Settlement Reached for Utah Accident Victims

Toyota Motor Corp. has reached settlement with a Utah family after an accident involving unintended acceleration killed two in 2010. The wrongful death case, whose settlement terms were not released, had been set to go to trial next month and was to be used as a test case for hundreds of similar lawsuits that are still pending against the Japanese automaker stemming from unintended acceleration.

The accident prompting the lawsuit took place on November 5, 2010 near the city of Wendover, Utah, where Paul Van Alfen was driving his Toyota Camry down Interstate 80 when it suddenly accelerated out of control. Skid marks on the highway clearly showed that he tried to bring the vehicle to a stop while exiting the freeway, but he was ultimately unsuccessful. The vehicle flew through a stop sign and a busy intersection before crashing into a wall, killing Paul and his son’s fiancé, Charlene Jones Lloyd, and also injuring his wife and son. An investigation into the crash revealed that the gas pedal had become stuck, causing the unwanted acceleration.

Last month, Toyota agreed to a settlement worth more than $1.1 billion in a class action lawsuit from owners claiming lost value for their cars as a result of the fiasco surrounding unintended acceleration, though nothing covering injury or wrongful death was included. The Van Alfen case was to be used as a bellwether case that would be tried before the multitude of others to determine how such litigation would play out.

In a statement released after the settlement announcement, Toyota said that “we sympathize with anyone in an accident involving one of our vehicles. However, we continue to stand fully behind the safety and integrity of Toyota’s Electronic Throttle Control System, which multiple independent evaluations have confirmed as safe.” In addressing their other pending wrongful death suits, Toyota also said that they may decide to settle in some cases, though “we will have a number of other opportunities to defend our product at trail.”

Toyota’s throttle control system has long been the scapegoat in unintended acceleration accidents, though repeated independent testing, including tests from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has shown that the system was not to blame. Much less fundamental errors, poorly installed floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals, were found to be the cause in most accident cases, which Toyota has long since corrected.

The Van Alfen case is not the first case brought forth by a wrongful death lawyer that Toyota has settled however. In 2009, an undisclosed settlement was reached after an accident killed a retired California Highway Patrol officer and three others when their Lexus SUV suddenly accelerated to more than 120 miles per hour before driving off an embankment, rolling reportedly, and bursting into flames. In the investigation into the accident, pedal entrapment caused by incorrectly sized floor mats was first discovered, prompting a recall of more than 14 million vehicles to correct the issue. Another wrongful death case was settled in 2010 for $10 million involving similar circumstances.

It is unclear how many more accident cases facing Toyota will be settled in the coming years, though the auto maker is likely eager to bring an end to the saga surrounding unintended acceleration. And yet despite the continued negative press, Toyota is still selling new vehicles at an alarming rate, having taken back the title of largest car maker in the world from General Motors last year. Though their reputation for safety and quality may have taken a hit over the past three years, buyers are still flocking to Toyota’s dealership lots.