Product Liability Law Blog

According to The Detroit News, manufacturers called back over 19 million vehicles in 600 recall campaigns in 2010—the busiest year for post-production fixes since 2004 when 600 campaigns recalled 30.8 million autos. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which will release its final numbers for the year next month, reported that as of October 25 it had recorded 417 recalls affecting 14.8 million autos. Both the NHTSA and the News placed Toyota at the top of their list of manufacturers with the most recalls. NHTSA's preliminary list reported Toyota having 14 recall campaigns affecting approximately 5.9 million autos, while the News reported nine campaigns involving 4.8 million cars.

The urgency for autos with defects to be recalled immediately kicked into gear in August 2009 when a Toyota sudden acceleration accident involving a Lexus vehicle killed off-duty California Highway Patrol officer Mark Saylor, his wife, daughter, and brother-in-law. The vehicle they were in accelerated out of control when the gas pedal got stuck in the floor mat.

Second on the News' list was General Motors with 21 recall campaigns affecting about 4 million vehicles. Just recently, GM's Cadillac division recalled about 95,927 CTS sports sedans over a problem with its sensing system that could impact airbag deployment. '05, '06, and '07 models are affected. The automaker also recalled over 97,000 Chevrolet Equinoxes, Cadillac SRX's, and GMC Terrain autos, all '11 models, because the safety buckle anchor on the driver and frontal passenger seats may break during a traffic crash. In a smaller recall, GM recalled 1,262 SUV's and trucks, also '11 models, because the vehicles' rear axle cross pins were not made correctly. Vehicles impacted include the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, the Cadillac Escalade, GMC Sierra 1500, and Chevrolet Avalanche 1500.

Auto manufacturers are now under closer scrutiny and must report auto defects within five days of discovering. Our auto products liability law firm hopes that the push to immediately repair safety issues will save lives and prevent serious injuries.

2010 Likely Busiest Year for Auto Recalls in Seven Years, Daily Finance, December 29, 2010

Cadillac Recall: More Safety Gear Can Mean More Recalls, The Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2010

Auto recalls spike in 2010, The Detroit News, December 29, 2010

GM Recall: Cadillac SRX, Chevrolet Equinox And GMC Terrain Models Affected, Star Global Tribune, December 28, 2010

GM recalls 2011 Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC trucks over axle risks, Torque News, December 28, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Get recall alert notices, Safercar.gov

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Auto Recalls, Product Liability Law Blog

Continue reading "More than 19 Million Autos Recalled in 2010 in About 600 Campaigns" »

The US Department of Transportation says that Toyota Motor Corporation has consented to pay another $32.425 million in civil penalties—$16.050 million for one case and $16.375 for another—over its handling of auto recalls. The government contends that the automaker did not comply with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act regarding the reporting of auto safety defects to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

One investigation involved almost five million autos that were recalled because of accelerators could get entrapped in floor mats. This auto defect, which resulted in the recall of at least 4.9 million Lexus and Toyota autos, is one of the two known causes for the sudden intended acceleration that some people have experienced while riding in a Toyota or Lexus vehicle. The other cause, "sticking" accelerator pedals, resulted in an earlier agreement between the NHTSA and Toyota with the automaker paying another $16.375 million fine. In both cases, NHTSA believes that Toyota did not obey the law, which required that it report a known safety defect within five days.

People claiming to be the victims of Toyota sudden unintended acceleration have filed numerous auto products liability and wrongful death lawsuits against the automaker. If you believe that your injuries or your loved one's death was caused by an auto defect, it is important that you explore your legal options.

The other latest investigation, which has resulted in a $16.050 million fine, involves a steering relay rod defect that led to the 2004 recall of a number of Toyota trucks in Japan. The concern was that the steering relay rods might break and crack, which could cause the loss of steering control. Although Toyota told NHTSA that a similar recall in the US was unnecessary, in 2005, the automaker recalled almost one million vehicles over the same issue.

The three fines add up to $48.8 million that Toyota has had to pay the US government in civil penalties this year for its handling of recalls involving major safety issues that have placed people's lives at risk. Automakers must be held liable for negligence when their carelessness, negligence, or disregard of others safety causes serious personal injuries or wrongful death.

Toyota Motor Corp. Will Pay $32.425 Million in Civil Penalties as Result of Two Department of Transportation Investigations, NHTSA, December 20, 2010

Toyota to pay $32.4 million in extra fines, AP/Google, December 21, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Toyota Safety Issues, Product Liability Law Blog

Toyota Motor Corporation

US Department of Transportation

Continue reading "Toyota Motor Corp. to Pay $32.425M Penalties Over Auto Recalls" »

With its defect troubles and bad publicity far from over, Toyota Motor Corp. has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury over possible defects involving its vehicle steering rods. They jury is asking the automaker to provide documents related to the auto defect.

Toyota had recalled 977,839 Toyota Trucks, 4Runners, and Toyota T100s in the US in 2005 because the steering-relay rods were at risk of cracking during certain driving situations. However, the recall did not come until nine months after the automaker not only issued a similar recall in Japan but also, after it told the US government that a US recall was unnecessary.

In May, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched a probe to determine whether Toyota intentionally delayed the recall, which would have been a violation of US law. There also have been reports that the auto manufacturer may have known as early as 2000—based on customer complaints—that the steering rods were causing total or partial vehicle control loss. At least two families are suing Toyota for auto products liability causing the wrongful death of a loved one related to the steering rod defect.

This particular safety issue is just one of several involving Toyota, which has recalled millions of vehicles in the last nine months because of numerous auto defects. If you are someone who is a victim of a car crash that you believe was caused by a Toyota parts defect, our auto products liability law firm would like to offer you a free case evaluation.

In other recent Toyota safety news, the Wall Street Journal recently ran a story reporting that a government probe has found that some drivers may have been at fault in certain Toyota sudden acceleration accidents that are being pinned on the automaker. However, the US Department of Transportation has since issued a statement saying that the NHTSA never provided WSJ with any information about its continuing investigation and no conclusions or data have been released.

Toyota subpoenaed again, this time over faulty steering components, Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2010

Are drivers to blame in Toyota unintended acceleration cases? It may be too early to tell, Consumer Reports, July 20, 2010

Early Tests Pin Toyota Accidents on Drivers, Wall Street Journal, July 13, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Our Values, Toyota

NHTSA

US Department of Transportation

Documents from a California auto products lawsuit show that even though Toyota received numerous complaints from US drivers about a possible steering relay rod defect and had been making warranty repairs to fixed cracked and breaking rods for over a decade, the automaker did not issue a recall over the safety issue until 2005. The US recall of nearly a million compact pickups and 4Runner SUVs came 11 months after Toyota issued a similar recall in Japan in 2004 and following assurances from the car manufacturer that a safety recall in this country was unnecessary.

Now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which believed Toyota's assertions in 2004, wants to know why the automaker waited until 2005 to recall its vehicles in the US—especially if it had known for some time that so many people were experiencing problems with their vehicles' steering rods. Federal law mandates that car manufacturers must report any auto defects within five days of discovery.

The steering relay rod serves as a connector between the steering system and the front wheels. If a rod breaks, the driver may experience loss of steering control that can prove catastrophic. According to USA Today, between 1993 and when the US recall was issued in September 2005, Toyota made at least 153 steering rod repairs to SUVs and pickup trucks. Free repairs were also made to vehicles with warranties that had expired.

In the California wrongful death lawsuit that has brought the latest Toyota-related safety issue to the forefront, the family of 18-year-old Michael Levi Stewart claims that he never received a recall notice until three months after the tragic 2007 motor vehicle accident. Three other people were injured in the car crash.

These latest allegations against Toyota come just months after the automaker agreed to pay a fine of $16.4 million because it delayed recalling 2.3 million autos because of a sticky gas pedal defect that has lead to sudden unintended acceleration problems. An investigation is also underway to determine whether Toyota delayed the recall of more than 5 million vehicles over ill-fitting floor mats that can end up trapping gas pedals. This defect has been linked to numerous acceleration-related personal injuries and wrongful deaths.

Toyota fixed steering rods for over a decade before recall, USA Today, June 14, 2010

Toyota steering recall probed, Tennessean, June 14, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Toyota Motor Corporation

NHTSA