Toyota Wins Lawsuit Over Unintended Acceleration

The jury ruled in favor of Toyota in a case filed by Amir Sitafalwalla, who sued Toyota, claiming that a defect in his 2005 Toyota Scion caused the car to suddenly accelerate and smash into a tree.

The jury agreed with a lawyer for Toyota, John Randolph Bibb Jr., who argued in his closing statement that the accident was caused by the driver rather than the floor mat.

The jury deliberated for less than an hour.

Toyota recalled millions of vehicles, starting in 2009, for defects related to sudden unintended acceleration.

The case of Dr. Sitafalwalla, a doctor on Long Island who filed his lawsuit in 2008, was the first related to the issue to go to trial since the recalls.

Dr. Sitafalwalla, 59, had argued the accident was caused by defects in either the electronic throttle system or the floor mats. On March 29, Judge E. Thomas Boyle, a United States magistrate presiding over the trial in Central Islip, ruled out evidence on the electronics.

“We weighed all the evidence and came to the conclusion that there was not a defect with the automobile,” said Regina Desio of Plainview, N.Y., the jury forewoman.

Albert Zafonte Jr., a lawyer for Dr. Sitafalwalla, said he was “disappointed in the verdict. I thought there was sufficient evidence for the jury to find otherwise.”

A Toyota spokeswoman, Celeste Migliore, said the company was pleased with the verdict.

She said the case “clearly demonstrates a plaintiff’s inability to identify, let alone prove the existence of, an alleged electronic defect in Toyota vehicles that could cause unintended acceleration.”

via nytimes.com