Randy Barnhart

Toyota Sudden Acceleration Trials Not So Sudden

This came over the wires:

The first of scores of lawsuits filed against Toyota Motor Corp. in U.S. federal courts over complaints of unintended acceleration are unlikely to go to trial for at least two years, the judge overseeing the cases said on Friday.

U.S. District Judge James Selna told lawyers at a status conference that he expected so-called bellwether cases -- those he will choose to serve as guides for how the rest of the litigation might proceed -- to be ready for trial during the first quarter of 2013.

Source here. The issues are not limited to jammed floor mats or sticky gas pedals, but implicate the electronic throttle systems in Toyota vehicles. If there is a ghost in the machine, trial lawyers need to become ghost-busters for the jury. 

Insurance Companies File Subrogation Claims Against Toyota

Several more insurance companies have joined Allstate in filing subrogation claims against Toyota for the monies the insurance companies have had to pay out to policy-holders on claims for personal injury and or property damage due to instances of sudden unintended acceleration.

Basically, subrogation is a legal tool by which insurance companies most typically, can recoup monies from the actual party at fault, here allegedly Toyota. The more the law finds and places legal liability on the party who is actually at fault--for the damages caused by product defects, for example, the more the legal system contributes to correcting or at least discouraging negligent conduct. See more about subrogation here, but always consult with an experienced and licensed attorney is and when you have issues involving your insurance policy.

According to the Insurance Journal:

The seven latest companies to bring such subrogation actions against Toyota are: American Automobile Insurance Co., Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., National Surety Corp., Ameriprise Insurance Co., IDS Property Casualty Insurance Co., Motorists Mutual Insurance Co. and American Hardware Mutual Insurance Co.

Their suits, brought in three separate filings, come nearly two weeks after it was disclosed that Toyota agreed to pay $10 million to settle legal claims from the family of a California state trooper and three relatives whose fatal car wreck in 2009 helped trigger the automaker's recalls.

Read the entire article here. Toyota continues to deny that there is any defect in any of their vehicles. Why then pay $10 million to the family of the state trooper? Avoid discovery? Preclude public scrutiny? Duck the method by which society uncovers the truth?