The Story: Having been forced to pay over $1.6 billion due to dangerous acceleration issues in many of their cars, Toyota may now be subject to numerous injury claims as a result of their defective automobiles.
Toyota’s troubles began in 2009 when it recalled an historic ten million vehicles due to complaints of unintended acceleration, a serious and dangerous defect that can result in substantial injury and death. The recent one-and-a-half billion dollar payout was made in order to compensate consumers who claim their cars seriously dropped in value due to the defective acceleration. The settlement did not address the numerous injury claims that have been filed against the company due to the acceleration problems. However, the settlement may pave the way for such claims being resolved; there are at least nine reports of deaths resulting from the automobiles’ problems in California and Texas. A jury selection for a wrongful death case against Toyota is currently underway.
Defective automobiles present an incredibly dangerous and potentially-fatal set of circumstances: you don’t know that your car will malfunction, or how, and when it does you are likely on the road around other motorists and are completely unprepared for the problems that result. If you’ve been injured by an automobile that should have been working properly, you should consider speaking to a personal injury lawyer. Our Virginia- and Carolina-based injury law firm has years of experience in handling cases related to defective cars and other consumer products; we know how many types of products can suddenly malfunction, causing consumers serious injuries, and we know how to fight for you to reclaim the legal compensation to which is owed you by the negligent companies.