Practice Area: Product Liability

When you purchase a product whether it's a drug, a toy for your child, or a new car you do so with the understanding that the product is safe and free from defects. Everyone is entitled to this peace of mind, and manufacturers implicitly guarantee your safety when they offer their product for sale.

So if a product causes injury, death, or property damage, the manufacturer or seller may be liable to the injured party. Product liability litigation has forced hundreds of dangerous or defective products off the market, including diet drugs, polybutylene water pipe, lead paint, and asbestos building materials.

If you or someone you care about has been injured by a product you suspect is dangerous or defective , you must take action within a limited time period or you will lose your right to seek recovery. To learn more about your legal rights, please don't delay. Call Fleming & Associates for a free consultation.

Toyota Accelerator Recall Lawsuit

Toyota is one of the leading automobile manufacturers in the world. The Toyota brand has consistently marketed itself as a brand of dependability, safety and quality. Even during these tough economic times, Toyota has continually put out new models and designs and open new plants.

Recent news, however, indicates that several million Toyota drivers could be at serious risk for injury or even death. This is evidenced by the announcement of the company's largest recall in its history. On this page you can find information pertaining to the reason for the recall, which models were affected, what complications may arise for Toyota owners and your options for legal recourse if you or a loved one have been injured or killed as the result of driving one Toyota's defective vehicles.

What Sparked the Toyota Recall

The Toyota recall affects several makes and models, all of which are listed below. Despite being different makes and models, the defect that is found in each vehicle is the same, a defective floor mat that is on the driver’s side of the vehicle. This floor mat has been shown to cause the accelerator of the recalled vehicles to get stuck, resulting in the recalled models potentially accelerating to dangerous speeds or preventing the driver from making a safe stop

These floor mats in question are removable, and both Toyota and the federal government have asked owners of affected models to take these floor mats out immediately until a permanent solution can be devised.

While Toyota hasn't published an official statement that definitively names the specific cause of the recall, the NHTSA has stated that these Toyota floor mats seem to be longer than is reasonable, based on the space available within the driver’s side floor, which could be what is causing the accelerators to become stuck.

Models Affected by the Toyota Recall

While certainly the largest, this is not the first recall Toyota has had to issue for defective floor mats. In late 2007, Toyota also recalled an all-weather floor mat that was found in several 2007 and 2008 models of the Toyota Camry and Lexus ES 350.

This current recall affects 3.8 million vehicles, a number that far exceeds the second largest Toyota recall in 2005 that affected the steering ability of some 900,000. To date, the NHTSA has received 102 complaints regarding the defect that has sparked this latest recall, although no solid numbers have been released with regards to the number of accidents that the defective floor mats may have caused.

So far, there has been at least one reported crash that resulted in fatalities that were cause by this problem. Given the extreme danger this potential issue can create, Toyota has advised drivers to take out the floor mat if they notice irregular acceleration, and if uncontrollable acceleration should occur, the driver should stomp on the brakes with both feet and put the car into neutral. For the Toyota models that contain an engine start/stop button, holding the button down for at least three seconds will cut the power to the engine.

Toyota Recall Lawsuit Attorney

If you are an owner or driver of one of the recalled Toyota models, please don't take any chances and remove the floor mat that are at issue. If you or a loved one have suffered any sort of injury as a result of this Toyota defect, you should to contact one of our defective product lawyers as soon as possible to schedule a free initial consultation.