Toyota will begin an intensive settlement process to resolve the unintended acceleration lawsuits, a California judge said. U.S. District Judge James V. Selna issued an order halting the suits after Toyota and the plaintiffs’ lawyers asked for time to try settling the cases. The judge was originally scheduled to hear the first trial in March of about 200 federal claims.
“Participation in the intensive settlement process is open to all plaintiffs. Cases that do not resolve during the initial settlement conference shall be set for a formal mediation,” Selna said in the order.
Toyota’s decision to settle the cases comes less than two months after the company lost its first case related to an unintended acceleration accident resulting in two deaths, with an Oklahoma jury ordering it to pay $3 million to the families of the victims.
Settlement conferences will begin in February, but Selna set a hearing for January 14 for any comment on the settlement process. Toyota recalled more than 10 million vehicles for problems related to unintended acceleration in 2009 and 2010, with recalls leading to lawsuits claiming that defects affected the value of Toyota vehicles or caused accidents leading to death and injury.
Before the lost Oklahoma City trial, the company had won the first three sudden-acceleration claims that reached jury verdicts. In many of the death and injury lawsuits, including the one in Oklahoma City, plaintiffs claim that episodes of sudden acceleration are explained not only by loose floor mats and sticky pedals, but also by the faulty electronic throttle control system.
Plaintiffs argue that reports on unintended acceleration increased after Toyota began fitting its cars with the ETCS-i system that controls the engine’s throttle electronically instead of mechanically.
By Dan Mihalascu
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