The Recall Lawyers

Police are investigating the peculiar circumstances surrounding a one car crash on Interstate 65 in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, just south of Louisville. As reported by local media, a woman named Claire R. Kahane, 75, was driving her 2006 Toyota Avalon south on I-65 with her husband in the passenger seat. The car inexplicably left the roadway, crashing head on into a tree. The driver's body was found inside the vehicle while her husband, Charles S. Kahane, was found over 900 feet away.

According to police, there is no indication that the driver made any attempt to stop the vehicle before colliding with the tree. Given Toyota's long and public problems with sudden acceleration in many of its vehicles, I would be surprised if the police do not investigate this crash to determine if, in fact, this 2006 Avalon accelerated suddenly against the driver's will similar to the hundreds of other reported incidents of Toyota sudden acceleration that have been talked about in the media and reported to authorities since the Toyota recall in 2010.

The attorneys at Jones Ward PLC represent more than ten injured plaintiffs from across the country in Toyota sudden acceleration cases, including wrongful death cases. If you or a loved one have been injured by a defective product, contact Attorney David Bryant for a free case evaluation.

Ford Motor Co. is the latest automaker to experience legal trouble due to sudden acceleration problems with its vehicles.

A lawsuit was filed last week against Ford on behalf of drivers who are seeking damages for sudden acceleration injuries. The suit comes on the heels of a decision by Toyota Motor Corp. to pay more than $1 billion to settle similar claims. The Toyota settlement was intended to resolve hundreds of lawsuits brought by Toyota owners who claim the value of their vehicles is substantially diminished by a series of Toyota recalls stemming from sudden acceleration claims.

The case against Ford alleges the automaker knew about hundreds of reports of electronic defects tied to sudden acceleration, and that the company nonetheless failed to install brake override systems in some North American vehicles until 2010, even though it knew about problems more than a decade ago.

The attorneys at Jones Ward PLC represent vehicle owners who have been seriously injured by a variety of automotive defects and recalls. If you or a loved one have been injured due to an automotive defect, call Attorney Alex Davis or send an email to alex@jonesward.com.

Toyota Motor Corp. has recently agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging sudden acceleration of several of its vehicles for roughly $1.1 billion. In recent years, Toyota has received a large number of reports that its vehicles accelerated when drivers did not intend to accelerate, leading to accidents and even death.

This settlement occurs in the wake of several recalls in the past few years, damaging the motor vehicle manufacturer's reputation. Toyota endured several congressional hearings regarding the recalls.

The settlement is intended to resolve hundreds of lawsuits brought by Toyota owners who claim the value of their vehicles is substantially diminished by a series of Toyota recalls stemming from sudden acceleration claims.

The settlement is a landmark settlement in automobile defect class action litigation in this country. In order to be finalized, the California Federal Judge overseeing the class action must approve the settlement.

Although the settlement is not meant to compensate Toyota owners who experienced sudden acceleration and suffer damages, the company has stated that it plans to retrofit its vehicles with brake-override systems to give the vehicles an additional safety feature to prevent sudden acceleration.

The motor vehicle recall lawyers are dedicated to bringing you up-to-date information regarding vehicle recalls. For more information, contact attorney A. Layne Stackhouse at layne@jonesward.com.

The biggest safety crisis in the history of Toyota Motor Corp appears to be one step closer to resolution after the Japanese automaker agreed to pay $1.1 billion to settle a large number of claims in a class-action lawsuit. The lawyers at Jones Ward PLC and other firms around the country filed lawsuits over the last several years claiming that millions of its vehicles accelerate accidentally.

The proposed settlement will pay people for financial losses related to safety defects in Toyota cars and trucks, covering most of the litigation involving unintended acceleration. However, the deal does not cover claims for wrongful death or injuries. Dozens of drivers of Toyota vehicles were injured or killed when their cars suddenly took off while they were driving on roads or highways. In many of these terrifying cases, the drivers were unable to slow down before they crashed into walls or other vehicles.

About 16 million Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles sold in the United States spanning the model years 1998 to 2010 are covered by the cases.

Toyota, the No. 3 automaker in the U.S., admitted no fault in proposing the settlement, one of the largest of U.S. mass class-action litigation in the automotive sector. The attorneys at Jones Ward PLC represent people injured by automotive defects and a range of other consumer product recalls and safety problems. If you or a loved one have been injured by a defective product, contact Attorney Alex Davis for a free case evaluation.

Toyota has acknowledged this week that faulty specifications are at the root of the most recent recall of Prius hybrids. The recall is due to problems in the vehicle's steering. Toyota has not specified what types of problems can occur, saying however that there have not been any accidents or injuries reported due to the problem.

The recall covers almost 2.8 million cars sold all over the world. It comes on the heels of another recall of the same model regarding problems with the water pump--a defect that could cause the Prius to stall.

Of course, the most widely known Toyota recall happened in 2009 when Toyota recalled 10.2 million American cars for what it called "sticky gas pedals" and "floor mats that could jam accelerators." There were many reports of crashes and injuries following what have now been termed "sudden unintended acceleration" cases or "SUA". Many of those cases are currently being litigated in the Central District Federal Court in California.

The law firm of Jones Ward PLC represents dozens of people who have been injured by defective a Toyota, If you have questions regarding potential claims that you may have due to a manufacturing defect--be it a car, a toaster, or a drug--please click to email Corey Ann Finn.

Federal safety regulators are investigating claims of throttles sticking in 2005 and 2006 models of Ford Tauruses. There have been 14 complaints so far about the problem. The National Traffic Safety Administration has said that no accidents or injuries have been reported but that recently a driver ran a red light and was unable to stop the vehicle before crossing the intersection.

The agency says the problem may be caused when cruise control cables become detached. There has not yet been a recall of the vehicle and Ford is said to be cooperating.

Continue reading "Feds Investigating Sticky Throttles in Ford Tauruses" »

Another tragic wreck involving sudden, unexplained acceleration of a Toyota has claimed the lives of 72-year-old Eugene Fajarda Macala and 66-year-old Ma Perlita Supnet Macala of Las Vegas. The 2002 Camry they were driving "sped through a red light and struck a wall while exiting an off-ramp at the 215 Beltway and Cheyenne Avenue" early yesterday morning.

According to witnesses, the car "darted" mysteriously and crashed in a way that "didn't make sense." Toyota has recalled millions of cars worldwide over allegations of sudden, unexplained acceleration events.

This is not the only Toyota that has been involved in deadly wrecks in Las Vegas. The attorneys at Jones Ward PLC represent the family and driver in another Las Vegas case involving the sudden acceleration of a 2002 RAV4. The case is on file in Nevada federal court and is awaiting a trial date.

Continue reading "Toyota Wreck Kills Pearl And Gino Macala " »

As the sudden acceleration recall litigation continues in California and across the country, Toyota has recalled another 550,000 cars for problems that will make the car harder to steer. Over the past two years, Toyota has now recalled more than 14 million cars for defects that have included deadly wrecks from sudden acceleration.

This recall involves the outer ring of the engine's crankshaft pulley, which can become misaligned with the inner ring and cause noise or a warning light to turn on. If the defect is not fixed, the belt for the power steering pump can detach away from the pulley, which renders the steering wheel difficult to turn.

While Toyota says no one has been injured by this defect, a car with a steering wheel that locks up can be very difficult to drive and can easily lead to a wreck.

The models effected are: 2004 and 2005 Camry, Highlander, Sienna and Solara, the 2004 Avalon and the 2006 Highlander HV. Because Toyota owns Lexus, it is also recalling the 2004 and 2005 ES330 and RX330 and 2006 RX400h.

Continue reading "Toyota Recalls 550,000 More Cars" »

After Toyota delayed its recall and got fined for it, car companies seem to be more responsive to potential defects and are being more proactive about recalls. For instance, today Honda announced it was recalling more than 962,000 vehicles because of problems with the power windows and computer systems. The cars recalled include the Fit subcompact, CR-V crossover and Fit Aria in North America, Asia, Europe and Africa. The Fit is also called Jazz in some places, and the Aria in others.

The recall is because defects in the driver's-side power window switch units could melt and catch fire. The recall will also include 26,000 CR-Z compact hybrids because of computer problems with the engine control unit.

Continue reading "Honda Recalls More than 900,000 Cars" »

Toyota is recalling more than 82,000 of its popular hybrid automobiles due to concerns about the mechanism that switches power between the electric motor and batteries and the gasoline engine. This further increases the total number of recalled Toyotas to more than 2 million since 2010.

Hundreds of Toyota injury cases have been consolidated into one Court, the Central District of California, which recently set the first test trial over "sudden acceleration" for February 2013. While that seems like a long time away, as normal litigation can take years, the Court and parties are pursuing an aggressive discovery and trial schedule on an extremely complex piece of litigation spanning multiple countries and plaintiffs in almost every state in the U.S.

According to a report from USA Today, the potentially faulty Toyota hybrid components are at risk of overheating. Affected models include the 2006 and 2007 versions of the Highlander Hybrid and the Lexus RX 400h.

Continue reading "Toyota Recalls More Cars, Hybrids Over Safety Concerns" »

Embattled automaker Toyota again recalled some of their cars last week. This recall covers 308,000 RAV4s and Highlanders because side curtain airbags can deploy under certain conditions.

More than 214,000 RAV4s and 94,000 Highlanders are being recalled. The recall will replace the assembly for the airbag sensor. The years covered are 2007 and 2008 RAV4s and some 2008 Highlander and Highlander HVs, which have a roll-sensing curtain airbag system that has two sensors designed to detect the vehicle's roll angle.

According to Toyota, one of the sensors can fail, the airbag warning light can come on and the roll-detection system will turn off, but the airbag will still function during a side collision. However, if both sensors fail simultaneously after the first airbag system check, the seat belt pretensioner and the curtain shield airbag could be deployed.

Continue reading "Toyota Again Recalls RAV4s, Highlanders " »

More than a year after first admitting that its cars could be unsafe due to unintended acceleration, Toyota expanded the list of recalled models to include cars that go back as far as 2003. The recall, affecting floor mats, now includes 2.1 million more Lexus and Toyota vehicles. The mats can get stuck against gas pedals, which causes pedal entrapment and can cause the vehicle to speed up and the driver to lose control.

The recall comes after a year long federal investigation and comes at the request of federal regulators.

Toyota said the new models they are admitting are affected by the defect are:

Lexus GS: 2006 and early 2007
Lexus RX: 2004 through 2006 and early 2007
Toyota Highlander: 2004 through 2006
Toyota 4Runner: 2003 to 2009
Lexus LX: 2009 to 2011
Toyota RAV4: 2006 through 2010

Continue reading "Toyota Recalls Millions More Vehicles" »