Toyota Auto Accident Cases Involving Unintended Acceleration

Certain makes of Toyota and Lexus vehicles have been linked to Unintended Acceleration problems. Unintended Acceleration has lead to the Toyota Recall of over 5 million cars, SUVs and pick-up trucks in the United States. There have been numerous deaths linked to sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles, and many other deaths are being investigated. The unintended acceleration has been attributed to defective floor mats and faulty gas pedals. There is speculation that the cause may actually lie in the Toyota vehicles electronic systems.

The complaints against Toyota date back to the 2002 model year. Toyota acknowledged the acceleration problems in September of 2009. At that time, Toyota announced that customers should remove floor mats from certain Toyota makes because the mats could potentially trap the gas pedal. At that point Toyota recalled 2.8 million cars - the 2007 - 2010 Camry, 2004 - 2009 Prius, the 2005 - 2010 Avalon, 2007 - 2010 Tundra, 2005 - 2010 Tacoma, 2007 - 2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006 -2010IS250/IS350. Toyota later issued another floor mat related recall in November 2009. On February 8, 2009, Toyota and Lexus recalled about 437,000 hybrid models, including the popular Prius model, for accelerator pedal problems.

While the numbers of problems vary tremendously between sources, about 1,200 complaints have been filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Toyota and Lexus brands (model year 2005 - 2010). The complaints continued, even after some of vehicles replaced or removed the floor mats. Nearly 60 complaints came from Toyota/Lexus owners who already had the recall work performed on their cars.

In one devastating case four people were killed when a Lexus accelerated to a speed of over 120 mph. Still another woman was killed when her Toyota slammed into a tree at a speed of over 80 mph. Other cases claim that the brakes in Toyota models will not engage, forcing desperate drivers to intentionally run into walls or ditches to avoid collision with other cars.

Toyota is making efforts to address these problems, but in the meantime, Toyota owners have growing concern and fear about the risks of driving their automobiles, even if they have visited their Toyota dealerships to have the gas pedal or floor mat problem addressed. The reports of unintended acceleration are increasing by the day, and concerns mount that Toyota may not have identified the true cause of the problems. People who have been injured or killed driving these Toyota and Lexus models have needlessly been put in harm's way because Toyota did not respond to claims of unintended acceleration when they first arose. These victims and their families deserve probing and thorough legal assistance. Brett H. Oppenheimer, a Kentucky attorney, can help you understand your rights if you or a loved one has been injured or killed in an auto accident involving a Toyota/Lexus.

Please contact Louisville Toyota unintended acceleration lawyer Brett H. Oppenheimer, PLLC for a free consultation at (502) 242-8877.