Consumer Law

Government Says that Toyotas Don't Have Sudden-Acceleration Problems; Consumer Advocates and Plaintiffs' Lawyers Disagree

By Brian Wolfman

Yesterday's Washington Post reported that the widely discussed Toyota sudden-acceleration problem does not exist. As the Post put it:

Government investigators have rejected claims that electronic defects caused Toyota cars and trucks to accelerate out of control, a finding released Tuesday that offers a measure of long-awaited vindication for the world's largest automaker and shifts blame to the drivers who reported the incidents.

But according to a plaintiff's lawyer involved in the issue:

"Our experts tell us that the report is just wrong, and they are confident that they are going to be able to show that the electronic throttle control contributed to unintended acceleration," said Steve Berman, co-lead plaintiffs' counsel in a class-action suit filed on behalf of millions of Toyota owners who say the controversy caused their cars' value to drop.

And Clarence Ditlow, the head of the Center for Auto Safety, questions the government's methodology:

 "Their report points out that only one in 100,000 cars have had unintended acceleration, but then they tested only nine vehicles," he said. As a result, he said, the odds of the scientists finding a vehicle with the problem were very slim. 

The government's study and related information can be found here.

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on February 10, 2011 (boomark / email).