› $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.
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.
A Minnesota judge has freed Loua Fong Lee, a Southeast Asian immigrant and father of four who was convicted in 2007 of criminal vehicular homicide after his 1996 Toyota Camry sped out of control and crashed into another vehicle, killing three people.
U.S. District Judge James Selna, who is overseeing the consolidated cases against Toyota Motor Corp. related to millions of vehicle recalls in 2009 and 2010, primarily for issues of sudden unintended acceleration (SUA), has approved the discovery plan for the multidistrict litigation (MDL). Hundreds of lawsuits have been consolidated under Judge Selna’s court, based in Orange County, California. Beasley Allen attorney W. Daniel “Dee” Miles, head of the firm’s Consumer Fraud section, has been appointed to the Toyota MDL (case 8:10-ml-02151-JVS-FMO), to the Liaison Committee for personal injury and wrongful death.
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.
In what is starting to sound like a recall du jour, Toyota has announced that it will recall about 600,000 Sienna minivans sold in the United States over concerns the spare tires, held in place by cables that are prone to rust, may separate from the vehicle.
After finding serious flaws in the electronic stability controls (ESC) and performance of the 2010 Lexus GX 460 SUV, Consumer Reports is “urging consumers not to buy” the vehicle until parent company Toyota finds a fix. In response, Toyota has suspended sales of the vehicle nationwide until it can determine what is wrong with them and how they may be repaired.
An Associated Press investigation has uncovered numerous examples that Toyota has relied on highly evasive, deceptive, and unethical legal tactics when defending itself against a spectrum of claims in court. The AP investigation involved an examination of lawsuits filed against Toyota throughout in the country in the past decade.
