California jury clears Toyota in wrongful death lawsuit

[jsr]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- A California jury on Thursday rejected claims that Toyota was responsible for the death of a woman in a 2009 crash that resulted from a sudden and uncontrollable acceleration of one of its cars.

The Los Angeles Superior Court jury returned the verdict after more than four days of deliberations. The case was one of a large number of lawsuits filed in state and federal courts against the automaker over claims of unintended acceleration in its vehicles.

"We are gratified that the jury concluded the design of the 2006 Camry did not contribute to this unfortunate accident, affirming the same conclusion we reached after more than three years of careful investigation -- that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle at issue in this case," Toyota said in a statement posted on its website.

Calling the case a "bellwether," Toyota said it believes the verdict also set a "significant benchmark" that its vehicles are safe with or without a brake override system.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/10/us/california-toyota-death-lawsuit/

[gopiscrap]

1. Fucking business assholes got away with it again

[pipoman]

4. It wasn't for lack of trying to prove it could/did happen..

all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't demonstrate or duplicate a credible mechanical/electronic malfunction..there was/are a butt load of big insurance companies who would gain if blame could be shifted to Toyota..big money on both sides of this..

[coldmountain]

6. Tin whiskers and Toyota arrogance

"To address concerns that Toyota's electronics were also causing sudden acceleration, NHTSA asked NASA, which has experience investigating electronics issues in spacecraft and airplanes, to take a look at what might be going on. NASA's report detailed several areas of concern, including a problem surrounding tiny tin whiskers. But NHTSA and Toyota declared that the report cleared the automaker's electronics system. "

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/02/toyota-sudden-acceleration_n_1316597.html


If there was no problem, why did Toyota reflash the computers?

Why did other car companies put fail safe devices on their cars?

[pipoman]

7. I believe it is a

phenomenon which occurs with drivers, not cars. Every make and model has reports..reports on Toyota were commensurate with their market share prior to the media circus around this..after that claims fell from the woodwork.

[NCagainstMcCrony]

13. believe

And you have that right.
Many people believe in the tooth fairy too. That does not mean one exists.
Simple fact is Toyota cut corners by removing some capacitors on their circuit boards and increasing the runs on the boards. This caused magnetic fields which resulted in tin whiskers that caused these malfunctions.
It never ceases to amuse me what 12 ignorant people on a jury can "believe".
Every aspect of our justice system is corrupt, inept, and worthless.

[LanternWaste]

14. Tooth faeries and ignorant jurors only exist when they invalidate our own biases

Tooth faeries and ignorant jurors only exist when they invalidate our own biases; otherwise, they'e simply positions and opinion of other people. Granted, Tooth faeries and ignorant jurors are wonderfully convenient bogey-men to assign blame to, but minimizing or trivializing the positions of other people is about as petulant as one may find on a grade-school playground.

However, I'm quite certain you'll rationalize that you and your own opinions on this matter are exempt, objective, and steeped in peer-reviewed sources.

[pipoman]

15. Funny that nary expert, engineer, scientist,

government investigator, NASA, nor anyone else could credibly duplicate the malfunction. No, the jury saw the evidence, the best evidence money could buy...they didn't buy it.

I remember the Audi investigation, had a very good friend who was an automotive engineer working for a major insurance company trying to prove the 'unintended acceleration' myth. A few years after the investigation ended with inconclusive results (they couldn't duplicate it), the engineers who were paid to duplicate it determined that the only possible cause was driver error. Fast forward 10 years and as I was driving down the highway a car in front of me braked hard. I braked hard except my foot was on the gas..I realized it in time..would have absolutely sworn I hit the brakes. I suspect if I hadn't remembered the Audi story above I would have thought..weird..and not given it another thought. I also suspect this has happened to many others, whether they remember it happening for more than a day or so afterwards is another story if it didn't result in an accident.

[Democat]

9. A jury heard evidence and made a decision

That's the way the system works.

[coldmountain]

10. Ask Treyvon Martin's family

[pipoman]

2. Audi déjà vu all over again..

[miyazaki]

3. Good.

Have a nice evening.

[darkangel218]

8. Huh?

[Auntie Bush]

5. I has a horrible frightening experience with SUA...thought I was going to be killed.

Can't tell me there was no problem with the car. I had the brake override done and have never had another problem...thank goodness!

[Eleanors38]

11. Did this "fault" prevent shifting into Neutral?

[awoke_in_2003]

12. Cars are no longer shifted via mechanical linkage...

you can put the stick in neutral, but a computer decides whether that will happen or not.

[pipoman]

16. So now we begin down the road of intricate, simultaneous malfunction..

the lottery is looking better, and better..