Product Liability Law Blog

More than six months after the runaway Toyota car crash that claimed the life of off-duty California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, his wife, daughter, and brother-in law, their relatives are suing Toyota Motor Corp for California auto products liability. The tragic Lexus acceleration accident, caused by a an ill-fitting floor mat and the gas pedal that got entangled in it, prevented Saylor from being able to stop the car and prompted the first Toyota recall over floor mats and gas pedals.

Now, more than 8.5 million Toyota vehicles have been recalled over floor mats, sticking gas pedals, and other accelerator problems. Although the automaker has apologized for these defects that resulted in many cars becoming a possible accident hazard to millions of motorists, for many runaway Toyota and Lexus accident victims, the repairs and apology come too late.

In addition to naming Toyota as a defendant, the California auto products liability lawsuit, filed by the parents of Saylor and his wife, is suing the auto manufacturer’s US division, other corporate entities, and the Lexus dealership that loaned the vehicle to Saylor while his car was undergoing service. According to the accident report, another driver who had borrowed the same vehicle from the dealer a few days before the tragic auto accident complained to the receptionist that the Lexus had accelerated out of control when the gas pedal got stuck in the floor mat. Fortunately, he was able to free the accelerator when he put the gear shift in neutral.

Meantime, other victims and surviving family members are filing their Toyota auto products liability lawsuits. Just last week, Daniel and Nancy Murtha filed a New York wrongful death complaint against Toyota Motor Corp. The Murtha’s lost their 5-year-old son Jacob, after he sustained traumatic injuries during a Lexus acceleration accident on July 29, 2008. Nancy, who was driving the vehicle, says that when she stepped on the brakes, the car wouldn’t stop. Instead, the Lexus accelerated out of control and crashed into a rock wall. She fell into a coma, sustained neck, knee, hip, and lower back injuries, and lost part of her intestines and her spleen during the single-vehicle crash.

The Murtha’s complaint contends that even though Toyota knew for years that a number of vehicles were at risk of sudden, unintended acceleration, the automaker failed to install a brake-to-idle override system that would let motorists regain control of their vehicles.

Westchester County, New York Parents File Suit Against Toyota for Death of Their Five-Year-Old Son in Lexus Sudden Acceleration Incident, MarketWatch, March 18, 2010

Toyota sued over deaths in key California crash, Reuters, March 4, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Toyota Motor Corp.

Toyota was asked in 2007 to consider installing software to prevent sudden acceleration, Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2010

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Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , Brake Defects , California , Floor Mats , New York , States , Toyota Safety Issues , Wrongful Death

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Nearly five years after Atwilda Brown died from severe injuries that she sustained when her chenille bathrobe caught fire, the elderly woman’s family is suing Blair LLC for her wrongful death. They are seeking $30 million.

The 80-year-old was making tea on February 12, 2005 when the tragic accident caused by the defective clothing happened. She is one of nine people who have died because a Blair chenille robe caught fire. Most of the victims were elderly people. Three of the people who died were cooking when the tragic burn accidents happened.

Brown’s daughter, Sharon Davis, says she wants more people to realize how deadly the chenille robes have proven to be for wearers. Already, Blair LLC has announced two recalls because the robes and other chenille items do not meet federal flammability standards. This means that the person wearing the robe and those nearby are at risk of burn injuries if the wearer makes contact with an open flame.

A few weeks ago, the daughters of Evelyn and Murray Rogoff also sued Blair LLC for their parents’ wrongful deaths. Last February, the sleeve of Evelyn’s chenille robe caught fire while she was making tea. Murray was also injured when he tried to help his wife.

Susan Brent says she heard her mother screaming and found her parents on the floor. She used bottles of water to stop the fire but her mom had already sustained serious arm, neck, and back injuries. Evelyn died six weeks after the burn accident. Murray died from a heart attack in July.

Brent and her sister Michele Putini are seeking nearly $2 million for products liability, which they are linking to their parents’ wrongful deaths.

Clothes are supposed to meet the US standards for flammability. While all clothes are susceptible for catching fire, certain fabrics are more susceptible to igniting faster than others, which can prove fatal to the wearer. A clothes manufacturer can be held liable if a piece of clothing proves to be a flammable hazard that causes serious burn injury or death to its wearer.

Daughters: Company's Defective Robe Caused Parents' Deaths, 10News.com, October 29, 2009

Woman Blames Robe For Mother's Death, Eyewitness News 3, October 27, 2009

Blair Expands Recall To All Women’s Chenille Apparel Due to Burn Hazard; Additional Reported Deaths Prompt Re-Announcement of Robe Recall, CPSC, October 22, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Flammable Fabrics Act

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Posted In: Burn Injuries , California , States , Wrongful Death

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A bankruptcy judge has approved a $24 million auto products liability settlement between Chrysler and the family of Richard Mraz. In 2007, Mraz’s loved ones won a $55 million jury award for the 38-year-old’s wrongful death. DaimlerChrysler, however, appealed the verdict, and the appeal was delayed after the auto manufacturer filed for bankruptcy in April. Negotiations between the automaker and the Mraz family's auto products liability lawyers ensued, resulting in this new settlement.

Products liability plaintiffs have expressed frustration and worry that Chrysler’s bankruptcy proceedings would prevent them from recovering personal injury and wrongful death compensation. The new Chrysler Group LLC had initially agreed to accept products liability for vehicles that were manufactured after the bankruptcy but has now agreed to accept older liabilities for injuries that were sustained after it emerged from bankruptcy last June. Chrysler auto products liability lawsuits for cases that occurred prior to the Chapter 11 filing will be limited to the old company’s assets.

The auto products liability lawyers representing Mraz’s family had insisted that Chrysler post bond during the appeals process, which allowed for negotiations with the appeal bond issuer to take place.

Mraz, 38, sustained fatal head injuries on April 13, 2004 after he was run over by the 1992 Dodge Dakota he had been driving moments before the deadly car accident. His family sued DaimlerChrysler for wrongful death. They claimed that the “park-to-reverse” defect is what killed Mraz.

Also known as “false park," the “park to reverse” defect is a auto part flaw that allows the transmission shift selector to get stuck in the position between park and reverse while the engine is running. The slightest movement can cause the shift selector to slip into reverse and the vehicle can end up moving backwards to strike a pedestrian, the driver (if he or she steps out of the vehicle), or another vehicle.

DaimlerChrysler had received more than 1,000 auto products liability complaints over this defect.

Judge OKs $24M Chrysler wrongful death settlement, AP, September 24, 2009

More Chrysler Personal Injury Lawsuits Will Be Recognized by New Company, About Lawsuits, August 31, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Chrysler injury victims protest outside company headquarters, ABC News, July 27, 2009

Chrysler LLC

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Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , California , States , Wrongful Death

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In San Francisco, California, a federal jury awarded a Bay Area musician $18 million for his auto products liability lawsuit against automaker Ford. 38-year-old resident Dax Pierson is now a quadriplegic because of injuries he sustained in a 2005 15-passenger van rollover accident involving a Ford vehicle.

According to Pierson’s California personal injury complaint, he sustained multiple spinal fractures when the E-350 van he was riding on Interstate 80 in Iowa rolled over 2 ½ times after striking black ice. Pierson, who was seated in the back passenger seat, struck his head on the roof after the seat became detached from the floor. He was using a seat belt. No one else sustained serious injuries during the crash.

During the auto products liability trial, Ford said that the van was not defective and fulfilled all industry requirements. Representatives for the car maker instead blamed the manager of Pierson’s band, Patrick Scott, for driving too fast. The jury, however, disagreed with Ford and awarded Pierson $6 million for pain and suffering and $12.3 million for medical costs.

Pierson founded the band Subtle and was its vocalist, keyboard player, and lead composer and arranger. Now, he uses special equipment that pushes buttons on a computer keyboard to compose and arrange his music. He also needs an attendant with him 24-hours a day.

In another California auto products liability lawsuit, a Los Angeles judge told Jaguar Land Rover that it must pay a now paralyzed man $21.1 million because the Land Rover Discovery SUV he was riding rolled over a number of times after it was struck by a teen driver who was driving at 80mph on the 118 freeway in 2003.

Sukhsagar Pannu, 53, sustained a catastrophic spinal cord injury from the SUV rollover accident. The former field hockey player can no longer utilize his legs and arms and he requires 24-hour care.

The judge says that the vehicle’s high gravity center made it prone to rollover accidents and the SUV’s roof collapsed too easily. Meantime, Jaguar Land Rover says it plans to appeal the verdict. Their lawyer says that the 16-year-old driver is the one that is at fault for causing Pannu’s catastrophic SUV rollover accident.

Paralyzed Oakland musician sues Ford, wins, SF Gate, May 29, 2009
Land Rover maker ordered to pay $21.1 million in rollover case, Los Angeles Times, May 28, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Rollover: The Hidden History of the SUV, PBS.org

15-Passenger Van Safety, NHTSA

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Posted In: 15-Passenger Vans , Automotive Product Liability , California , Sport Utility Vehicle Rollovers , States

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A California family is suing Toyota for wrongful death. The Benson family contends that the car manufacturer failed to properly notify them that the steering relay rod in their motor vehicle was defective and, as a result, their 18-month-old toddler died in an auto crash.

The deadly California car accident occurred on Christmas Eve in 1997 when the steering relay rod, which connects the two wheels, broke and Cindi Benson lost control of the vehicle. The Toyota went off the road and hit a tree. Lilian Benson died from her injuries on Christmas day. Her siblings, Frank Benson, then 4, and Laquita Benson, then 7, sustained injuries.

This is not the first auto products liability lawsuit to be filed against Toyota over a defective steering relay rod. Earlier this year, the parents of Levi Stewart sued the car maker for failing to issue a recall in the 90’s over the faulty auto part. A recall was eventually issued the following decade but only at first in Japan.

Stewart, 18, died on September 15, 2007 when the steering relay rod of his Toyota pickup truck broke and he lost control of the vehicle. Friends who were in the truck with him sustained serious injuries. Stewart's father, Mike Stewart, did not receive a notice from Toyota that the 1991 truck may have contained a defective part until three month's after his son's death.

Toyota issued its recall of the defective steering relay rod in the US in 2005. A letter sent that year by Toyota’s North American subsidiary to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration noted that there could be 977,839 motor vehicles affected by the defective auto part, including the:

• Toyota 4Runner, 1989 to 1995 models
• Toyota Truck, 1989 to 1995 models
• Toyota T100, 1993 to 1998 models

The Benson family’s California wrongful death attorney says that only about 30% of the cars had been repaired a year and a half after the recall was announced and not everyone was properly notified about the recall. Usually, a repair of approximately 70% of the vehicles that are part of a recall is considered the pass/fail rate.

Other auto products liability lawsuits have been filed by families in Louisiana and Kentucky.

Humboldt family says faulty Toyota car part resulted in baby's death, Times-Standard, May 11, 2009

Idaho family sues after son dies in recalled Toyota, KTVB, March 26, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Auto Recalls, Justia

Toyota

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Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , California , Idaho , Kentucky , Louisiana , Toyota Safety Issues , Wrongful Death

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Government investigators and bus safety advocates want the federal government to come up with stronger safety regulations for the US commercial bus industry. The call came at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing this week when investigators announced that speeding was the cause of a deadly 2008 bus accident in Utah.

At the hearing, federal investigators said speeding and driver fatigue were the likely causes of the deadly January 6, 2008 bus crash that occurred in the Utah town of Mexican Hat in the Four Corners area. The bus driver, age 71, was probably driving somewhere between 88 and 92 miles per hour and experiencing altitude sickness along with a head cold when the deadly crash happened. He also may have been suffering from sleep apnea. The bus, which was transporting 56 people who had been on a Colorado ski trip, moved toward the guardrail before falling off an embankment. The roof of the bus was sheared off and the majority of the passengers were ejected from the vehicle. 9 people died, while 43 others sustained injuries, some of which were severe.

The investigators chastised the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminsitration for its failure to execute safety recommendations from 1999 when the NTSB called for stronger motor coach roofs—a safey measure that could have saved the lives of people killed in the Utah crash. The NTSB had also recommended seat belts and windows that are easy-to-open that could have prevented certain catastrophic injuries and saved many lives over the past 10 years. Now investigators are saying that it's time to make these necessary changes as well as improve its medical oversight of bus drivers who may be suffering from certain health issues, such as sleep apnea.

Another way to improve bus safety is to implement stability-control technology that could decrease the number of rollover bus accidents—the leading cause of bus accident deaths. Safety advocates also point out that making bus owners comply with tougher safety regulations would make bus travel a lot safer.

Cheaper bus prices, more convenient bus connections, and a troubled airline industry has resulted in more people traveling on buses. Some 750 million bus passengers travel in over 34,000 commercial buses in the US and Canada annually.

Motor Coach Bus Accident Facts
Between 2000 and 2007, there were over 57,000 motor coach crashes that claimed the lives of 401 people. In the past eight months alone, there have been catastrophic rollover bus accidents in California, Arizona, and Missouri that have killed 25 people. About 30 to 50 people die in US bus collisions every year.

Any kind of motor vehicle defect is a dangerous defect and one that can cause injuries and deaths. It is the obligation of commercial bus manufacturers to make sure that there are no defects or deficiencies in the design of a bus that could allow for serious injuries or deaths to occur. Federal and state safety departments must also make sure that they have safety regulations that force bus makers to comply with stricter safety standards.

If you have been injured in a bus accident caused by driver negligence, you may have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit. You also may have grounds for a products liability lawsuit if deficient design or a defective bus part was a contributing factor in causing the bus accident.

Bus Safety Rules Are Long Overdue, Board Says, Washington Post, April 22, 2009

Bus Crash Hearing Brings Calls for Stronger Safety Regulation, PeterGreenberg.com, April 22, 2009

Related Web Resources:
National Transportation Safety Board

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Continue reading "Bus Safety Advocates Call For Better Federal Safety Regulations to Minimize Injuries and Deaths on Commercial Buses" »

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Posted In: Arizona , Automotive Product Liability , California , Colorado , Missouri , Utah

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The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating the death of Kaylee Ishii, a 4-year-old California girl who sustained fatal injuries after she climbed into a washing machine and got tumbled around in the device for at least two minutes before her mother found her. An autopsy report indicates that Kaylee died from blunt-force trauma. Police say they believe that her death was accidental and that her younger brother, who is 15-months-old, may have unintentionally pressed the start button to activate the Kenmore 417.

This washing machine is a front-loading machine that comes with an “easy start” button that is located just 20 inches off the ground. The CPSC is trying to find out if it needs to issue a recall of this particular Kenmore model to prevent further injuries and deaths from happening.

This is the first death of a young child involving a front-loading washing machine. There have been three child fatalities involving washing machines since 2004, only they involved top-loading machines. Now, the federal agency will determine whether safety standards that halt agitators when a top-loading machine is open should be implemented with front-loading machines.

In 2005, the mother of Rebecca Hope Wagoner, a 5-year-old who became asphyxiated after becoming trapped in a triple-load, coin-operated washing machine, filed a products liability lawsuit against the manufacturer for $18.9 million. Her Virginia wrongful death lawsuit against Pellerin Milnor Corp. and a local Laundromat claims that the washer turned on even though no coins had been inserted. 11 quarters are needed to operate the machine, which won’t accept money until the washer door is shut. As long as the machine is in operation, the door cannot be opened.

Rebecca’s mother had to smash the door with a rock to rescue her daughter. Her complaint says she sustained serious cuts from doing so and experienced the trauma of watching her daughter die violently. She accused the washer manufacturer of knowing that particular washer model had started up in the past even when coins hadn't been inserted yet the company failed to remedy the defect.

Products Liability
You are entitled to file a products liability claim if you suffered injuries because a manufacturer made a product that was defective or malfunctioned. If your son or daughter is a minor, you can also file a products liability case involving injuries to minors on his or her behalf.

Safety Agency Probes Girl's Washing Machine Death, KTLA, February 9, 2009

Mom of girl who died in washing machine sues, MSNBC, August 5, 2005

Related Web Resources:
Consumer Product Safety Commission

Kenmore

Continue reading "CPSC Probes Washing Machine Death of 4-Year-Old Girl" »

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Posted In: California , Injuries to Children & Minors

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