LOS ANGELES - As Toyota Motor Corp. chips away at the settlement of lawsuits alleging their vehicles suddenly accelerate, the question remains whether the lawyers who filed the suit could reach a jury that had a design flaw.
The company has stuck accelerator pedals, faulty floor mats and driver error are the reasons for vehicles up unexpectedly, while lawyers for the plaintiffs contend Toyota electronic throttle control system is the culprit.Recent settlements totaling more than $ 1 billion by Toyota to resolve numerous lawsuits involving economic loss and some involving claims for wrongful death may indicate that the automaker does not want to risk his appearance on the losing side of potentially costly court decision.
"A bad loss in a jury trial could inflict lasting damage to Toyota in the loss of public trust," said Los Angeles attorney Christine Spagnoli, who has won several multimillion dollar judgments against automakers about problems safety. "I think Toyota will continue to look for better opportunities to get a win."
The company said Thursday it settled a lawsuit with the family of two people killed in a crash in Utah that was ready to go to trial next month and serve as a test case for hundreds of others that are pending.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it comes just weeks after Toyota agreed to pay more than $ 1 billion to settle claims where vehicle owners said the value of its cars and SUVs plummeted after the company recalled millions of vehicles due to sudden acceleration issues.
For Utah, Paul Van Alfen and promised his son, Charlene Jones Lloyd, died when his Camry crashed into a wall near Wendover, Utah. in 2010. The Utah Highway Patrol concluded on the basis of the statements of witnesses and survivors of the accident that the accelerator was stuck.
It was the first so-called "reference" case, a federal judge in Orange County, California, chosen to help predict the possible outcomes of other demands that make similar allegations.
Wayne Mason, a product liability lawyer in Dallas, does not believe Thursday's settlement bodes ill for both sides in the future.
"This is like taking an aspirin when you have a migraine," said Mason. "Each of these cases has to be weighed on its own merits. Would surprise me if some of it was not."
Toyota continues to be dogged by sudden acceleration issues that arose four years ago. Last month the U.S. government hit the company with a $ 17.4 million fine for failing to promptly report back problems and federal regulators to delay retirement security. More than 150,000 2010 Lexus Rx 350s and RX 450h models were recalled because the floor mats on the driver can trap the accelerator pedal and cause the vehicle to accelerate without warning.
Toyota has recalled more than 14 million vehicles worldwide to fix sticky gas pedals and floor mats. The company also paid a total of $ 48.8 million in fines for three violations in 2010.
While withdrawals have tarnished the company's reputation for sterling reliability, Toyota has regained its position as the largest automaker in the world and its sales increased 27 percent last year.
The automaker has also received some vindication Both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA could not find fault in the source code that may cause Toyota's acceleration problems.
In 2011, a federal judge found that Toyota was not responsible for an accident involving a 2005 Scion that the driver blamed the electronic throttle or rug.
A judgment concerning the second is scheduled for later this year, but it is unclear whether a decision will be made before that date. Plaintiffs' Counsel have reviewed thousands of internal documents from Toyota, critical information and dismissed employees, but most of this material has been kept under seal in court documents.
In a statement announcing the settlement Van Alfen, Toyota said there will be a number of other opportunities to defend themselves in a court of law, even though the company may "decide from time to time" to resolve the cases selected.
"It seems that Toyota did not want a public disclosure of the evidence that has been collected on the demands, so you can keep saying it's not a problem," said Spagnoli. "If Toyota felt I could have successfully defended their products in these cases, would have received a public trial."
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