› $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.
Toyota Motor Corp. announced it is recalling 420,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the United States and an additional 130,000 globally over a flaw that could result in difficulty steering if not corrected.
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.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has the authority to prompt automotive recalls, but it lacks the ability to ensure that potentially dangerous safety defects are fixed before motor vehicles are sold to unsuspecting customers. Now the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is calling for the agency to take a more active role in helping prevent potentially dangerous recalled vehicles from being sold before they are repaired.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating several consumer complaints involving Ford’s Freestyle car-SUV crossover vehicles for their potential to lunge forward unexpectedly. The agency’s database says the investigation was opened on May 11, 2011, after receiving 238 complaints about problems with the vehicles’ speed control.
A potential power steering flaw that can cause steering difficulty is behind the global recall of 106,000 Toyota Prius cars, including about 52,000 in the United States. The recall affects model-year 2001-03 Priuses only. Toyota announced the recall on Wednesday.
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.
When Mark Saylor called 911 from behind the wheel of a Lexus ES350 in 2009, he frantically yelled that nothing he did would stop or even slow the vehicle from speeding out of control on the California freeway. Mr. Saylor and his family died during that phone call, but had Mr. Saylor known more about the vehicle’s keyless push-button ignition system, would the fiery crash have been averted?
