Toyota to compensate family of crash victims
25 Dec 2010
Toyota has agreed to compensate the family of four people killed in a runaway Lexus crash that led to recalls of millions of its cars. The family would receive $10 million in compensation.
The four people were driving on a San Diego freeway when their car reached 120mph, hit an SUV, careered off an embankment, and burst into flames.
Investigations have revealed that a floor mat of the wrong size trapped the accelerator. Toyota recalled millions of cars to replace the mats and went on to recall millions more to replace accelerator pedals with pedals that it said would not stick.
Toyota, which did not admit or deny liability, conveyed its disappointment over the amount being made public. The company had fought a legal battle to keep the figure a secret.
''As is common in these cases, these parties agreed to keep the amount confidential, in part to protect the families from unwanted solicitations and to allow them to move on from this difficult period,'' the company said.
However, a Supreme Court judge ruled public interest outweighed concerns over confidentiality. In August, last year the accident killed off-duty California highway patrol officer Mark Saylor, 45, his wife, their daughter and Saylor's brother-in-law Chris Lastrella.
According to a lawyer for the Toyota dealership, Toyota had since put in place a brake override mechanism in the Lexus vehicles.
A system of the type would have prevented this, or virtually any other sudden acceleration accident, whether such acceleration was caused by floor mats, sticking accelerator pedals or an electronic failure he said.
