Stockton Injury Lawyer Blog

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.

Continue reading "Documents Show Toyota Motor Corp. Was Aware Of Accelerator Defects In 2003" »

Earlier this week, Toyota announced that it will recall 412,000 vehicles due to a steering problem that could lead to car accidents.

The recall affects Toyota Avalon sedans and Lexus LX 470 SUVs.

Toyota has been subject to many recalls this year, including the massive recall due to accelerator defects that lead to serious injuries and fatalities.

The current recall concerns the possibility of cracks developing in the steering lock bar. If this occurs, the lock bar could eventually break, causing the steering wheel the lock and increasing the risk of a crash.

Where defects produce accidents, many factors affect your right to recover compensation from the car manufacturer. These include whether the manufacturer knew or should have known of the defects, whether they provided adequate warnings of the potential for danger and whether the foreseeable risks of harm could have been reduced or eliminated by using a different design.

Continue reading "Toyota Recalls Thousands Of Vehicles Due To Defect That Could Lead To Car Accidents" »

Since the beginning of 2010, hundreds of thousands of cribs have been recalled due to the hazards of suffocation and strangulation created by drop-side cribs. According to KGO-TV San Francisco, the latest recall involves about 170,000 C&T International/Sorelle cribs sold in California and throughout the country since January 2000.

Earlier this week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission(the "CPSC") recalled the Simplicity baby cribs due to a problem with its metal support frames bending or detaching and creating a space where an infant can become trapped or injured.

And these aren't the only crib recalls. In early January the CPSC recalled 635,000 after reports of 10 injuries and one death as the result of defective drop side hardware.

Hopefully, the rash of recalls will raise public awareness regarding dangerous and defective cribs. A product is considered defective and its manufacturer, designer or seller may be liable for injuries caused by its use if its design was defective, if it has a manufacturing defect, or if there was either a failure to warn or an inadequate warning of the dangers of improper use.

Although the type of defect affects recovery, the most important thing for California families is that companies to remove these dangerous and defective cribs from the marketplace and ensure any faulty parts are replaced before another infant is hurt.

Continue reading "Massive Crib Recall Could Affect Dozens Of Central Valley Infants " »