› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
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.
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.
Why did the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration slap Toyota with the maximum allowable civil penalty of $16.375 million for its failure to promptly notify the federal agency of a potential safety defect in 2.3 million cars? Was this fine, by far the largest ever imposed by the NHTSA against a car maker, justified?
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.
State Farm Insurance, the nation’s largest auto insurer, is asking Toyota for reimbursement on a number of claims it paid for crashes involving unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. Called “subrogation” in the insurance industry, the repayments could amount to as much as $30 million, according to legal estimates.
Toyota has launched an investigation into a new report of sudden unintended acceleration involving a 2009 Camry. The car’s driver, Myrna Marseilles, 76, of Wisconsin, said that she was parking her car at the YMCA in Sheboygan Falls, Wis. when the car suddenly accelerated forward and crashed into a wall.
