Washington Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Regan Zambri & Long Law Firm : DC Metro Area Personal Injury Law Blog

Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

This week Congressman Bruce Braley (Iowa) participated in the Toyota recall Oversight and Investigations Hearing.  I think you will find his questioning particularly illuminating.  Click here to view his questioning of Toyota's Chief Operating Officer.

What's becoming clearer as the hearings progress is that Toyota's business philosophy must undergo a sea-change.  Putting profits over safety, which is what seems to have been its business model, is un-American and dangerous.

To read some of my other blogs about Toyota's recent problems, please clicks the following links:

• Toyota Officials May Have Put Profits Over Safety
• Toyota Acceleration Defect Linked to 34 Fatalities, Says NHTSA
• Toyota Recalls 400k Defective Prius and Other Hybrid Cars
• Toyota Suspends Sales of Eight Car Models
• Toyota, Lexus Owners Make Sudden-Acceleration Complaints

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Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

The Washington Post reports that Metro's "decision to mix different brands of signaling equipment -- despite a warning from one of the manufacturers -- could have caused the June crash that killed nine people, a senior engineer with the company," Alstom, "said Wednesday at a federal safety hearing." Information released by the NTSB "has pointed to possibly faulty and aging equipment in the failure of the automated crash-avoidance system. But the information on the signaling system attempts to shift blame to Metro's maintenance, testing and installation procedures."

As you may know from reading my prior blogs, my firm represents victims of this tragic and avoidable crash. 

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Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

I have been blogging a lot about the recent problems facing Toyota.  In response to these problems, the Wall Street Journal has published an opinion piece, titled “Why We Need Trial Lawyers.”  To better understand the work we do as trial attorneys, please click here to view the full WSJ article.

There are many who wish to strip Americans of their civil rights in order to reap profits.  Those greedy folks seem to care little about those that are victims of carelessness and corruption.  I am proud to represent Americans every day, helping them to obtain justice following tragedy and wrongdoing.

If you have questions about our civil justice system, don't seek answers from those who spew rhetoric just to pad their profits.  Give me a call instead.  I'd be happy to share the facts with you.

Be safe.

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Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

According to several news sources, Toyota officials apparently boasted about becoming subject to merely a limited recall in 2007 concerning defects in its automobiles. Per the CBS Evening News, the AP reported that "Toyota officials boasted last summer they saved $100 million back in 2007 when negotiating a limited recall of certain models with the federal government." The piece notes that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) "has received more than 2,000 complaints of sudden acceleration and 34 deaths have been blamed on Toyota vehicles" over the past decade, "according to the Detroit News, which also says the Administration was investigating Toyota for accelerator problems as early as 2003. Nevertheless, Toyota was never told to fix anything, and the investigation ended."

USA Today reports that "an internal Toyota document" states that the savings came from "getting the government to OK just replacing floor mats in 55,000 vehicles as a solution to sudden acceleration complaints. It's listed under 'wins for Toyota -- safety group' in the report, which is among documents obtained by a subpoena from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. That and other references to saving money on safety issues raise the question of 'whether Toyota was lobbying for less rigid actions from regulators to protect their bottom line,' said Kurt Bardella, spokesman for the committee's ranking Republican, Darrell Issa of California." The document also said that "'NHTSA is more sensitive to public/congressional criticism' and that, combined with changes in regulations, will result in 'more investigations and more forced recalls.'"

The AP says that the documents "could set off alarms in Congress over whether Toyota put profits ahead of customer safety and pushed regulators to narrow the scope of recalls. Two House committees are holding hearings this week on" Toyota's recalls.

I hope Congress presses Toyota officials hard on when they knew of concerns, when they reacted, how they reacted, and whether the company did, indeed, put profits over the safety of Americans.  Americans have had enough with corporate greed, which leads to serious injuries and death, while corporations pad their profits.  Let's hope Toyota wasn't one of those companies.

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Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

NBC Nightly News reported that "Federal safety officials said today the number of deaths that could be linked to sudden acceleration of Toyotas is now up to 34, based on consumer complaints they've received. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says it's normal for complaints to increase after people get word of a recall as more people become aware of safety defects that could have contributed to accidents in the past." The CBS Evening News also noted the NHTSA announcement in a similarly brief report.

USA Today reports that NHTSA "has received complaints alleging an additional 21 fatalities linked to Toyota's sudden-acceleration incidents," which "brings to 34 the total number of fatalities in 26 accidents that complaints to NHTSA allege are linked to sudden acceleration by Toyota products." NHTSA "also has seen a jump in brake-related complaints for the 2010 Toyota Prius. When NHTSA began investigating problems with Prius brakes, it had 124 consumer complaints in its database," but "since the investigation was opened Feb. 3 and publicized, nearly 1,000 more complaints have been filed."

The Washington Post adds that Toyota "announced a voluntary safety recall to inspect the front drive shaft on some 2010 Tacoma four-wheel-drive trucks. Officials said the front shaft in about 8,000 vehicles might include a component that has cracks created during the manufacturing process, which could lead to separation of the drive shaft at the joint portion."

If you own a model affected by a recall, please have your vehicle inspected and do not drive it.  It could be a matter of life and death.

Travel safely.

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Posted by: Salvatore J. Zambri, founding partner

Earlier today Toyota announced a global recall of more than 400,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles due to defects in the braking system of the vehicles. "Toyota President Akio Toyoda used extraordinary language at a press conference here to apologize for quality and safety issues that have led to the recall of more than 7 million vehicles in recent months. He repeated three times that Toyota was neither failure-proof nor 'omnipotent,' and he said that his company would now 'redouble our commitment to quality as the lifeline of our company,'" according to the Washington Post. 

The defect causes delays in the braking capacity of the recalled vehicles while on icy or bumpy roads.  The recall applies to "223,000 hybrids sold in Japan, along with 133,000 Prius cars and 14,500 Lexus HS250h vehicles in the United States. Nearly 53,000 Priuses are also being recalled in Europe. It begins in Japan on Wednesday and in the United States 'as soon as possible,' the company said, and as reported by the Post.

If you own a Toyota that has been recalled, you should stop driving it and get t to a dealer for repair immediately.  To learn more about this recall, visit Toyota's website.

I have blogged about Toyota recalls previously.  To read my previous posts, please select the following links:

•      Toyota, Lexus Owners Make Sudden-Acceleration Complaints
•      Deaths Lead Toyota to Recall Defective Cars
•      Toyota Will Change Accelerators to Avoid Jamming
•      Toyota Suspends Sales of Eight Models

Again, if you own a model affected by the recalls, please have your vehicle inspected.  It could be a matter of life and death.

Travel safely.

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