Grieving Family Sues Toyota To Force Expanded Recall
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Jeffrey Uno (left), son of the crash victim, attorney Garo Mardirossian (center)
and husband Peter Uno at press conference announcing Toyota lawsuit.
(John Guenther)
The Camry model associated with the lawsuit is not included in the company's current recall. This means the liability suit brought by the husband and son of the victim could add to the public relations and mechanical woes of the Japanese automaker.
The suit seeks unspecified punitive damages and, if successful, will force Toyota to expand its recent recall to older model years because of sudden acceleration issues.
"We believe these vehicles have an electronics issue," said attorney Garo Mardirossian at a press conference Thursday. "Until Toyota accepts that and corrects the problem, these Toyotas out there are ticking time bombs."
When Peter Uno, the husband, sat down in front of the microphones, he held a framed photograph of his wife, Noriko Uno, against his chest.
My wife should not die," Peter said. "I have a message to Toyota Motors and president Mr. Toyoda and vice president Mr. Sasaki: please bring back my wife."
He then repeated his plea in Japanese with tears in his eyes.
VIDEO: Peter Uno, husband of the victim sends a message to Toyota president.
66-year-old Noriko Uno of Upland died last August when her 2006 Camry crashed into a tree at high speed.
Her husband and her son, Jeffrey, brought forward the lawsuit five months later when it appeared the cause of the crash was related to so-called "sudden acceleration," which is out of the driver's control.
The current Toyota recall, which began in November, covers 8.1 million vehicles and includes 2007 through 2010 Camry's. The Unos want to compel Toyota to recall all sixth generation Camrys, which include the 2002 through 2006 model years.
Toyota blames the acceleration problems with the models it is now recalling on driver error, floor mats and sticky accelerator parts.
But Mardirossian said at a press conference the current recall fix does not address the problem, and attributes the acceleration issues to difficulties with Toyota's drive-by wire system.
However, the lawsuit faces sizable obstacles. An individual plaintiff forcing a large corporation into a big and expensive action, like a recall, is uncommon, said Alan L. Calnan, professor at the Southwestern School of Law.
Additionally, because Uno was in the car alone and because the car was significantly damaged, there will be an extra burden of proof for the plaintiff.
"The plaintiff will have to disprove other possible causes and circumstances to suggest that it was a defect in the car that caused the crash instead of the driving," said Calnan. "It might be problematic in this case, especially if the car is not under the recall."
The Unos' lawyer filed the lawsuit on the same day the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced it is investigating problems with the braking systems of the Toyota 2010 Prius.
The accident that killed Uno happened on Aug 28, 2009, the same day an off-duty CHP officer and his family were killed in a now-famous sudden acceleration crash in San Diego involving a Lexus.
On that day, Uno was traveling on Euclid Ave in the City of Upland when witnesses say her Camry suddenly accelerated and quickly reached speeds close to 100mph.
Bystanders say Uno swerved to avoid other cars and veered onto the wrong side of the road. The traffic report concluded Uno then entered the median to avoid an oncoming truck and collided with a telephone pole. The car went airborne and finally smashed into a tree.
Uno was declared dead at the scene of the crash.
VIDEO: Attorney for the family describes the crash.
Jeffrey Uno, 34, said his mother was a very conservative driver and there would be no reason for her to be driving 100mph.
"She didn't like going on the freeway because it was too fast," said Jeffrey.
The complaint filed by the plaintiff says Uno tried to stop the car with the brake pedal and the hand brake, which was found pulled up all the way.
Jeffrey said he began to wonder if the cause of the crash was related to the news of Toyota's accelerator problems about a month after the crash.
Pictures of Noriko Uno who died during a sudden acceleration incident
while driving her Toyota Camry in 2009 (John Guenther).
Toyota started addressing concerns with sticking accelerators last November, and by the end of January announced it would stop sales and production of eight models.
The company said on Thursday a software glitch causes problems with the brakes on 2010 Prius models. Drivers of the model complain about a loss of braking ability when driving on bumpy roads.
Mardirossian said Toyota's acceleration problems go back much farther than the most recent Camry models. He said the car maker knew about the issue three years ago but chose not to respond.
Toyota's media relations department did not respond with a comment on the case before publication.
The Uno's attorney showed the local media who attended the press conference examples of Toyota Camry accelerator pedals. Mardirossian said Toyota in its current recall is attempting to fix the springs inside the accelerator mechanism. He called the fix a "parlor trick," which involves adding a shim to the springs to make the pedal come back more quickly.
He added Toyota should instead install brake override systems that allow drivers to stop a vehicle even if the accelerator is all the way down.
Attorney Garo Mardirossian shows the throttle of a Toyota Camry during
the press conference.(John Guenther)
Such systems have been available for 10 years and have been installed on car models made by BMW, Chrysler and Mercedes Benz. Toyota is installing the safety feature on all new models.
Mardirossian said there have been 389 acceleration complaints filed with the NHTSA for sixth generation Camrys. He wants to see Toyota install brake overrides on all sixth and seventh generation Camrys to address the issue.
The Uno case will go to trial in 2 years in Los Angeles County. A backlog in Superior Court cases is preventing the trial from beginning earlier.
In front of the news cameras, Jeffrey Uno expressed the difficulty of learning his mother had died in the car he helped her buy, and that Toyota knew about the problem.
"I know people make mistakes and cars are a product of people," said Jeffrey. But he added that those mistakes should be addressed when they're discovered.
"I would like see them own up for what happened, for the defects and warn people and tell them and correct the issue because nobody should experience the tragedy my family and I suffered."
UPDATE: Toyota's president Akio Toyoda apologized on Friday for the problems with the gas pedals in the company's vehicles.
CNN VIDEO:
I heard about the pedal recall I had no idea it affected my NON toyota car good thing I found more info here http://www.carpedalrecall.com
searched for my make, model, year and found my car had been recalled so look out! it could save a life maybe yours
don't understand how serious or what the car pedal recall is about?
just watch this video at the end it also shows how to stop a out of control car very useful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGe3EOJ-CMY
Mr. Uno,
I want to pass my deepest sympathy to you in your loss. I know that this must be one of the toughest things that could happen to a man.
As a U.S. Army Pilot, I stand behind you in your case concerning the 2006 Toyota Camry.
I have experienced the same defect. I have reported it, and I have been told, by Toyota, the proper way to position my floor mats. ???
I believe in Toyota Quality, but I have lost faith in TOYOTA Corporation because of the lack of interest they have taken in the uncommanded accelerations that have occurred on these vehicles.
Please have your team contact me if you would like another testimony, along with another VIN that has exhibited the same problems as your vehicle.
Again, I take this action, because TOYOTA has still not acknowledged this problem, nor taken action to repair it.
My contact: flyahawk@hotmail.com
Good reporting. Looks like this reporter worked into the wee hours of the night to make sure to bring this to the public's attention.
Now I have to wonder if something is going to happen to my Toyota even though it is not currently one of the models being recalled.
Akio Toyoda should be put in jail. As a 2004 Corolla owner, I have witnessed first hand uncommanded engine surging. He and his company's arrogant cabal of criminal dealers continually blame over the 5 years mats, pedals, anything but the computer and software. I have been at a stoplight and have the engine surge with my foot on the brake - no stuck pedal, no mats ruffled. From idle to 2000 RPM, no input. I don't even have cruise control! I've never had to use neutral in an emergency, but I'm ready for it. Toyota from about 2002/2003 started pulling away by charging a lot more than the competition and having a lot less standard equipment. Upgrades were also shoddy, as Toyota and Lexus have been widely derided for inferior integrated navigation. The company used its reputation and loyal buyers to make windfall profits and all with an inferior product. The products were shifted from being made in Japan to being made in the US, and the US product quality is vastly inferior to the old Toyota products. Don't be surprised to see 10-20 year old Toyotas outlasting the new ones. I see new Camry with brake lights out. Inferior electric design. Also, Toyota refuses to recall older cars that have the problems. A man recently got his day, his 2006 Camry killed his wife and he is asking Toyota to recall the car that killed his wife with the stuck acceleration. They won't. Peter Uno is his name. His wife's name was Noriko Uno. An off duty CHP officer and his family (Mark Saylor, 45; his wife, Cleofe, 45; his daughter, Mahala, 13; and his brother-in-law, Chris Lastrella, 38) were killed in a sudden acceleration crash in San Diego involving a Lexus ES350. Uno died the VERY SAME day as Noriko Uno. The fact is Toyotas are deadly machines and are killing people, possibly every day, and Toyota arrogantly hides behind its undeserved reputation for quality arrogantly denying things like this are even possible. Akio Toyoda should be in jail for killing these people. The cars that killed these people ARE NOT RECALLED! Even today! IT IS NOT A PEDAL STICKING, IT IS NOT FLOOR MATS! Something strange and drastic is occurring possibly with the computer and the wiring system but Toyota wants to keep your money and if you die, they still have your money and will likely be able to keep it! I also drove a 2010 Prius when it first came out and told the dealer than I couldn't buy them because the brakes felt like mush. I was derided and I left, no doubt some hapless person bought the 2010 Prius and what do you know, the brakes are junk. I've worked on cars, I was a car hobbyist and I've experienced first hand this reality denying lunacy the Toyota dealers and the company have developed, this outright lying about quality and reality. I'm not saying I'm a car systems engineer, or Mario Andretti, but I know to identify and fix many problems with cars - I have an intuition for it. The Toyota fanatics would sit there and tell you with a straight face a Blue car was Red if Akio wants that to be the case. They are Orwellian doublethinkers. It is that simple. I'm tired of Toyota having mostly SUVs and inferior light trucks: Tacoma, Tundra, RAV, FJ, Highlander 4Runner, Sequioa, Land Cruiser, GX, RX, LX, yet they are known for being the gold standard in cars (Camry, Avalon, Prius, Corolla) - why, and most of the cars are too small, all the practical sized cars not that fuel efficient, have small trunks poor rear leg, shoulder and headroom, have very, very poor standard equipment, optional equipment is expensive and inferior, and the cars are now attempting to kill us! Avalon review sites have a lot of complaints of uncommanded acceleration. New Corolla owners absolutely hate the float on the highway due to the new inferior electronic steering. The electronic steering doesn't stay centered while driving, so to drive straight new Corolla owners have to constantly course correct to stay in the lane, even if the lane is perfectly straight. I recently bought a new car, and test drove over 40 cars, and I was astonished at how bad the buying experience at Toyota and Lexus were. Even before I saw the Ivory Toyota Tower develop cracks I knew there was something wrong. The cars didn't seem high quality. They seemed like the quality was less, you have terrible option choices and option group choices, ordering a car to custom specification is TERRIBLE, takes a long time if a dealer even agrees to it, color selection for Toyota is terrible, options are terrible a LOT of times what you can configure on the website doesn't exist in reality. The buying experience was just horrible, and they make no cars for the enthusiast, like Porsche or BMW, because I think they hate drivers. And this inability to make enthusiast cars has made the company dangerously complacent and lazy and they are producing underspec products due to not having any experience in the enthusiast or racing markets anymore. Recently the Economist published an article with a banana with wheels criticizing Toyota, and this came after my 2010 Toyota tirade. This isn't a sudden occurrence. Toyota has come to where it is today by criminal mismanagement and profiteering and total disregard for safety, quality, value and performance to make windfall profits and to capitalize on the green image despite they make more obscenely overpriced and gas guzzling SUVs than anything else.