› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
The federal judge overseeing lawsuits filed in federal courts against Toyota for sudden unintended acceleration damages has dismissed the lawsuit previously selected as the first bellwether case, saying it belonged in a Utah State court.
The federal judge presiding over multi-district litigation (MDL) involving sudden-acceleration claims against Toyota said Monday he may reject the auto maker’s motion seeking to toss the first of hundreds of lawsuits.
An independent study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE) demonstrates that, contrary to NASA’s conclusions, an electronic cause for the sudden unintended acceleration problem in Toyota vehicles is not just probable, but highly likely.
ST. PAUL, MINN – Koua Fong Lee, who was imprisoned in 2007 after his Toyota Camry suddenly accelerated and crashed into traffic, killing three, gave an interview to the St. Paul Pioneer Press recently, looking back his wrongful conviction and subsequent release.
A man who was imprisoned and subsequently released after his 1996 Camry sped out of control and crashed into another vehicle, killing three people, is seeking additional damages against Toyota.
Koua Fong Lee, the Minnesota father who spent more than two and a half years in a Minnesota prison on vehicular homicide charges for a 2006 crash, is suing Toyota Motor Corp., alleging the company knew its cars could accelerate unintentionally but failed to recall them or warn drivers.
LOS ANGELES–Prosecutors have dismissed charges of reckless driving and vehicular manslaughter against a Torrance, California, woman whose Lexus RX330 crashed on a Los Angeles highway, killing her passenger. Unmi Suk Chung, 62, blamed the accident on a mechanical malfunction, saying the vehicle suddenly sped out of control.
Toyota has announced another large U.S. recall of 740,000 vehicles with braking systems that have the potential to leak and gradually deteriorate, leading to a loss of brake performance. The recall is the latest in a series of safety-related recalls launched by Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the last 18 months for defects related to sudden, unintended acceleration, braking problems, loss of steering, frame rust and deterioration, electrical components, electronic stability, and other problems.
Toyota says it receives about 150 reports of sudden unintended acceleration every week, with most of the complaints coming through the the company’s customer-service hotline. The good news is that six months ago, the car manufacturer was receiving more than 5 times that amount. The bad news is that about 600 Toyota drivers a month throughout the U.S. still report instances and events in which their vehicles accelerated unexpectedly.
