California Injury Lawyer Blog

Toyota announced a recall of 80,000 Hybrid sport utility vehicles Wednesday, June 29th. According to a 10 News report, the recall includes 2006 and 2007 models of the Highlander Hybrid and Lexus RX 400h sold in the U.S. According to the automaker, some models contain faulty electronics systems that may cause the vehicle's hybrid drive system to fail. Toyota is working on obtaining the necessary replacement parts and once the parts are available, owners will be notified of the recall by first class mail in mid-July 2011. Detailed information on the recall can be found on the Toyota and Lexus websites. Customers can also contact Toyota directly by calling either the Toyota Customer Experience Center at (800) 331-4331 or the Lexus Customer Satisfaction number at (800) 255-3987.

Reports of car accidents caused by defective or dangerous auto parts are steadily increasing every year in the U.S. Because of cutbacks, poor management or profits, many auto manufacturers are producing inferior products. Sadly, many recalls are issued only after numerous consumer deaths or injuries have occurred.

If you have questions regarding an accident you believe was caused by a defective auto part, speak to a California product liability lawyer as soon as possible at (800) 810-6113. Cases involving product liability (the area of law defective auto parts fall under) can be difficult to litigate and require the expertise of an experienced personal injury attorney.

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In their latest recall announcement, Toyota Motor Corp announced a voluntary safety recall to upgrade the software in the stability control system in about 50,000 early 2003 model year Toyota Seqouia sport utility vehicles. According to the automaker, the recall is necessary because "In limited situations, the Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) system could activate at low speed (approximately 9 mph) for a few seconds after acceleration from a stopped position. As a result, the vehicle may not accelerate as quickly as the driver expects." Toyota says it has received no reports of injuries or accidents related to the stability control issue, and believes the vehicles are safe to drive until they can be repaired.

Toyota will being notifying owners of the recall and making free repairs starting in late May. Apparently, Toyota discovered the issue seven years ago in 2003, and published a technical service bulletin then. The NHTSA started probing the issue in late 2008. If you own one of these vehicles and would like more information, contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331. If customers have paid to have the problem fixed, Toyota is offering a refund.

In the last seven months, Toyota has issued about 10.5 million recall notices, the LA Times reported today.

Toyota Recall Attorneys

When automakers, in pursuit of profits, cut corners that jeopardize the safety of their customers, they must be held accountable. The auto defect attorneys at Estey Bomberger fight for the rights of victims injured or killed by defective cars, trucks, vans and SUVs. If you have been hurt or lost a loved one in an accident involving a defective or recalled automobile, contact Estey Bomberger for more information and a free consultation of your legal rights in a personal injury or wrongful death claim.

Continue reading "Toyota Announces Recall of 50,000 Sequoia SUVs To Fix Stability Control Software" »

The Boston Globe reported today that investigators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has received two complaints about an accident on October 12, 2009 that killed four people, including three in a Toyota Highlander. The NHTSA will inspect to the vehicle to see if sudden unintended acceleration was a factor in the crash.

According to the Globe, a nearly 160 page report of the accident by local law enforcement could not identify the cause. The victims of the accident included Harvard professor and medical researcher Stephen Lagakos of Wellesley; his wife Regina; and his mother, Helen. The driver of a Chevrolet that the Highlander crashed into head-on was also killed. Next month, the NHTSA will dispatch a team to Massachusetts to inspect the Highlander, which is currently being stored in a salvage yard.

In a statement made to the Globe yesterday, Toyota said, ""Toyota sympathizes with the individuals and families involved in any accident involving our vehicles. We are making an all out effort to ensure our vehicles are safe and we remain committed to investigating reported incidents of unintended acceleration in our vehicles quickly.'' Read the full story here.

Five days before Toyota launched a recall of 2.3 million U.S. vehicles due in January, Toyota's top U.S. public relations executive warned that the automaker needed to "come clean" about the sticking accelerator pedals. Since retired PR executive Irv Miller wrote "We are not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet. The time to hide on this one is over."

As the LA Times reported today, at the time of the email exchange, Toyota was publicly blaming the sudden unintended acceleration problem associated with the vehicles on floor mats, not gas pedals.

The January 16th email was a response to another email from a Toyota executive in Japan to another Toyota PR executive that said, "We should not mention" the accelerator pedal failures because "we have not clarified the real cause" and mechanical failures "might raise another uneasiness of customers." The document was one of 70,000 pages of documents collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has collected as part of its investigation.

About two weeks later, Miller retired from the company. A Toyota spokesman said his resignation had been long planned and was not related to communications regarding disclosure of the gas pedal defect.

Following the recall covering 2.3 million vehicles on January 21st, Toyota took the unprecedented step of shutting down North American factories and suspending car sales while it worked on a fix for the accelerator pedal problem.

The NHTSA believes the way Toyota handled the whole matter was in violaion of U.S. law. As we mentioned earlier this week, under federal law, automakers have five days to report a safety defect to the U.S. government once it has been discovered. Toyota has been slapped with a $16.4 million fine for failing to report the defect to the government.

The Toyota lawsuit attorneys at Estey Bomberger are closely monitoring developments with Toyota and the US government. If you have been injured in an accident caused by sudden unintended acceleration in a defective Toyota, contact us for more information and to discuss your legal rights with an attorney.

Continue reading "Toyota PR Exec Warned Automaker to "Come Clean" About Sticking Accelerator Pedals in January " »

CNN reported yesterday that Toyota Motor Corp has two weeks (until April 19, 2010) to decide whether it will accept or contest the $16.4 million dollar five levied by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for failing to promptly notify the government about the problem with accelerator pedals. In a statement released in response to news of the fine, Toyota said "We have not yet received their letter, we understand that NHTSA has taken a position on this recall. We have already taken a number of important steps to improve our communications with regulators and customers on safety-related matters as part of our strengthened overall commitment to quality assurance. These include the appointment of a new Chief Quality Officer for North America and a greater role for the region in making safety-related decisions."

Under federal regulations, auto manufacturers are required to inform the NHTSA within five days of determining that a safety defect exists in one of its products. Ray LaHood, the United States Secretary of Transportation said in a statement, "We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations. Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from U.S. officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families." LaHood claims that Toyota knew of the defect with the pedals since September 29, 2009 (when it issued repair procedures in 31 European countries and in Canada), but did not recall the vehicles in the US until late January, 2010.

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This week, the president of Toyota Motor Corp and other top Toyota executives will testify before U.S. lawmakers about quality and safety lapses of the world's largest automaker. Now, a newly surfaced document presented to Toyota officials last July says that the company saved millions of dollars by avoiding defect investigations, delaying safety regulations, and negotiating a limited recall of floor mats with the United States government.

In the internal presentation made last July at Toyota's Washington office, Toyota says it was able to save "$100 million or more" by negotiating an equipment recall of floor mats in September 2007 for 55,000 Toyota Camry and Lexus ES350 vehicles. Examples of other "savings" including phasing in new safety regulations for side airbags, which saved $124 million. Delaying a regulation for better door locks saved the company $11 million. Toyota also boasted that it "avoided investigation" on rusting Tacoma pickups.

Toyota issued a statement responding to the newly surfaced document, saying ""Our first priority is the safety of our customers and to conclude otherwise on the basis of one internal presentation is wrong. Our values have always been to put the customer first and ensure the highest levels of safety and quality."

Critics believe the documents, which have been turned over to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, could raise eyebrows in Congress and raise the question whether Toyota put profits above customer safety by reducing the number of recalls.

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In the past three weeks, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received thirteen more reports of deaths allegedly caused by sudden acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles. This brings the total number of alleged deaths due to problems with sticking gas pedals and stuck floor mats to 34.

The trend of a surge in complaints following a recall is typical and so far, only five of the deaths have been verified so far by the government. Although consumer safety groups have suggested potential electrical problems, Toyota maintains there is no evidence of problems with Toyota's electronic throttle system. So far, Toyota has repaired about 500,000 of the approximately 2.3 million vehicles recalled due to a sticking gas pedal.

Dozens of lawsuits have already been filed against Toyota Motor Corp. If you have been seriously injured in an accident involving a recalled Toyota, contact the Toyota recall attorneys at Estey & Bomberger at (800)724-3817 for a free consultation and more information about your legal rights.

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In an unexpected statement before a House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, this morning U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told owners of recalled Toyotas that his advice is to "Stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it." LaHood emphasized that Toyota owners should "exercise caution until repairs can be made."

Earlier this week, LaHood stated that officials at the government safety agency had to "wake up" Toyota officials at offices in Japan to get them to take action. According to an article today in the Boston Herald, LaHood said the government is considering civil penalties for Toyota.

Toyota stock fell 16 percent last month. Sales are temporarily halted of eight Toyota models while the sticking accelerator problem is being fixed.

If you have been injured in an accident involving a recalled Toyota, contact the Toyota stuck accelerator recall attorneys at Estey & Bomberger, LLP for more information about your legal rights. You may be entitled to compensation from Toyota. All consultations are free. To speak to an attorney about your potential case, call Estey & Bomberger at (800)724-3817.

Continue reading "Transportation Secretary To Owners of Recalled Toyotas: "Stop Driving It"" »

The Washington Post reported Saturday that Toyota has contacted dealers saying it has come up with a fix for the stuck accelerator issue affecting millions of cars. Although Toyota Motor Corp said that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTSA) approved the proposed remedy, officials at the government safety agency stated that they do not formally approve such remedies.

No word on exactly Toyota will fix the gas pedal issue, although it has been speculated that the fix will likely involve installing a part to force the accelerator pedal to return to it's normal position. The most recent recall includes the Toyota RAV4, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Matrix, Toyota Avalon, Toyota Camry, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Tundra, and Toyota Sequoia.

Toyota announced on January 26th it would stop production on eight of its models while they worked on coming up with a solution to the gas pedal becoming stuck, resulting in more than 2,200 reported unintended acceleration incidents, 815 crashes, 341 injuries and 19 fatalities.

The auto defect attorneys at Estey & Bomberger are closely monitoring incidents involving runaway Toyotas and are currently screening cases. If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a recalled Toyota, contact Estey & Bomberger for more information and a free consultation at (800) 724-3817.

Sources: Washington Post, Safety Research & Strategies Blog.

The recent announcements from Toyota that the company will temporarily stop producing and selling eight popular Toyota models has worried not just Toyota owners and potential Toyota owners, but also the nation's rental car companies. Toyota says a lever that makes up part of the accelerator can potentially stick, causing the car to accelerate out-of-control and crash. As reports of more accidents continue to make headlines, many rental car companies have announced that until a solution is found, they won't be renting Toyotas affected by the recall.

Although Toyota cars represent only a small portion of most American rental company fleets, the companies aren't taking any chances. Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, National and Alamo are going to stop renting Toyotas while country's largest automaker continues to investigate the accelerator pedal entrapment issue. According to Travel Pulse, a travel news website, Avis Budget is removing approximately 20,000 cars from its fleet, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which also owns and operates Alamo Rent A Car, and National Car Rental, will not be renting any affected Toyotas in their fleet. The affected Toyotas owned by Enterprise-Rent-A-Car consist of only about 4% of the company's overall fleet.

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