Some sources have leaked that ToyotaMotor Corp. (TM) will pay $10 million to the family of four people killed in a car crash in August last year that triggered the largest-ever global recall of vehicles by the company. The lawyer of the victims’ family and the dealership that lent the Lexus to the family, have both confirmed the settlement amount.
The high-speed crash involved a 2009 Lexus ES350 that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and three members of his family near San Diego. Investigators with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had found out a rubber all-weather floor mat in the wreckage that was slightly longer than the regular mat and could have covered the accelerator pedal.
Later, the U.S. Government had revealed at least five deaths and two injuries related to floor mat-related acceleration in the Toyota vehicles. In fact, the U.S. Government had observed more than 100 incidents in which the accelerator had possibly got stuck.
Toyota reacted by recalling 3.8 million vehicles in order to address problems with sudden acceleration in some of its U.S. models by replacing the gas pedals. The recall involved popular vehicles such as the Toyota Camry (2007–10 model year) – the top-selling passenger car in the U.S., and the Toyota Prius (2004–09) – the best-selling gas-electric hybrid, apart from Toyota Avalon (2005–10), Toyota Tacoma (2005–10), Toyota Tundra (2007–10) and Lexus (2007–10 ES350 and 2006–10 IS250/350).
Since September last year, Toyota has recalled about 11 million vehicles globally in greater than 15 recalls, more than any other automaker. The recalls were related to problems such as faulty accelerator gas pedals, slipping floor mats and defective braking systems.
The automaker faces numerous personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits in federal courts due to their defective vehicles. The value of claims under the lawsuits has been estimated to reach about $4 billion, reflecting an average loss of $600 per vehicle.
Recently, The Transportation Department of U.S. informed that Toyota will pay $32.4 million in fines related to two separate investigations leading to late recall of millions of defective vehicles on top of the highest-ever fine of $16.4 million paid earlier this year related to the same issue.
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