California law allows for an individual to bring a lawsuit against a company if injured by a product manufactured by that company. Toyota is currently facing almost 200 such lawsuits in a United States District Court in Orange County, and, as the first one goes to court, their defense strategy is beginning to take shape. A lawyer explores whether the car maker will manage to escape liability.
California Product Liability Cases
Under California law, manufacturers have an obligation to ensure the products they produce are safe. Several legal theories exist imposing liability on a manufacturer who fails in this obligation. Toyota has recently been subject to a series of lawsuits nationwide under product liability laws and, in fact, faces more than 200 suits stemming from fatal and injury accidents involving unintended acceleration in a United States District Court in Orange County, explains a lawyer. The plaintiffs in these suits allege that Toyota vehicles accelerated on their own when drivers were not intending this to happen.
One theory is strict liability, which imposes responsibility on a manufacturer when a product causes injury when used as intended, regardless of whether negligence was involved. Traditional negligence theories also apply, and a manufacturer that is careless in design or manufacturing can be held liable for that negligence. Finally, manufacturers may also be held liable for failure to adequately warn of the dangers associated with their products.
According to The Huffington Post, Toyota admitted back in January 2010 that mechanical problems with gas pedals in certain vehicles might, in fact, be causing this problem. Toyota had also issued two recalls in 2009 and 2010 and has settled at least one case thus far arising from the unintended acceleration.
The Toyota Defense
While Toyota accepted responsibility for unintended acceleration of their vehicles in the past, the car company told a different story in the first of the unintended acceleration lawsuits to go through the courts. The case was brought by the family of a Utah man named Paul Van Alfen who died after his vehicle crashed into a stonewall. His wife and son survived and indicated that Van Alfen attempted to brake before the accident but was unable to do so.
In response to the allegations, Toyota alleges Van Alfen was at fault for the accident, not the vehicle. Their defense is based on evidence collected from a black box in the car allegedly showing that the driver never tried to brake. This is a defense that The Huffington Post reported was also used by Audi during the 1980s when around 1,000 people complained that their Audi's surged out of control.
If Van Alfen indeed failed to brake, it would be his actions and not Toyota’s that were the direct cause of the accident. In order for Toyota to be held responsible under strict liability laws, the accident must have occurred as a direct result of a problem with the vehicle when used as intended. If Van Alfen failed to push the brake, the accident was not a direct result of the vehicle's normal use.
Likewise, for Toyota to be responsible under negligence theories, Toyota must have failed in some manner that directly led to the injuries. Toyota would not, however, need to have been fully responsible for the accident. Under comparative fault rules, if Toyota was partly at fault through negligence and Van Alfen was partly at fault through his own negligence, then Toyota would be responsible for paying damages equal to its portion of responsibility.
Will Toyota's Defense Work
Whether Toyota's defense will work is an open question, but it seems unlikely that the carmaker will be able to escape liability by blaming the victims who were injured or lost loved ones in accidents in its vehicles. The success of Toyota's defense will likely depend upon whether evidence of other incidents and evidence of recalls is admitted by the Orange County court and considered in deciding the lawsuits, explains a lawyer. Courts in different states have addressed similar issue many times and have come to varying conclusions.
