Toyota seeks to dismiss acceleration lawsuits

SANTA ANA: A federal judge in California will consider a motion by Toyota Motor Corporation to dismiss lawsuits that claim that there are sudden acceleration defects in its cars.

United States District Judge, Mr. James Selna, would hear arguments on Friday about whether he should throw out some of the hundreds of lawsuits filed since the automaker starting recalling millions of vehicles because of acceleration problems in several models and brake defects with the Prius hybrid.

Toyota argues that the plaintiffs have been unable to prove that a design defect, namely its electronic throttle control system, is responsible for vehicles surging unexpectedly.

An attorney for Toyota, Mr. Vincent Galvin, said, ”Plaintiffs infer negligence and strict liability on the part of Toyota based on unsubstantiated circumstantial information.”

According to him, ”Unless and until plaintiffs can provide factual allegations of a specific defect in the (electronic throttle control system) that caused the subject vehicle to experience a sudden unintended acceleration event, plaintiffs‘ product liability and negligence claims should be dismissed.”
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