Toyota Agrees to Pay $10 Million in Wrongful Death Case

One of the cases that helped spark the nationwide recall of Toyota cars will finally be settled in court this week. The car company has agreed to pay $10 million to the family of a California state trooper and three relatives that were killed in a car accident.

This lawsuit is just one of many wrongful death actions and product liability suits brought against Toyota Motor Corp and its subsidiaries when its vehicles were discovered to have sudden, unintended acceleration in some of its products.

Although it was just one of several crashes, the fiery Aug. 28, 2009 incident brought intense media attention as it involved California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor in his Lexus ES 350 sedan. As a result of the accident the government began to investigate similar cases and eventually led to the recall of over 6.5 million vehicles.

At the time of the hearing the amount of the Saylor settlement had been kept confidential; however, a judge has ruled since then to make it public.

Thinking about filing a wrongful death claim due to a defective product?  Contact us to discuss your options with a San Diego personal injury attorney.