- A 2006 Toyota Camry will be the focus in the first bellwether case against Toyota in consolidated state litigation in California over complaints about sudden unintended acceleration.
- A California judge on Thursday tentatively picked a case brought by Peter Uno, who alleges that his wife Noriko died after her 2006 Camry accelerated up to 100 miles per hour, forcing her to crash into a telephone pole.
- Toyota told Inside Line on Friday that "we are pleased the initial bellwether will address plaintiffs' central allegation of an unnamed, unproven defect in Toyota vehicles."
LOS ANGELES — A 2006 Toyota Camry will be the focus of the first bellwether case against Toyota in consolidated state litigation in California over complaints about sudden unintended acceleration.
A California judge on Thursday tentatively picked a case brought by Peter Uno, who alleges that his wife Noriko died after her 2006 Camry accelerated up to 100 miles per hour, forcing her to crash into a telephone pole in Upland, California.
The case was selected by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Anthony Mohr, who is charged with overseeing more than 100 state court cases that have been consolidated into a single proceeding.
"While we sympathize with anyone in an accident involving one of our vehicles, we are pleased the initial bellwether will address plaintiffs' central allegation of an unnamed, unproven defect in Toyota vehicles," wrote Celeste Migliore, a Toyota spokeswoman in response to an e-mailed query by Inside Line on Friday. "We remain confident that scientifically reliable and admissible evidence will demonstrate that no defect exists in our electronic throttle control systems."
Migliore noted that every case in the consolidated state litigation rests on this "pivotal" technical issue.
The Uno trial may start as early as September 17, 2012, bumping it ahead of the February 19, 2013 trial date set in federal multidistrict litigation before U.S. District Judge James V. Selna in Santa Ana, California.
Toyota recalled millions of vehicles in the U.S. starting in 2009 following claims of defects and incidents of sudden unintended acceleration. The automaker was hit with record federal fines for dragging its feet on the recalls and was the center of a congressional investigation.
The National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council released a report on January 18 that said after months of research the NRC commissioned from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, accidents that caused the unintended acceleration scare of 2009-'10 can't be traced to any problems with engines' electronic throttle control systems, the so-called "drive-by-wire" technology some attempted to cite as the cause of unintended-acceleration accidents.
The report also said that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration needed to improve its expertise in electronic control systems to provide safety oversight of today's high-tech cars.
"NHTSA will continue to evaluate and improve every aspect of its work to keep the driving public safe, including research to assess potential safety concerns and help ensure the reliability of electronic control systems in vehicles," said NHTSA in a statement. "The agency will also further refine its strategic plan to address any potential technical and policy issues."
Inside Line says: Toyota's day in court — one of them, at least — gets firmed up.
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uawh8r says:
01:13 PM, 01/28/2012
"Just because NASA and the NHTSA can't find anything wrong with Toyotas, it doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with them...that is one of the most idiotic things i've heard."
O RLY? So let me ask you this -- does the fact NHTSA also found no inherent fault with the Chevy Volt's battery mean that a problem still probably exists with those vehicles, too?
All these morons, so eager to blame a manufacturer for a problem caused primarily by the mental defects of the idiots who lost their lives for not understanding how a car works . Here's another:
"Oh, and by the way, forgot to mention that former Toyota attorney Dimitrious Biller claims that Toyota knowingly sold unsafe vehicles. To me, that sounds disturbing."
And to me, that sounds like sour grapes from an ex-employee, and Naderesque delusions of grandeur.
canabacon says:
06:44 AM, 01/28/2012
Why is it only Toyota being sued? Ford, Gm, Honda, Chrysler, pretty well all of the automakers had this recall at the same time. That month, a friend of mine, who drives a saturn Ion, got 4 recall letters, one being the accelerator for possible sudden acceleration. It is unfortunate that people have past away because they did not know that if you hold on to your brakes, even without the brake pads left, only the calipers, the car would slow down and stop. This is where Drivers Education comes into play. NASA has proven that there are no electronic issues and that all of the event recorders, the same kind used to tell us why a plan crashed, that is in every car now and has been for years, that there was full accelerator application and no brake application on every car they looked at, which are cars that drivers complained about. Also, just a side note, if you do not want this to happen to you, please do not stack your floormatts. That Lexus had 5 floor matts stacked and it trapped the gas pedal. That has been proven and that is why that one is not in court.
litewerk says:
11:39 PM, 01/27/2012
Oh, and by the way, forgot to mention that former Toyota attorney Dimitrious Biller claims that Toyota knowingly sold unsafe vehicles. To me, that sounds disturbing.
lions208487 says:
11:03 PM, 01/27/2012
@woz1976- I am glad you are a "former" officer. I seriously doubt in the first place, since you job is to protect life at all cost. Good job dishonoring your pofession
lions208487 says:
11:00 PM, 01/27/2012
@jeremy_c- I hope someone close to you experiences the same fate. Perhaps than you will change your mind in defending a corporation that does what it can to shy away from a known issue.
atenza94546 says:
09:07 PM, 01/27/2012
It will be interesting to see what tactic the lawyer will use to argue the NASA report about Toyota electronic throttle. Maybe NASA didn't spell check their report?
litewerk says:
08:59 PM, 01/27/2012
Yes, we all have opinions and a limited access to all the facts of the case.
But, have you all forgotten about Dimitrious Biller, a former Toyota lawyer, who came forward a couple of years ago to allege that the automaker regularly hid evidence of safety defects from consumers and regulators. One of the things I seem to recall him saying is Toyota destroyed documents related to things that could come back to haunt them later. Doesn't anybody remember? Google his name, as there is a whole lot of stuff that comes up. Am not trying to say that this does or doesn't relate to this case. But it just might.
We all know that lawyers are all the time maligned as being sleazy, slimy greedy, crooked, etc. But, this guy seems like a genuine good guy to me for exposing corruption within Toyota.
roger03 says:
07:40 PM, 01/27/2012
I am sincerely sorry for the families who have lost loved ones in a car accident,
and, unfortunately, no car company can brag that nobody has lost their life in their cars.
We should remember that the human being is a kind of animal that is supposed to walk and run,
not drive cars and fly airplanes.
A brake pedal firmly pressed would stop a runaway car.
frankok says:
07:19 PM, 01/27/2012
Wonder how many of those who made comments would have stopped Saylor's Lexus going 120 mph or even Uno's Camry at 100? Note to one poster - there are cases and were recalls worldwide even in Japan.
The off-duty cop Saylor's Lexus was a rental. I also would not have known without being told that you had to hold the stop button in for three LONG seconds. Stupid design and also likely had a serpentine shifter that would not go into neutral at high speeds.
In the terrible Lexus crash that reached full speed - near 120 mph - he likely "hit" the damn stop button a dozen times. His dead brother-in-law who made the horrific 911 call likely tried as well. Also full braking especially if you pump the brakes will not always stop high speed UA. And who knows what shape the brakes were in in that rental. Now if that damn Lexus only had brake override like they do now this post would not have been entered. Saw a report that if you own an older model Toyota was installing it for free if the computer had enough memory even for those not recalled. If I owned one and got it done by a dealer but charged I'd pay for it and then dispute the charge on the credit card. Why? Well I still believe Toyotas have rare sudden acceleration due to two simultaneous electronic glitches. Rare is a nebulous word only if you aren't affected. There is no way drivers have just been using the wrong pedal. Why so many Toyotas even models without the mat and sticky pedal issues and hardly any for GM's per vehicle sold? The big CA trial is to have 10 experts analyze the secret Toyota computer code - we'll see. I still can't understand how a floor mat would entrap the pedal entirely down to the floor.
davinp says:
04:19 PM, 01/27/2012
This generation body style was built from 2002-2006. However, Toyota did a mild refresh for 2005, about the time the problems started. I drive one of the last 2003 Camry and have never had any prolems with the acceleration. My Camry has never been recalled either.