› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
An automotive research company has just released its list of the 2010 and 2011 models that spend the most and least time on the dealership lot waiting to be sold. Topping the list of 2010 cars spending the most time parked until sale is the Toyota Camry, the model that has most often headlined articles about sudden unintended acceleration.
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.
A new hearing is scheduled for August 2 to determine whether Koua Fong Lee will receive a new trial. Lee, a 32-year-old Hmong immigrant and Minnesota resident, was thrown in prison after his 1996 Toyota Camry crashed in 2006 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.
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.
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 issued a brief statement on its website today, acknowledging the $16.375 million civil penalty it received from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for violations of federal regulations governing automotive defect alerts and protocol.
