The Toyota Congressional hearings have drawn a lot of interest not only, due to the recent high-profile Toyota sudden acceleration related vehicle defect recalls, but also because it is a chance for Americans to take a look at what the federal regulatory bodies are doing to make sure that auto makers produce safer cars. David Strickland of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) answered questions about their response to an auto product defect issue.

He was asked why NHTSA did not take more action against Toyota sooner. This is in light of numerous reports that have come out based on internal memos and communications, which show that the auto maker knew about the auto product defect including sticky gas pedals and floor mats way before anyone else. In fact they took steps to cover it all up and when they did succeed in covering it up, boasted in internal memos about saving $100 million. At the time Toyota officials also said that they were able to “negotiate” a deal with federal officials so they would leave Toyota alone.
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The California auto defect lawyers of BISNAR | CHASE (www.BestAttorney.com) have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against General Motors Corporation, TK Holdings, Inc., and Falls Ford-Lincoln-Mercury of Corbin, Kentucky. The suit arises from an accident involving a 2002 GMC Envoy manufactured by GMC and sold by Falls Ford-Lincoln-Mercury that resulted in the death of Joanna Campbell.

On July 21, 2007 Joanna Campbell was driving a 2002 GMC Envoy south on Highway 459 in Barbourville, Kentucky, when the alleged defects of the Envoy caused the vehicle to veer to the right, completely out of her control. The Envoy traveled across a creek, struck an embankment and flipped end-over-end until it landed on its roof. In this rollover crash Joanna was partially ejected from the Envoy and sustained catastrophic injuries so severe she died shortly after at Knox County Hospital.
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Debra Ann Davis, 46, was killed in a San Bernardino car accident after being ejected from a 1995 Jeep, which rolled over after its left rear tire blew out. The San Bernardino Sun reports that Davis was traveling on the 15 Freeway near Kenwood Drive, the morning of March 21, 2010, when the crash occurred. Davis died at the scene. Her passengers were transported to local hospitals with unknown injuries. California Highway Patrol officials are investigating the cause of this fatal car crash.

I offer my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Debra Ann Davis for their tragic and heartbreaking loss. Please keep them in your prayers.
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The California auto products liability lawyers at BISNAR | CHASE have filed a lawsuit against General Motors for an alleged Chevrolet Tahoe seatback failure and resulting brain injury. The lawsuit alleges that the seat back of the Tahoe was unsafe and defective, causing serious injuries to its occupant.

According to the complaint, On October 2007, Brittney Sue Marie and her mother, Wendy Leigh Yates, were traveling on State Route 99 in Modesto, California. Marie took the Beckwith Road exit. While still on the off-ramp her Chevy Tahoe was rear-ended by a 2002 Ford Explorer. The impact caused the Tahoe to collide into a 2001 BMW X-5. Sometime during the collision her mother’s seatback collapsed. Yate’s body was submarined out from under her seat belt, striking her head in the rear compartment of the car. Yates suffered from multiple skull fractures and permanent brain injury.
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A product liability wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Chrysler Corporation and Diamond Dodge Chrysler of Flagstaff, Arizona by the California auto defect law firm, BISNAR | CHASE. The suit stems from a rollover crash that resulted in the death of Helene Lavonne Blair of Lane, Oklahoma while driving a 2005 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty 4×4 SLT pickup truck. The lawsuit claims that the vehicle was wrought with defects.

According to records, Ms. Blair was driving the Dodge Ram on August 15, 2007, westbound on Interstate 40 near the city of Navajo in Arizona. She continued along the highway at a legal speed, when suddenly she lost control and the truck veered toward the median. The truck swerved across the other traffic lanes, skidded counter clockwise and rolled over several times. As the truck rolled, the roof crushed inward and caused Ms. Blair, though she was properly restrained, to be ejected partially from the vehicle and to sustain fatal injuries, including massive head trauma.
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Moises Avila Gonzalez, 25, was killed in a San Bernardino car accident after the driver of an SUV in which he was a passenger, lost control and crashed in the northbound lanes of the 15 Freeway. According to a news report in the San Bernardino Sun, the fatal car accident occurred early morning on March 20, 2010, when the Chevrolet Trailblazer went out of control and rolled over onto the center divider of the freeway near Alvord Mountain Road, in Newberry Springs. Gonzalez, an El Monte resident, died at the scene, California Highway Patrol officials said. An investigation is ongoing.

I offer my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Moises Avila Gonzalez for their tragic and heartbreaking loss. They will certainly be in my thoughts and prayers.
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Four people were injured, one seriously, in a San Bernardino car accident after the driver of an SUV lost control and crashed on a freeway overpass. According to a news report in The Press Enterprise, the crash occurred the afternoon of March 16, 2010 when the Dodge SUV, which was traveling south on Highway 330, veered off the overpass and dropped down to the 210 Freeway below landing on a Honda. The woman who was driving the SUV sustained the most serious injuries. Her two children, toddlers, suffered minor injuries. The Honda driver also, fortunately, did not suffer life-threatening injuries. All injured victims were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

It is miraculous that no one other than the Dodge driver sustained serious injuries in this crash. I wish the seriously injured victim the very best for a quick and complete recovery. She and her family will be in my prayers.
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Chrysler Corporation is issuing a vehicle defect recall for 2010 model year Jeep Commanders and Jeep Grand Cherokees because of improperly manufactured rear track bars. Apparently these defective rear track bars can reduce vehicle stability and cause a car crash. Toyota has also issued yet another recall, this time for its 2010 Tundra four-wheel drive vehicles. Toyota officials say an improper weld at the union of the propeller shaft and yoke could cause the joint to separate. This could cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle. Both of these auto product defect recalls were reported on Consumeraffairs.com.
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BISNAR | CHASE, have recently filed a products liability wrongful death lawsuit against Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Sales USA. The lawsuit follows a rollover crash in which driver, Jeffrey Bachman, died due to alleged defects in the 1998 Toyota 4Runner he was driving.

According to court records, in April of 2008 Jeffrey was driving a 4Runner SUV in North Carolina when the vehicle suddenly swerved and rolled over numerous times. The roof of the SUV crushed inward, causing Jeffrey to be partially ejected from the 4Runner and sustain severe and devastating head injuries including skull fractures and fractured vertebrae.

“Tragically, Toyota’s 4Runner SUV offered Jeffrey zero protection against mortal injuries during this rollover crash,” said Brian Chase of the BISNAR | CHASE auto products liability firm. “As far as handling, it’s unlikely that even a professional driver would have been able to regain control of this SUV. We believe Toyota acted in callous and negligent disregard for human safety by allowing its 4Runner to be sold to the public in the first place, knowing it was wrought with defects.”
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Federal regulators in 2007 asked Toyota Motor Corp. to consider installing software to prevent sudden acceleration in its vehicles, according to company documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times. Clearly, the auto maker did not take that advice. Instead, Toyota began installing a safety feature called brake override this January only after a highly publicized car accident involving a runaway Lexus that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and three members of his family.

Over the last five months or so, Toyota has issued vehicle defect recalls for more than 10 million vehicles worldwide for faulty gas pedals, defective floor mats and brake problems. A majority of the vehicles were recalled because consumers complained that the vehicles accelerated out of control and caused serious car crashes. So far, sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles is believed to have caused 56 fatalities since 2000.

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