The Injury Board Commentary - Automobile Accidents - Most Commented

Kyle Busch’s speeding deserves severe consequences

Lawrence Egerton — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:29:49 GMT

There are going to be some people out there who think Kyle Busch is some kind of romantic rebel.

Sort of like those good ol’ boys from the early days of NASCAR, hauling moonshine in souped-up street cars and outrunning revenuers on North Carolina back roads.

Well, this is not the 1950s.

And Kyle Busch is not some kind of hero.

Busch was caught Tuesday driving 128 mph in a 45-mph zone.

An sheriff's deputy stopped him on Tuesday around 2 p.m. on Perth Road south of Troutman, in Iredell County.

Busch, whose wife was riding with him, was driving a yellow Lexus LFA exotic sports car.

A Lexus LFA is capable of a top speed of 203 mph. It’s 10-cyclinder engine can rocket it from 0 to 60 in 3.6 seconds; from 0 to 100 in 7.6. seconds.

If you want to buy one, it’ll set you back anywhere from $350,000 to $400,000. Busch reportedly told the deputy he thinks of the Lexus as “just a toy.”

The Lexus LFA / Image from Autoviva

Some toy.

Let’s talk about Kyle’s playground.

He was stopped near a subdivision near Lake Norman. Close by are several neighborhoods, a church and a day-care.

One report, from the News & Record of Greensboro, describes the road Busch was traveling as winding and dipping through the countryside. It's often used by bicyclists and farm tractors. Not far ahead from where Busch was pulled over is a sign warning of a school bus stop, and another warning of curves ahead. Much of the road is marked with the double yellow lines that denote a no-passing zone.

“There’s a lot of traffic, especially concerning kids,” said one woman quoted in the Charlotte Observer. “There’s mothers going to pick up their kids at school, school buses dropping off.”

Busch, who lives in Iredell County, was charged with speeding and driving recklessly. He is to appear in court July 20.

Legally, Busch deserves to get the maximum penalty possible. But the North Carolina justice system does not take speeding seriously enough. His punishment may be as minor as probation, losing his license for a year, and paying a $1,000 fine.

Professionally, Busch should be sanctioned. He drives the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. At this point he’s scheduled be driving it Sunday in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Gibbs said Thursday of Busch’s speeding that “It’s a serious issue,” and he is considering disciplinary action. He said that one option is having Busch speak with youth groups about speeding and reckless driving. That sound more like an opportunity than a sanction. A suspension from racing is more in order.

Speeding is cited as a major factor is nearly one-third of motor vehicle accidents. Given the terrible toll of injuries and fatalities, this atrocious example set by a celebrity sportscar driver is intolerable.

NASCAR still flaunts that rowdy persona, that rough streak of outlaw appeal from its old days. Fans love that stuff – spectacular crashes, fistfights on pit row, “tradin’ paint.”

But all the drivers – and Kyle Busch in particular – need to leave it at the track.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Lawrence Egerton

Toyota Recall: Exponent Testing Designed For Toyota's Lawyers, Not For Safety

Brett Emison — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:18:14 GMT

Toyota executives told Congress in sworn testimony that it gave a consulting company called Exponent an unlimited budget to research electromagnetic sources of Toyota's sudden acceleration problems. However, after an automotive professor, David Gilbert, successfully demonstrated that Toyota's "failsafe" electronics claims were false, Toyota has taken off the gloves and spent the last several days attacking Professor Gilbert and his findings.

Today, Toyota's paid consultants held an internet press event to attack Professor Gilbert's findings about Toyota's unintended acceleration problem. I have a couple questions about Toyota's hired guns:

(1) Who paid for Exponent's work trying to debunk Professor Gilbert's findings; and

(2) Is Toyota focused on finding and fixing the problem or is Toyota focused on attacking this automotive professor?

Can you guess the answers?

I find the very first page of Exponent's report more telling than any other. Take a look for yourself. Do you see what I see?

For whom did Exponent prepare this report? Was it done for Toyota's engineers? For Toyota's safety department? For Toyota's corporate executives? Nope. Exponent's testing was prepared for and at the direction of Toyota's litigation counsel, Bowman & Brooke, LLP.

Toyota's engineering department did not order these tests.

Toyota's design department did not order these tests.

Toyota's electrical engineers did not order these tests.

Toyota's safety department did not order these tests.

Toyota's executive officers did not order these tests.

It was Toyota's litigation attorneys that ordered these tests.

If it wasn't Toyota's engineers that asked for this test as a safety evaluation, why did Toyota call in these hired guns? What is this test out to prove? Well, let's see what Exponent's report says:

Toyota's lawyers hired Exponent to attack Professor Gilbert's findings, not to figure what is really causing Toyota's sudden acceleration problem. At Toyota, it looks like safety loses again.

Toyota's report from Exponent shows nothing more than a giant company spending an unlimited amount of money to attack an automotive professor that had the gall to challenge Toyota's lies. Toyota appears to be more worried about covering its tail than actually fixing the problem that causes these vehicles to run out of control.

Why is Toyota more focused on refuting Professor Gilbert's testing than figuring out what is actually causing the Toyota sudden acceleration problem?

This is just one more example of Toyota's well-documented history of attempted cover-ups of safety problems. Throughout the sudden acceleration time line, one thing has been consistent: Toyota has consistently misled the public about the nature and severity of the Toyota sudden acceleration problem. When given the opportunity to come forward with information, Toyota has chosen lie after lie after lie.

The Detroit Free Press has documented how Toyota has stonewalled the investigation of these problems since at least 2003. Now, Toyota has said its own data recorders are not reliable. What are these black boxes saying that has Toyota withholding this evidence?

After dragging its feet and being called "safety deaf" on the sudden acceleration recall, Toyota did it again when Toyota knew of the problems with its Prius brakes long before warning its drivers, customers and innocent motorists.

It is time that Toyota is finally held accountable for putting profits over safety and for putting money ahead of human life.

You can learn more at our safety blog and become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Oklahoma Commercial Trucking Accident Kills

Christy Thompson — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:42:39 GMT

A collision in Lincoln County, Oklahoma was the cause of Johnny Leemaster's death. It happens far too frequently and more so now than just about ever in US roadway history. Leemaster was operating a vehicle headed north down U.S. 177 while Justin Colley headed south down 177.

The fatal accident occurred when Colley attempted to pass a slow-moving commercial trucker ahead of him. In so doing, he collided with Leemaster. Both driver's attempted to swerve out of the other's way, but in the end, Leemaster ended paying with his life because a commercial trucker was unwilling to pull over to let faster moving vehicles pass.

An important detail of this story that should be strongly considered: state troopers noted there was a rolling fog during the time of the collision. As a commercial trucker with a specialized license, the operator of the rig assuredly knew better -- anyone who operates with a Class C license or higher is educated well enough about fog to know that even the most well lit vehicles are scarcely visible in a rolling fog.

Colley, who collided with Leemaster but lived, was every bit within his rights as a motorist to pass the commercial trucker. As motorists, we all have the legal right to pass a vehicle moving at a speed below the speed limit or far slower than the flow of traffic on an interstate roadway.

As a complete aside, whether Colley and other drivers had been behind the trucker or not, given the size of his load and rig, and the abhorrent weather conditions, this trucker was grossly irresponsible not to have pulled aside and to have waited for conditions to improve.

So the question is, why are there not more and better regulations in the commercial trucking industry? Because the road is a trucker's office; when he isn't moving, he isn't getting paid. Fatalities such as that of Leemaster, who probably just wanted to get home, and victims like Colley, the motorist who killed Leemaster because of the negligence of the trucker, should be taken so much more seriously than they are. Regulations that place a higher value on human life than monetary profit are way past due in the trucking business.

Accidents involving commercial vehicles grow in numbers every year. It's high time for some preventative measures and new, stricter regulation from within the trucking industry. A severe penalty for truckers driving in bad weather or not pulling over when unable to keep up with the flow of traffic may have saved Leemaster's life.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christy Thompson

Dear Ted Frank...

Brett Emison — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 11:12:37 GMT

Ted Frank lied about me in a blog post (apparently without comments enabled), so I will answer his accusations here.

First, a little background.

On July 13, 2010, Ted Frank wrote a short blurb at overlawyered.com commenting on a bogus Wall Street Journal story that supposedly exonerated Toyota of fault in the sudden acceleration problem (at least regarding electrical causes of the defect). Among other sanctimonious things, Frank wrote:

Will plaintiffs’ lawyers who have been conspiracy-theorizing about a non-existent electronic defect withdraw their class actions and product-liability suits, much less apologize? How about AP and the news media? Don’t count on it.

The next day, it turns out that sources confirmed that Toyota itself had planted the report and that even Toyota conceded that the sudden acceleration investigation was far from finished.

So I made reference to Ted Franks' post in my round up of posts confirming that Toyota planted its own "we did nothing wrong" story. Specifically, I said:

So, to paraphrase Ted Frank at overlawyered, will Toyota apologists who have been blindly defending Toyota in the face of corporate malfeasance second only to BP apologize to the families of the hundreds of people killed by Toyota sudden acceleration? As he said... Don't count on it.

As you can see, I didn't personally attack Ted Frank. I didn't even really call him out that much. I simply turned his own snarky phrase (that was originally directed at trial lawyers) around on him.

This upset Ted Frank who then posted a reply (at a different blog site) (and that apparently did not have comments enabled when I viewed it) saying "Plaintiffs' lawyer lies about Toyota". Frank says I was "attacking him" and that I "claim[ed] (without any evidence) that Toyota misled the public...." He also said I made "multiple false statements." None of what Frank wrote is true.

Let's set the record straight.

(1) There have been more than 100 deaths reported as caused by sudden acceleration. For example, The Los Angeles Times reported at least 102 deaths from Toyota sudden acceleration back in March:

More than 100 deaths have now been blamed on sudden acceleration of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles, nearly twice the number that had been reported two months ago, according to a Times review of public records.

Update [July 18, 2010]: Ted Frank continues to be obsessed with my use of the phrase "hundreds" in describing the number of reported Toyota sudden accelration deaths (see the additional update and Ted's comments below). Apparently, it is my use of this term ("hundreds") for which Frank has attempted to brand me a "liar".

Although I have clearly set forth the precise number to which I was referring in the two paragraphs above, let me include the dictionary definition of the term "hundreds" in order to confirm that I have used the term appropriately.

From Dictionary.com:

"4. hundreds, a number between 100 and 999, as in referring to an amount of money: Property loss was only in the hundreds of dollars."

and

"4. hundreds The numbers between 100 and 999: an attendance figure estimated in the hundreds."

(2) Toyota planted "inaccurate and misleading" statements and reports about an earlier NHTSA investigation very similar to Toyota's planting of the current misleading story. Toyota appears to have done the same thing again.

Federal safety regulators have sharply rebuked Toyota Motor Corp. for issuing "inaccurate and misleading" statements asserting that no defect exists in the 3.8 million vehicles it recalled after a Lexus sedan accelerated out of control in San Diego County, killing four people.

(3) No one is lying about Toyota. National and international experts have questioned what is actually causing Toyota's sudden acceleration problems. Many examples of sudden acceleration simply could not have happened the way Toyota says they are happening. The most telling example involves a man named Kevin Haggerty.

Haggerty owned a 2007 Toyota Avalon that experienced at least 5 different sudden acceleration events. Haggerty did not have accessory floor mats and his OEM mats were secured in place. Sticky pedals couldn't have caused the problem because he didn't have his foot on the pedal. On Haggerty's final incident, he was actually able to drive the vehicle while the engine was racing out of control into his local Toyota dealership.

He got to the parking lot, shifted to neutral and stopped the car with its brake smoking and engine racing out of control. He got out of the car and the engine was still racing (no pedal misapplication) Service technicians were able to look at he car and confirm the unintended acceleration was not caused by floor mats, sticking pedals or driver error. They also confirmed no computer error codes (meaning the computer was not detecting whatever was causing the problem).

(4) It is Toyota who attacks others.

(5) Toyota puts dollars (or in its case, Yen) in front of safety. Toyota even bragged that it saved $100 million by delaying the sudden acceleration recall. How many people had to die for Toyota to save its $100 million?

(6) Toyota said it did safety testing on sudden acceleration when it didn't. Toyota told Congress under oath that it hired a company called Exponent to investigate causes of sudden acceleration to help Toyota find out why it was occurring. That's not why Toyota hired Exponent. Exponent's actual report confirmed that Exponent was hired by Toyota's litigation defense attorneys to attack a professor from Southern Illinois University.

(7) Toyota lies. Probably too many time to document, but let's document a few.

Toyota told the public there was no safety defect in the 3.8 million vehicles it originally recalled for sudden acceleration. There was.
Toyota told the public its cars were safe. Then its USA president, Jim Lentz, refused to guarantee the safety of Toyota vehicles following the "sticky" gas pedal fix.
Toyota President Jim Lentz said Toyota learned about the sudden acceleration problem in October 2009. It didn't. Bloomberg news reported that Toyota had known about the exact same "sticky" pedal problems in Europe since August 2008. In fact, Toyota had already started fixing the problem in Europe before it ever acknowledged the problem in the US.
Toyota said it knows what causes sudden acceleration. It doesn't. There are several reported instances of sudden acceleration for which no explanation currently exists and for which no cause has yet been identified. At least four separate independent safety experts have concluded that Toyota doesn't really know what causes the sudden acceleration problem and, therefore, Toyota doesn't really know how to fix it.
Toyota told the public it voluntarily stopped production of its vehicles in light of the sudden acceleration recalls. It didn't. "The truth is, the reason Toyota decided to do the recall and to stop manufacturing is because we asked them to," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told WGN Radio.
Toyota puts safety and customers first. It doesn't (or at least, it didn't). Toyota fixed the sticky accelerator problem in Europe while it denied its existence here. Toyota failed to install a brake override system that would have cost less than $1 per vehicle and would have prevented virtually all of the sudden acceleration crashes. Toyota considered a "win" when it was able to delay required safety improvements or avoid them completely. Let's not forget the record $16.4 million fine Toyota paid for hiding safety defects related to sudden acceleration.
Toyota's an honest company. They're not. In fact, Toyota has a checkered safety history and a history of attempted safety problem cover ups.

No, Ted. I didn't lie. I didn't even exaggerate. Toyota's record on sudden acceleration is clear. But, I have to give you this - you have set yourself up a nice little straw man:

Assuming no political interference (a not especially-safe assumption in the Obama administration, which has repeatedly politicized science when it served its purposes), don't be surprised when the NHTSA report says exactly what the Journal reported it will.

No matter what NHTSA finds you will declare victory in another snarky "I told you so" post. If NHTSA's findings don't turn up an electronic defect and even if they are inconclusive, you'll declare victory. If NHTSA does find a problem, you'll simply blame it on interference from trial lawyers, the president, or maybe aliens from outer space.

Update [July 18, 2010]: Ted Frank continues to go off the deep end (I must have really hit a nerve). Frank updated his post to include more fiction, completely made up statistics, more lies and an additional comment claiming that I kill people for money. Wow.

The phony scandal ginned up by trial lawyers will, at the end of the day, have killed more people than the imaginary electronic defect. Remember: trial lawyer lies don't just steal, they kill.

In my original post on July 15, I said:

... will Toyota apologists who have been blindly defending Toyota in the face of corporate malfeasance second only to BP apologize to the families of the hundreds of people killed by Toyota sudden acceleration?

Then, in the response to Ted above, I said:

(1) There have been more than 100 deaths reported as caused by sudden acceleration.

Ted Frank ignores everything else posted above, but says these two particular statements about reported Toyota sudden acceleration deaths are lies. Ted is wrong.

I have cited to my work. I didn't make up these numbers. These numbers were reported by the Los Angeles Times. I'll address these issues in further detail below, but if Ted had actually taken the time to read what I have written, he would have seen that I never suggested all of these deaths resulted from electronic malfunctions. I simply stated that Toyota sudden acceleration had been linked to more than 100 deaths, which is exactly what was reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Ted Frank still has not enabled comments to his post. (Why is that Ted? You've been able to comment here.) Let me continue addressing his concerns here:

(8) I have never said that all sudden acceleration events are caused by electronic malfunctions. Certainly, Toyota has already admitted that some unintended acceleration events are caused by (a) floor mat interference; and (b) the "sticky" pedal defect. What I have said is that these two defects and even driver error or pedal misapplication cannot account for all of the reported sudden acceleration problems. See number (3), above. Experts -- not trial lawyers -- from around the world have concluded that electronic interference is the most likely culprit. Many experts believe there are several problems - including electronic problems - combining to create the sudden acceleration defect.

(9) The bottom line is that people are dying when they shouldn't. Toyota could have prevented the fast majority of these deaths - whether from floor mats, sticky pedals, electronics or even driver error - by installing a simple, cheap brake override system that has been in use by other car companies for more than a decade. It would have costs less than $1 per vehicle. Toyota didn't do it.

(10) Ted Frank takes umbrage with the Los Angeles Times report of 102 deaths related to sudden acceleration. Frank neglects to inform his readers that I did not conjure or make up that number. It was calculated by an investigative report from the journalists at the Times. The number also does not take into account any of those events that went unreported to NHTSA or others. In reality, the number is likely far higher.

But what if Ted Frank is right and the number is much lower? How many lives are enough to matter? 10 dead? 50 dead? 100 dead? 1,000 dead? What if one of those lives were a member of your family? Would you not have a right to hold the person (or even the company) responsible?

(11) Perhaps we shouldn't hold any company accountable for its products?

Maybe we should still be driving Ford Pintos, Chevy side-saddle gas tank pick ups, Ford Explorers with Firestone tires that rollover even with professional drivers at the wheel. Maybe we should still be putting fuel tanks between the rear bumper and rear axle where they can get crushed in a rear end collision. Maybe we don't need seat belts. Even if we have seat belts, perhaps we don't need a shoulder belt, especially in the rear center seat where it costs a little bit more to install. You know we have all those great government bureaucrats (bought and paid for by the car companies) certifying the testing the companies send in. I think Ted has convinced me.

Hmmm... maybe not.

Each of the vehicles or components above were certified to comply with federal minimum safety requirements ("FMVSS") and still people died from these defects.

Each of these auto safety defects were corrected because of the work of trial lawyers holding these companies accountable. You are safer when you drive because of the hard work and dedication of trial lawyers . Click here to see just a few of the automotive safety improvements brought about by trial lawyers.

(12) Which brings me to this point: I am not a thief and I don't kill people. I refuse to give your assertion to the contrary any credence by dignifying it with a further response.

(13) As a tort reform advocate, why do you want to give away your civil liberties? Why would you knowingly give up your right to counsel and your right to a jury trial? Imagine it was your own family that was injured or killed by an obviously defective vehicle. Would you really say, "Oh, well, the car company surely didn't mean to kill my family"? If you instead chose to hold the company responsibile, would you be able to afford the $500,000 it requires to take a major car company to trial? If you couldn't, you would have to rely on a trial lawyer to help you.

Are there a few bad trial lawyers out there? Yes, just like every profession has its own bad apples. However, the vast majority of trial lawyers - particularly those bringing complex and expensive litigation like that against Toyota and other car makers - do not file frivolous, meritless or even questionable lawsuits. Trial lawyers pay for these suits out of their own pocket. If a trial lawyer spends $500,000 on a meritless lawsuit and loses, it is the trial lawyer who bears the loss.

(14) As a trial lawyer, I work hard for my clients. None of my clients ever asked for their fate. For most of them, their fate was completely out of their control. I am proud of my work helping real people whose lives have been ruined by tragedy. I am proud that I have helped the families of those who have been injured, paralyzed, maimed, burned or killed - not by any fault of their own - but by the fault of others. I am proud that I take the risk and responsibility for giving my clients back just a portion of the life they had stolen from them.

(15) Your resorting to name calling and personal insults betrays your true character and motivation. Your vile hatred for these outstanding people is offensive and wrong. Instead, you defend negligent corporations no matter what they do. In your mind, Toyota did nothing wrong, even though they have admitted at least two defects, recalled more than 10 million vehicles and paid a $16.4 million fine.

(16) I have not lied. I have not exaggerated. I have cited and linked to my sources for every single fact on which I have relied.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Toyota Recall: UPDATE - Toyota Recalls Not Fixing Acceleration Problem

Brett Emison — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:16:32 GMT

I've been saying it for months and reported it here again yesterday: Toyota's recall fixes are not working. Now, the post-recall sudden acceleration complaints keep growing.

According to the New York Times, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") is investigating the continued accleration problem in vehicles that have already had the recall fixes.

Federal safety regulators said on Thursday that they were investigating cases of unintended acceleration in Toyotas that have already been repaired as the number of such reports grew to 60.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it could order Toyota to come up with a new remedy if it determined that the ones it was using were not effective.

***

The new complaints were filed with the safety agency, which said that it was contacting all of the new complainants and that it was asking Toyota to forward any reports of postrepair problems it receives.

“We are determined to get to the bottom of this,” David Strickland, the agency’s administrator, said in a statement.

Despite continuing acceleration problems -- even after recall fixes -- Toyota continues to deny that its electronics play any role in the sudden acceleration problem.

In fact, Toyota has gone to great lengths to dispute the findings of an electrical engineering professor's test the recreated Toyota's sudden acceleration problem by introducing a short circuit in the electronic throttle controls. After Toyota executives that Toyota's own paid consultants could recreate Professor Gilbert's test, Toyota is now criticizing the test has gone so far as to have Toyota employees resign positions on an advisory panel at Southern Illinois University where Professor Gilbert teaches.

According to Business Week, two Toyota employees resigned from the board with identical two-paragraph letters.

The identical two-paragraph letters, on Toyota stationery, said the executives were resigning “in view of recent events.”

“In addition, Toyota strongly recommends that Southern Illinois University cooperate with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and promptly respond to any requests that relate to any of the Toyota or Lexus vehicles worked on by Professor Gilbert,” the executives said in the letters.

So, this independent professor recreates a problem that Toyota has denied for more than five years and then Toyota retaliates against the University where Professor Gilbert teaches?

It is time that Toyota is finally held accountable for putting profits over safety and for putting money ahead of human life.

You can learn more at our safety blog and become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Toyota Denied Sudden Acceleration Problem For More Than 5 Years

Brett Emison — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:01 GMT

It appears that Toyota has denied its sudden acceleration problem for more than 5 years. Toyota's recall for floor mat problems is not the end of the story and the company needs to do more to protect its customers and the motoring public.

In March 2004, the Center For Auto Safety reported about sudden acceleration problems in 2002-03 Toyota Camrys and Solaras and the 2002-03 Lexus ES 300.

WASHINGTON -- A relatively new technology, the electronic throttle, is a leading suspect in a wave of claims that some vehicles unexpectedly accelerate out of control. Government investigators are looking at 2002-03 Toyota Camrys and Solaras and Lexus ES 300s to determine if they are defective. More than a million cars are in service. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has begun a preliminary investigation of the latest claims. It is gathering about 37 complaints of sudden acceleration by owners of the Toyota and Lexus cars. The complaints include 30 reports of crashes. They involved injuries to five people; one of them was seriously hurt.

According to AutoSafety.org, by the year 2000, there had been more than 22,600 reported complaints of sudden acceleration.

More than five years ago, Toyota and NHTSA identified the electronic throttle as the most likely source of the sudden acceleration defect. However, Toyota continued -- and continues today -- to dismiss concerns about its throttle control system and has looked only at the floor mat issue.

Four years later -- in June 2008 -- the Detroit Free Press and the Motor Authority reported that Toyota had dismissed additional customer complaints that the popular Toyota Tacoma pickup truck had been experiencing the same sudden acceleration issue as other Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

Now, Toyota's Tacoma pickup is receiving complaints in the U.S. because of the same unintended acceleration defect.

A total of 432 customers have reported unintended or sudden acceleration [problems] in their vehicles, resulting in 51 crashes and 12 injuries. Toyota has responded by stating that its Tacoma is not defective and that many reports were "inspired by publicity," reports the Detroit Free Press.

In 2008 -- like in 2004 -- Toyota refused to take the sudden acceleration issue seriously. Instead of fixing the known problem in its vehicles, Toyota publicly accused its own customers of trying to cash in on Toyota's negative publicity.

By October 2009, Toyota was forced to finally acknowledge sudden acceleration problems in the following vehicles:

2007-2010 Toyota Camry
2005-2010 Toyota Avalon
2004-2009 Toyota Prius
2005-2010 Toyota Tacoma
2007-2010 Toyota Tundra
2007-2010 Lexus ES350
2006-2010 Lexus IS250
2006-2010 Lexus IS 350

In October 2009, Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda, was forced to publicly apologize for the tragic death of an American family who were killed when their Toyota vehicle suddenly accelerated out of control. This tragedy was recorded by 911 as the passengers desperately tried to slow or stop their out of control Toyota vehicle.

As the Detroit Free Press reported:

TOKYO — Toyota’s president said it was “extremely regrettable” an American family died in a crash in which a floor mat in one of the Japanese automaker’s vehicles is suspected as the cause.

"Four precious lives have been lost," Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda said Friday. "I offer my deepest condolences."

***

That crash killed California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, 45 — who was driving a Lexus, a Toyota luxury model — and three family members on State Route 125 outside San Diego.

The vehicle was traveling at more than 120 mph when it launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames.

Despite more than 5 years of documented sudden acceleration problems in Toyota and Lexus vehicles and the tragic death of a family of four caught on tape, Toyota still has refused to accept any responsibility or acknowledge any defect:

Toyoda said the company was still deciding what action it would take and did not acknowledge any vehicle problem during his appearance at the Japan National Press Club.

He apologized for any worries customers may have.

“I feel sorry that people who are driving Toyota and Lexus cars believing in their safety are now feeling uncertainties,” he said.

Toyota has ignored customer reports of the sudden acceleration problem for more than 5 years. Despite this growing safety concern, Toyota announced today, November 6, 2009, a third-quarter profit of nearly $250 million. In the last 90 days -- while its cars were running out of control -- Toyota made a profit of nearly $3 miller per day. Toyota also increased its sales projection to more than 7 million vehicles for this year.

Langdon & Emison is aware of more than 2100 reported instances of Toyota sudden acceleration. Instead of listening to its customers and fixing the extremely dangerous sudden acceleration problem -- a problem Toyota has known about for more than 5 years -- Toyota is raking in money and placing even more dangerous cars and trucks on American roads. Toyota needs to take these complaints seriously and fix the millions of dangerous vehicles on our streets and highways.

[Read more about Toyota Sudden Acceleration]

Texting While Driving - A National Pandemic

Jeremy Thurman — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:56:02 GMT

Do you text? Do you have a Smartphone where you are constantly checking emails? I friend of mine conveniently refers to a Blackberry as a Crackberry. Even my five-year old knows that when daddy’s little red light is blinking on his Blackberry, that means he has an email. Truth is, texting and emailing are becoming a catastrophic problem on our roads.

According to a CNN article written by “AOL Autos” if avoid text messaging in your car, you stand a substantially reduced chance of a loss of a claim or, indeed, a loss of life, recent studies suggest. Texting while driving, or fiddling with myriad devices including your cell phone, BlackBerry or GPS system, is a leading factor in accidents across the nation. The article states that:

One study by Nationwide Insurance suggests DWT is generational, with 37 percent of people age 18 to 27 saying they text message while driving, while just 14 percent of those ages 28 to 44 and two percent of drivers ages 45 to 60 admitted to it.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jeremy Thurman

Are You Really in Good Hands with Allstate?

David Rosenthal — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:35:33 GMT

Allstate Insurance is easily the most prolific advertiser of auto and casualty insurance lines. It runs a series of television commercials starring Dennis Haysbert (of Major League fame) that cleverly portray real life situations, such as rear end auto collisions, and some not so real life situations, like wayward college football fans running their car into a statue of renowned coach Bobby Bowden, to illustrate the need for insurance. The pithy theme of each ad is driven home with the statement "that's Allstate's stand", and with the suggestion that you are not in good hands unless your insurance is through Allstate.

However, experienced consumer attorneys know that Allstate's advertising claims are in stark contrast to its every day claims handling practices. Trial lawyers are in a unique position to judge the overall approach of insurance companies because they deal with a broad cross-section of insurance companies in a wide variety of factual scenarios. During the handling of thousands of claims, the true corporate color of an insurance company shines through. And after reviewing a high volume of claims documents recently, the American Association for Justice unequivocally rated Allstate as the worst insurance company for consumers.

Allstate policy holders might feel that the wrap on Allstate is the result of sour grapes on the part of attorneys who are resentful that their outrageous claims were not paid by the company. However, Allstate's rating was not solely the result of a "boxing glove" corporate policy of lowballing legitimate claims made against its policy holders, although that was certainly part of it. Allstate has also made clear it was willing to get into the ring and duke it out with its own policy holders in the name of increasing profits. In addition, its low rating was based on paying high executive salaries as a reward for successful lowball tactics and charging higher premiums, in part to pay for its expensive advertising.

One recent Allstate commercial illustrates another goal of the Allstate advertising campaign. The ad shows a court room scene where the judge imposes a judgment on a young man (the defendant) in the amount of $100,000 after an auto collision. The defendant's attorney turns to the injured person's (plaintiff) attorney to explain that the defendant has only $50,000 in insurance. The plaintiff's attorney replies that the defendant has a college fund that can be used to pay the balance of the judgment, and concerned parents ask their attorney - "can they do that?" The defendants attorney replies that they can.

The ad is designed to mislead the viewer into believing that the defendant is an innocent victim (it was just an "accident"), and that both the court system and a greedy plaintiff's attorney are the victimizers. This promotes the belief that trial lawyers and frivolous lawsuits are the cause of high insurance premiums.

In real life, such a scenario would likely be the result of an auto collision caused by a speeding driver who was distracted by his cell phone and ran a red light, sending the other driver to the hospital with serious, possibly permanent injuries. The other driver incurs medical expenses of $25,000, loses income from work of $10,000, and has ongoing pain and limitations. Although the value of the pain, suffering and inconvenience is well in excess of $15,000, the other driver is willing to settle out of court for the responsible driver's $50,000 policy limit to avoid going to trial, and probably out of a moral feeling that he does not want to collect against the responsible driver's personal assets.

Even though the other driver is without fault, the insurance company for the responsible driver puts on its boxing gloves and offers only $40,000, which is less than the policy limit of $50,000. The attorney for the injured person has no choice but to spend thousands of dollars to take the case to trial to seek the full value of the injured person's damages. A jury of reasonable people taken from the general population (rather than a judge as portrayed in the ad) determines that the total value of the injured person's loss is $100,000. Now, because of the insurance company's lowball at all cost mentality, there is a judgment against the responsible party for more than his insurance coverage.

Allstate Insurance has engaged in a successful marketing campaign. But this expensive advertising comes at a cost. The consumer warning caveat emptor is especially appropriate when you consider purchasing insurance from Allstate. Purchasers of insurance from Allstate may find that the "good hands" have boxing gloves on, and making a claim is like ringing the fight bell.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by David Rosenthal

Toyota and Exponent Hid Sudden Acceleration Evidence And Altered Documents... Anyone Surprised?

Brett Emison — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:15:00 GMT

If you have been following the Toyota sudden acceleration problem at this blog, on Injury Board or elsewhere, you probably already know that Toyota's dirty tricks are putting you at risk. I've document how -- time after time -- when given the chance to do the right thing, Toyota chose to protect itself rather than its drivers and told lie after lie after lie.

Now, USA Today has reported that Toyota withheld information about safety technology on older models at its hired gun - Exponent - altered documents requested by Congress in an investigation of Toyota's ongoing sudden acceleration problem.

USA Today reported that a letter from Congress charged that Toyota mislead Congress and failed to inform it that Toyota had life saving brake override technology on some existing models (but not others) when reports of Toyota's sudden acceleration problems became widespread.

Congress also found that Toyota's hired gun - Exponent - doctored a key document that charts the progress of Congress's unintended acceleration investigation:

The letter also charged that Exponent, hired by Toyota for research on its problems, altered the "living document" that continuously charts the progress of its unintended-acceleration investigation and asked [Toyota USA President Jim] Lentz to submit previous versions.

***

Documents released at an Energy and Commerce hearing last month showed that Toyota's outside lawyers - not Toyota - had retained Exponent. Toyota said it hired Exponent to get to the bottom of its unintended-acceleration problems, but the documents showed that the law firm was paying Exponent to help it defend Toyota litigation.

Indeed, my readers knew in early March 2010 that Exponent was nothing more than a hired gun unleashed by Toyota's class action defense lawyers to attack anyone blaming Toyota for its sudden acceleration problem.

When will the public have enough of Toyota's lies and dirty tricks? How does Toyota keep getting away such egregious conduct? Why hasn't Congress, NHTSA or the Courts put a stop to Toyota's flagrant disregard for public safety and human life? What do we say to the next family harmed by Toyota's sudden acceleration problem?

Toyota needs to admit its problem, step up and fix it. Nothing can be done to make our highways safer until Toyota quits lying to the American public and fixes its problem.

You can learn more at our safety blog and become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison

Toyota Recall: Another Acceleration Crash; But Toyota Denies Defect

Brett Emison — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:29:26 GMT

After ignoring the sudden acceleration problem for more than five years, Toyota has expanded its multiple gas pedal recalls of more than 9 million vehicles for a fifth time to include Toyota vehicles sold in Israel.

Now, according to WFAA, there is a report of yet another Toyota sudden acceleration crash.

Even after eye witnesses heard the engine revving after the crash and even though the driver pressed the brakes so hard they were smoking, Toyota denied there was any defect that caused the crash.

So, Toyota, what caused the crash this time?

So far, Toyota has blamed crashes on driver error. But not this time.

Toyota has blamed crashes on floor mats. But not this time.

Toyota has blamed crashes on the floor pan. But not this time.

Toyota has blamed crashes on "sticky" gas pedals. But not this time.

So, what is the problem? Is this a tacit admission by Toyota of a greater underlying problem?

Just yesterday, Jim Lentz, president and Chief Operating Officer of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, admitted that there are lots of issues and many facets surrounding the sudden acceleration problem. At one point, Lentz even began listing several ways in which sudden acceleration may occur. However, Toyota still is addressing only two of the many, many sources of sudden acceleration.

Toyota continues to deny and ignore the possibility that the problem lies within Toyota's computers and electronics. Since 2004, independent safety experts have pointed to problems with Toyota's electronic throttle controls as a source for Toyota's sudden acceleration problem.

Safety experts agree that this could be the tip of the iceberg and even more needs to be done. In fact, Toyota has not yet recalled some models or model-years with the highest rate of unintended acceleration complaints, such as the 2002-06 Toyota Camry. Toyota's failure to include these vehicles gives its customers and the public a false sense of security.

I have been documenting the Toyota sudden acceleration and "sticky throttle" problems for months and you can learn more at our auto safety blog.

Learn more and become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brett Emison