has been to keep things hush-hush when there's an unsafe product out there. Manufacturers get to sell off their dangerous inventory with the understanding that they'll have to comply with safety standards in future production. Visit SafeKids.org for the latest news. There is no cop on the beat, so you've got to be extra vigilant.

With the holiday season upon us, parents are freaked out about the safety of children's toys. There's a new website called HealthyToys.org that's done research into which toys are safe and which ones are not. You may notice this website loads up slowly. That's because it's getting so many hits after a lot of media exposure -- which just goes to show how important this issue is to people. When it does load, you'll see a picture of a child with a rubber ducky in her mouth. Manufacturers use lead in rubberized toys to give them more consistency. Clark recently caught the ire of Neal Boortz -- a syndicated radio host and one of his friends -- for saying that government should have a role in enforcing toy safety. Be that as it may, you have to err on the side of safety when you're a parent. One thing HealthyToys.org definitely says you should stay away from is jewelry for kids. More than 1 in 3 pieces of kid's jewelry that was tested contained so much lead that it could decrease your child's IQ.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission and its current head, Nancy Nord, have emerged as villains for Clark in recent weeks. The job of a safety regulator is to ensure that safe products are on the market, right? So do you think it's a good idea for regulators to be wined and dined by the very people they're supposed to be monitoring? "No way not any day," as Clark says. But Nord has been taking all kinds of freebies from the companies she regulates. Clark issued a recent call for Nord to appear on the show and defend herself, but so far her press people haven't been receptive to the idea.

Now the White House is stepping in with new initiatives to keep kids and adults safe in the wake of some highly publicized food and product recalls. Most capitalists would not want to knowingly harm another human being through their business practices. But we still need a cop on the beat to ensure safety. Clark thinks Nord has such resentment toward government that now that she's in power she's trying to curtail government at every step. That's why Clark thinks she's been so lax in her duties. Once again, Clark wants to reiterate that he doesn't think Nord gets up in the morning and says, "How can I harm people today?" But wouldn't you want to know that toys you buy for your child are safe? Of course you would -- and the same goes for the food you give to your family. These are only reasonable expectations.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has been front and center in Clark's mind over the whole issue of unsafe Chinese toys getting into our marketplace and harming children. This is a federal agency that's charged with seeing that dangerous products get pulled. But the CPSC really isn't doing that at all, thanks to the actions of chairwoman Nancy Nord. By law, the CPSC is prohibited from issuing public reports about unsafe items until after a multiyear investigation. Nord has been lobbying to not have additional authority to deliver reports in a quicker manner. She's also fighting a move in Congress to fine manufacturers who make unsafe products. So what gives? Clark would love for Nord to come on the show and explain her position. Perhaps she's the ultimate libertarian who believes that capitalism is the best way to deal with products that kill children. Clark is just shocked that a woman whose job it is to protect consumers is actively campaigning to undermine efforts that would allow her to do so. But Clark doesn't want to jump to conclusions. After all, he doesn't personally know Nord and has no idea if it's her goal to harm children everyday. In addition, he does know what it's like to be on the receiving end of completely off-base attacks on the Clark Stinks message board. So he wants to hear right from Nord herself why it's a bad idea for government to ensure the safety of toys.

Clark's reputation for being cheap is so intense that sometimes people come up to him and ask him if he's found any good Chinese toys (with lead paint) for his kids lately. While the intention is humorous, the point is no laughing matter. Right now there's fear in the land because several government agencies have obviously failed in their duty to keep the American consumer safe. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has for a long time been perceived as an anti-consumer agency hijacked by people who wanted to protect industry giants making unsafe products from evil consumers. That belief was confirmed during recent Senate hearings when the CPSC's acting chairwoman basically said it is a bad idea to let consumers know about defects in items. Clark is also upset that the CPSC helped a crib-maker keep secret that their product was unsafe. Several children died as a direct result of the agency not recommending a recall.

Clark loves capitalism, but he knows that there need to be some referees in place for it to work optimally. When there's not a cop on the beat, the marketplace suffers because parents can't have confidence that the feds are on the case to make sure imported toys are safe. Another recent episode also shows the government's unwillingness to protect consumers. There was a recent scandal with unsafe ground beef, and it turns out that the Department of Agriculture knew about E.Coli contamination for nearly five weeks before issuing a recall. The DoA obviously felt its responsibility was to protect the processing plant, which later went bust when the government recall was finally issued.

For years Clark has taken issue with eBay because it's enabled counterfeiters by creating an unmonitored marketplace where they can peddle their bogus goods. Now he's saluting the company because of its coordinated effort to crack down on people selling recalled toys that have lead paint. Clark's executive producer Christa -- a frequent eBay seller and buyer -- usually takes a very libertarian view of things. But in this case she too salutes the company's efforts since the products in question have already been recalled by the government. Meanwhile, Clark has a market-based solution to the counterfeiting problem. He believes eBay should have bonded sellers. People would pay for a bond and the company would reimburse buyers if they were sold bogus goods. Sellers would then be able to command higher dollars for their legitimate goods under Clark's plan.

There's a new recall of children's cribs that parents need to know about. One million cribs sold under the Graco and Simplicity brands between 1998 and this past May pose a structural danger to babies. Following is a list of the affected cribs. There's more information available online or by calling 1-888-593-9274. The recalled Simplicity crib models include: Aspen 3 in 1, Aspen 4 in 1, Nursery in a Box, Crib N Changer Combo, Pooh 4 in 1, Chelsea and the following cribs with the Graco logo: Aspen 3 in 1, Ultra 3 in 1, Ultra 4 in 1, Ultra 5 in 1, Trio and Whitney. The model numbers are: 4600, 4605, 4705, 5000, 8000, 8324, 8800, 8740, 8910, 8994, 8050, 8750, 8760 and 8996.

Sometimes a recall is not what you think -- you may not just simply return the item and get your money back. In the instance of this recall, you'll be sent a kit to make repairs yourself to bring the product up to code. Clark says there needs to be laws in place to make sure our kids are safe. Libertarians will argue that the market will punish those who make unsafe products, but how do you replace a vulnerable child who is injured or killed because of a manufacturer's negligence?? The Chicago Tribune recently reported how the feds sometimes look the other way when it comes to recalls. One retailer that's handling recalls the right way is Target, which has recalled its Cool Toyz play-set. Target is offering a full refund for the roughly 200,000 play-sets out there with lead paint. But how many have been returned so far? The Washington Post reports only 766, even though the paint in the play-set has 15 times the lead allowed by law. Meanwhile, the recent Thomas the Train recall must have received more media attention because the return rate there is about 40 percent. The responsibility must not fall on just the government, the media, the retailers or the manufacturers; it's one that should be shared jointly with parents. The safety of your children is important and you must protect it.