› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance is suing Toyota Motor Sales in an effort to recoup a claim it paid to a policyholder whose 2007 Camry suddenly accelerated as she was attempting to park. The insurance company alleges that Toyota installed a faulty accelerator pedal in the plaintiff’s car, causing it to surge forward and collide with a building, causing several thousands of dollars in damage.
Safety Research & Strategies Inc. (SRS), the Massachusetts auto safety firm that has been instrumental in holding Toyota accountable for defects related to sudden unintended acceleration in its vehicles, is suing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for withholding records that could provide critical insight into the sudden-acceleration problem.
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.
The study NASA conducted to determine if an electronic flaw could be responsible for sudden unintended acceleration incidents in Toyota vehicles was the product of a collusion between trusted government agencies and powerful special interests, Safety Research & Strategies Inc. (SRS) reports on its website, and it has the facts to back up such a bold claim.
Toyota announced Wednesday it is recalling more than 1,600 of its full-size Tundra pickup trucks for problems related to its tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). Like most Toyota vehicles, the trucks are equipped with an electronic tire pressure monitoring system that illuminates a warning signal when any of the 4 tires (5 tires, if the TPMS is fitted in the spare) are underinflated. Toyota said that that TPMS has not been properly calibrated in certain 2007-2011 Tundras, meaning drivers may not receive the warning they expect when one or more of their vehicle’s tires run low on air pressure.
Court filings in class action litigation against Toyota regarding cases of sudden unintended acceleration allege the auto manufacturer repurchased vehicles from owners who reported the defect, and forced them to sign confidentiality agreements promising not to discuss the complaint, according to a story in the Detroit Free Press. Attorneys in the litigation also allege that Toyota ran tests on the repurchased cars, and its technicians were able to replicate the problem, which they have been adamant in the past that they could not do.
Toyota Motor Corp. has reached a settlement with the families of Mark Saylor and his wife and brother-in-law over the high-profile crash near San Diego last year that killed all the occupants of a rented Lexus ES 350, including the Saylors’ 13-year-old daughter. According to court filings, the settlement was reached quietly sometime in June and Toyota has formally requested that the details of the settlement be kept confidential.
If ever there were a case for the “never should have happened” file, it would be the story of Koua Fong Lee, who immigrated to the United States from his Hmong tribe in Southeast Asia shortly before he lost of control of his 1996 Camry and caused a devastating crash in Minnesota.
