According to the Los Angeles Times, new documents have been filed in the Toyota sudden acceleration investigation showing Toyota Motor Corp. knew of accelerator defects as early as 2003. In fact, in at least one instance a Toyota technician experienced the sudden acceleration first hand - as the rpms increased from 1,500 to 5,500 and the technician was unable to stop the car by applying the breaks.
The new documents allege that Toyota was aware of the defects that caused the sudden acceleration but failed to either acknowledge or correct the problem until last fall when Congress and regulators forced them to address the defects.
Although the exact details and circumstances surrounding the Toyota accelerator defect case have yet to emerge, many issues raised in this case are similar to those in other products liability/dangerous defect matters, i.e. are manufacturers balancing the cost of fixing a problem with the cost of potential lawsuits? Are profits being placed ahead of safety?
Products liability lawsuits can be brought in almost any situation where a defective product injures a consumer - not only car accidents, but also defective sports equipment, unsafe toys and unreasonably dangerous drugs.
The type of damages the injured can recover depends in part on the type of claim - whether a design defect, a manufacturing defect, or a marketing defect/warning failure caused the injury impacts the type of damages allowed.
Damage calculations are also determined by the mindset of the manufacturer or distributor - where consumers are able to show a manufacturer was motivated by greed or knowingly allowed an unsafe product to stay on the market, punitive damages may be available.
As a California personal injury attorney, I will be closely following the accelerator defect cases, along with all recalls that affect consumers in California.
For more information, or if you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a Toyota accelerator defect or any other defective product, please contact the Law Office of Frederick J. Sette, dedicated to helping the injured for more than 15 years.
