REPORTS OF UNINTENDED ACCELERATION OF RECALLED VEHICLES CONTINUES TO CASE NEGITIVE LIGHT ON TOYOTA
Even after Toyota announced that is had supposedly found a solution and fix for its recalled vehicles, new reports continue to shine a negative light on Toyota.
An AP (3/4, Krisher, Thomas) report carried by more than 250 newspapers and websites says “at least 15″ complaints have been filed, a development that “raises questions about whether Toyota’s repairs will bring an end to the cases of wild, uncontrolled acceleration or if there may be electronic causes behind the complaints that have dogged the automaker.” NHTSA said it had yet to verify the allegations, but said “it was contacting people who have complained about acceleration problems even after repairs were done under two large recalls.”
Bloomberg News (3/3, Keane) reports Rep. Bruce Braley, vice chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said in a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that the “‘reports are extremely troubling.’ … They ‘reinforce the serious questions raised in congressional hearings about the true cause of the sudden unintended acceleration problems in Toyota vehicles, and about the effectiveness of the recalls’ in ensuring safety.”
Law.com (3/4, Bronstad) reports, “The family of the man whose Aug. 28 death spurred the first recall of Toyota vehicles for unintended acceleration has filed a products liability and negligence lawsuit against the Japanese automaker. Mark Saylor, 45, a California Highway Patrol Officer, was killed along with his wife, their daughter and his wife’s brother after the 2009 Lexus he was driving suddenly accelerated out of control while on Interstate 125 near San Diego, according to the complaint, which was filed on Tuesday in San Diego County Superior Court. The Lexus “reached speeds of more than 100 miles per hour before striking another vehicle, breaking through a fence, striking a beam, flying through the air, rolling several times and then bursting into flames, the complaint says.” The Wall Street Journal (3/4, Searcey) says the case could be challenging for Toyota, since it has already drawn considerable media attention and comes as the company’s public image is damaged.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (3/4) editorializes, “Is a Minnesota man serving an eight-year prison sentence for a deadly accident primarily caused by a car defect? Information now coming to light about sudden acceleration in Toyota Camrys certainly raises that troubling possibility. … While Toyota recalls have been limited to more recent Camry models, the carmaker’s widening problems with sudden acceleration offer up a plausible alternative. … While there are similar complaints about other manufacturers’ cars from the same year,” a New York Times analysis “showed that Toyota had more speed-control complaints involving crashes over the past decade than any other manufacturer.”
If you or a family member has been injured as a result of a car accident due to a Toyota car or truck malfunction, you should contact a product liability attorney right away.
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Primary Sources:
American Association for Justice. (March 4, 2010). NHTSA receives complaints about acceleration in repaired Toyotas. AAJ News Brief.
