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Toyota Stands Up Against Lawsuit

Toyota is feeling the heat in more ways than one nowadays. Not only are they dealing with a part shortage and getting their plants back up and running after the earthquake and tsunami that attacked Japan. But they are also still dealing with lawsuits over the unexpected acceleration cases that have been in court. Everyone knows about the Camry and other major models being recalled. However, there has been a recent lawsuit filed in which a New York man is claiming his Toyota Scion was not included in the recall list, though it did have unexpected acceleration problems. 

The New York lawyer is maintaining that the accident was the fault of the negligence of Toyota, since they knew that this was a problem that they were having with their vehicles. Amir Sitafalwalla is the victim in this case who was injured in his driveway in New York, after his Scion unintentionally sped up. According to the lawsuit, he was putting the car in park when it just took off. However, Toyota is still maintaining their innocence in this case. They are saying that Sitafalwalla must have accidentally put his foot on the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal since his car was not one of those that were included in the recall. 

The automaker did announce last month that they were recalling an addition 2.17 million cars for problems with floor mats making gas pedals stick, causing unintended acceleration. Sitafalwalla is maintaining that there was a defect in the braking system that was supposed to override the acceleration problems that may occur. However, Toyota maintains that the brake override only occurs if the car is accelerating and the person is steadily holding in the brake while this is happening. Toyota has made an apology to all those that were hurt with these recalls, however, they do maintain that Sitafalwalla seems to be taking advantage of a bad situation.