Toyota Ready To Throw In The Towel On Sudden-Acceleration Litigation

On behalf of Lovett Law Firm posted in Car Accidents on Friday, December 27, 2013.

Our readers will recall that the Toyota Motor Corp. recalled over 10 million vehicles, mostly Corollas and Camrys, back in 2009 and 2010 after receiving numerous reports of sudden-acceleration problems that led to car accidents. Sudden-acceleration has been an issue not only for Toyota over the years, but for a number of companies, with major recalls going back to the 80s. Although no one factor can account for all such accidents, pedal misapplication, unresponsive pedals, stuck throttles and electronic throttle failure have all been identified as potential factors.

Toyota has reportedly given indications that it is ready to call it quits with respect to ongoing sudden-acceleration litigation. Earlier this month, the company reportedly said it would be pursuing an “intensive settlement process” only weeks after it made statements holding firm to its innocence in the sudden-acceleration debacle.

Even the U.S. Department of Transportation and NASA, weighing in on the Toyota situation, have said that there was no electronic-based cause for the sudden-acceleration of Toyota vehicles. That hasn’t stopped some crash victims from winning based on the assumption that there was a flaw.

According to sources, Toyota began to reconsider its determination to litigate when the federal judge in charge of the litigation ruled in pretrial hearings that he would permit a jury to infer from circumstantial evidence that there was a defect that caused the sudden-acceleration incidents. That ruling was made despite the fact that it has not been demonstrated by any plaintiff that a defect was responsible for sudden acceleration.

No doubt, public image is a major concern for the Japanese automaker in all of this. What the company saves in terms of its image in litigating cases could bite it in the backside through that very litigation. One benefit of this is that victims of sudden-acceleration, even though they may not be able to identify exactly what caused their accident, may still receive generous compensation for their injuries and losses.

Source: Businessweek, “Toyota Waves the White Flag on Sudden-Accelleration Lawsuits,” Paul Barrett, December 16, 2013.