Toyota Motor Corp. wasn’t at fault in a fatal accident in which a 66-year-old woman crashed her 2006 Camry into a tree after it sped out of control in the wrong direction on a one-way road, a California jury said Thursday.
A Los Angeles jury found that there wasn’t a defect in the Camry that contributed to the 2009 crash, rejecting the allegation that the absence of a brake-override system in the vehicle was to blame for the car speeding into oncoming traffic and crashing while driver Noriko Uno was trying to brake.
The jury instead pinned full liability on the driver of another vehicle that had crashed into Uno’s car before the Camry sped out of control and awarded $10 million in damages to Uno’s husband and son.
The Uno trial was a so-called bellwether case for about 85 personal-injury and wrongful-death lawsuits in California state court that were brought against the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker in the wake of a series of recalls in 2009 and 2010 for possible sudden, unintended acceleration-related issues, including floor mats that could get stuck under the gas pedal and sticky pedals.
Toyota lawyers argued the lack of a brake-override system in the Camry wasn’t to blame for the accident because Uno didn’t try to brake. Uno’s medical condition, including diabetes, caused her to experience cognitive impairment after her car was struck by the other vehicle running a stop sign, Toyota said.
