We have all heard of Toyota’s sudden unintended vehicle acceleration in the news for a long time, now. Koua Fong Lee spent 2.5 years in prision with the charge and conviction of vehicular homicide from his 1996 Toyota Camry. It crashed into a stopped family car killing Javis Trice-Adams Sr., and his 9-year-old son, Javis Adams Jr.; also his 6-year-old niece, Devyn Bolton, was paralyzed and died in October 2007.
Lee and his family along with those injured in the crash and their relatives of those killed; sued the company. According to Mr. Lee, his vehicle accelerated on its own.
“No amount of money… will bring my life back, my life is not the same anymore,” Lee said after the verdict, adding that he wanted the victims and their families to know: “I tried everything I could to stop my car.”
According to Lee’s attorney, there was a defect in the vehicle’s design. Toyota Camry’s auto-drive assembly could stick and when we try to push it again, it could stick again at a higher vehicle acceleration.
![“At the time, I did everything to stop my car, but my car did not stop and cost many lives and many people were injured,” Lee said. “Also my life and my family is not the same anymore. So they [Toyota] are responsible for that.](https://www.vehiclesafetyfirm.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Toyota_sudden_unintended_vehicle_acceleration.png)
Lee and his four family members will get 1.69 million. Bridgette and Carolyn Trice, Bolton’s mother and grandmother, along with family members who were passengers in the Ciera, will receive $9.25 million. Terrell Adams, a cousin of the deceased driver, called the settlement “huge,” adding, “but it doesn’t bring back our families.”
“Toyota … may have been just 60 percent responsible, but it was a clear finding there was a defect,” said Eric Janus, president and dean of William Mitchell College of Law. “Eleven million dollars strikes me as a very, very significant verdict.”
The Tracy Firm has been involved with many cases that involved Toyota’s sudden unintended vehicle acceleration.
Vehicle safety Attorney Todd Tracy said, “I will continue pursuing Toyota and all other vehicle manufacturers on all aspects of vehicle crashworthiness which is the science of preventing and minimizing serious injuries and deaths following an accident through the use of vehicle safety systems“.
He further acknowledged, “I have devoted my career to pushing for safety standards that now equip vehicles with better airbags, stronger roofs and seats, better fitting seatbelts, and structural protection for passenger compartments, so that, more people survive the impact of crashes.”
If you or your loved ones are seriously injured/killed due to sudden unintended vehicle acceleration or design defect, please contact our law office at 214-324-9000.
Sources: Fox News | The Tracy Firm | Original Publication: Feb 4th 2015
