Personal Injury Law

Dangerous Toyota Vehicles

Dangerous Toyota vehicles that may cause serious injury or death are on the roads of Georgia. Yesterday, Toyota announced it will order all dealers to inspect their cars for mismatched floor mats after a mat was suspected of causing a fatal accident in California. The mat caught the gas pedal on a Lexus causing it to runaway leading to a fiery crash that killed four family members in San Diego County.

California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, 45, and three others were killed Aug. 28 on State Route 125 in a town near San Diego. The Lexus was doing more than 120 mph when it hit a sport-utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames.

In addition to Saylor, who was a 19-year CHP veteran, the crash killed his wife, Cleofe, 45; their daughter, Mahala, 13; and Saylor's brother-in-law, Chris Lastrella, 38.

Lastrella called police about a minute before the crash to say the vehicle had no brakes and the accelerator was stuck.The 911 call ends with someone telling people in the car to hold on and pray, followed by a woman's scream.

The family was in a 2009 Lexus ES 350 that was loaned by a dealer while their own vehicle was being serviced.

Investigators with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have determined that a rubber all-weather floor mat found in the wreckage was slightly longer than the mat that belonged in the vehicle. They theorize that the long mat could have snared or covered the accelerator pedal.

In 2007, Toyota recalled all-weather mats from some of its Lexus ES 350s and Toyota Camrys after complaints that they could slip and trap the accelerator.

Full post as published by Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog on September 17, 2009 (boomark / email).