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Toyota faces new suit involving throttle
The Daily Journal
December 22, 2011
Toyota Motor Corp. has been targeted in fresh litigation filed on behalf of an Iraq War veteran whose Yaris sedan sped out of control and crashed into a telephone pole as a result of an alleged defect in the throttle control system.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Santa Ana, shows Toyota continues to face new litigation more than two years after questions about its safety record surfaced.
The auto maker is battling approximately 115 personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana and another 70 in Los Angeles County Superior Court that allege a defect in Toyotas causes the cars to unexpectedly accelerate. It is also facing litigation in both courts that seeks economic damages, such as full and partial refunds for Toyota drivers under a variety of legal theories. The first trials in those cases will not begin until 2012 and 2013, at the earliest.
In filing the latest suit, lawyers at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP are signaling a continued confidence in the litigation, despite Toyota's best efforts to stamp it out. Their suits contain many similar but some refined allegations that specify in greater detail how corporate executives at Toyota allegedly engaged in a coverup as the scandal unfolded by using the vehicle recall process to divert attention from the real problem.
"We consider the recalls to be like smoke and mirrors," said Todd Walburg, a Lieff Cabraser attorney working on the case. "They've convinced the public that the issue is mechanical, but the truth is all the vehicles have an electronic defect."