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An article published in the New York Times in October of 2009 reported that an investigation was performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into claims that the 2007 Lexus ES 350 had incidents of abrupt acceleration. The investigation, performed in 2007, did not result in any action taken by Toyota.

Precedent for Lawsuits

Troy Johnson was killed in a rear-end accident in 2007. The accident was caused when a Toyota Camry that the owner had lost control of rammed into the back of Johnson’s Honda at 125 miles per hour. Johnson’s widow sued Toyota and won an unknown amount in damages. The trial determined that Toyota was liable for the accident, and that the driver of the Toyota had no personal liability.

Johnson’s widow has tried to convince Toyota to take action to prevent further accidents in the years since the trial. Despite increased publicity on the issue and more driver complaints, Toyota has not made any changes or any comments.

Many unsatisfied and worried drivers are hoping that open cases into the floor mat issue will bring much needed change.

Class Action Lawsuit May Be in the Near Future

Two San Francisco Toyota owners, Chris Chan Pak and Seong Bae Choi, are pursuing a class action lawsuit against Toyota. They each own a Toyota, a 2004 Camry and 2008 FJ Cruiser, respectively, and have reported that they have experienced unexplained acceleration often enough to cause concern. The focus of their lawsuit, if granted, will be to make Toyota responsible for inaction to solve problems of uncontrollable acceleration on vehicles made since 2001. Ideally, the result of the case will establish legal precedents for future cases that have not yet come to trial.

Key Statistics

Problems with unexpected acceleration due to floor mats in Toyotas have been reported about 2,000 times. In addition to problematic floor mats, current cases are examining the possibility of a programming glitch that leads to defective accelerators and control of acceleration. Due to Toyota’s poor handling of early reports of problems, many in the press expect the car company to receive official criticism.

The possibility has surfaced that evidence to support customer claims of accelerator malfunction has been destroyed by Toyota staff. Despite this, 300 or more cases have been reopened in light of new evidence related to unexplained acceleration.

Toyota is currently recalling 3.8 million cars to be checked for floor mat defects. Because there is less certainty of the influence of throttle design and programming in recent complaints and accidents, it is unclear if they will be examined or repaired in this recall.

Since 2007, runaway Toyotas has been the subject of no less than six investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Recent Developments and What to Expect

Toyota’s ex-lawyer is now suing the company on behalf of plaintiff’s he believes were wronged by Toyota’s cars and the company’s subsequent conduct. In addition, a United States district Judge recently ordered Toyota to “preserve every document pertaining to the ‘crashworthiness’ of its automobiles” This action is in response to the former Toyota attorney’s lawsuit and allegations of destruction of evidence. With several cases concluded in which the victims won a settlement, and with more publicity and evidence against Toyota, it seems that the tide is turning against the company. Many expect to see more lawsuits filed in the coming year, particularly after cases are closed that establish legal precedents for future actions.