Mississippi Injury Lawyer Blog

Toyota Prius with stuck accelerator hits 90 mph before stopping

The driver of a Toyota Prius called 911 when his accelerator stuck and the car reached 90 mph before a California Highway Patrolman assisted the driver in stopping the car. While the driver said he was unable to stop with car with the brake, the police officer instructed him to apply the emergency brake at the same time he was applying the brake. This slowed the car down to 50 mph whereupon the driver turned the engine off. Thankfully, no one was injured. The complete story can be read here.

Information provided by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Auto Accident Lawyer

Texting while driving prohibition passed by Mississippi Senate

Senate Bill 2595 unanimously passed the Senate and is headed to the House Transportation Committee for consideration. The bill would outlaw texting while driving for all individuals and would outlaw the use of cell phones while driving for those under 18, except in a case of emergency. Let's hope the House realizes how many lives can be saved by this measure. It is time to put down the cell phones and pay attention to roadway while driving.

I recently saw a bumper sticker that highlights the danger of texting while driving. It said, "If you want to see Jesus soon, keep on texting while driving." Call upon your representatives to pass this important measure.

Reported by: Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Accident Injury Attorney

437,000 Prius vehicles recalled worldwide due to brake problems

In a follow-up to a previous post, Toyota announced it is recalling 437,000 Prius hybrid vehicles due to brake problems. The braking problem occurs in colder weather and on bumpy roads. This recall is the latest hit to Toyota which is still reeling from its failure to quickly address complaints of stuck accelerators on other Toyota models.

Source: Washington Post

Reported by: Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Toyota Defect Lawyer

State Farm warned NHTSA about Toyota accelerator problem in 2007

State Farm Insurance warned federal safety regulators in 2007 about a rising report of unexpected acceleration in Toyotas. According to an article in today's Washington Post, a State Farm spokesperson said the alerts to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were "numerous" and not "everyday occurrences." State Farm would not elaborate further on the warnings given to U.S. government officials.

The evidence coming to light shows Toyota and the U.S. government knew about these problems long before initiating a recall of the vehicles. Expect some more information in the coming days as congressional hearings start tomorrow to determine who knew what and when.

Source: Washington Post

Reported by: Robert Kisselburgh, Automobile Defect Attorney

Toyota fixes cars in Europe long before U.S. recall

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Toyota provided a fix for the accelerator problems in Europe almost six months ago. According to Toyota's quality chief, Toyota started receiving consumer complaints about sticky pedals in Europe in January and February, 2009. While company engineers struggled at first to diagnose the problem, they eventually identified condensation inside the pedal's mechanism as the cause and rolled out a fix in August, 2009.

If this is true, then Toyota will have some serious problems explaining to U.S. juries why they waited so long to fix a problem identified last January and which they corrected in Europe in August, 2009. This is the type of evidence that justifies large punitive damages awards in cases. How can you justify not fixing the pedals in U.S. cars and allowing U.S. citizens to be killed or injured by a defect that you are aware of and have provided a fix for in Europe. Not a good day, month, or year for Toyota.

If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of a struck accelerator in a Toyota vehicle, contact the Kisselburgh Law Firm for a free consultation. At the Kisselburgh Law Firm, we have years of experience in representing those injured by defective products. You can contact us at 877-601-4040 or 601-936-4040.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Reported by: Robert Kisselburgh, Automobile Defect Attorney

Problems with Toyota Prius braking investigated

Just as Toyota is facing its public relations nightmare with the sticking accelerators, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it is launching an inquiry into allegations the Toyota Prius hybrid loses braking when it goes over uneven road or hits potholes. If true, hope no one is driving one in the Jackson, Mississippi area, given our current road conditions.

For more information on the investigation, click here.

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured due to a defect in your vehicle, such as the unintended acceleration in a number of Toyota models, or as a result of braking problems in the Toyota Prius, contact the Kisselburgh Law Firm for a free consultation to discuss your legal rights. At the Kisselburgh Law Firm, we have years of experience in representing individuals seriously injured by defective vehicles, car crashes, semi-truck wrecks, medical malpractice, defective prescription drugs, and on-the-job injuries. You can contact us at 877-601-4030, 601-936-4040, or contact us online by simply filling out the form to the right of this post.

Transportation Secretary retracts recommendation not to drive recalled Toyota vehicles

Toyota shares dropped when Transportation Secretary Roy LaHood told a congressional committee that drivers of the recalled Toyota vehicles should not drive them until they are fixed. Later at a press conference, LaHood retracted the statement and said, "What I meant to say ... was if you own one of these cars or if you're in doubt, take it to the dealer and they're going to fix it."

In congressional hearings, he said, "My advice is, if anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it, take it to the Toyota dealer...." Seems clear to me. You decide.

Tractor trailer driver watching porn on laptop strikes and kills motorist

State police in New York are reporting that a truck driver who struck a disabled car last month in New York, killing the driver of the car, was watching poronographic movies on his laptop computer at the time of the crash. According to the report, Thomas Wallace of Brook Park, Ohio was arrested this week on charges of second-degree manslaughter for the death of 33-year-old Julie Stratton, a mother of two.

This epitomizes the problems with technology in vehicles. It is a distraction that kills. Whether it is texting, watching videos on a computer, or playing with a cell phone, the fact is that the cab of a tractor-trailer is no place to be multitasking.

Recently, the government conducted a study of the problems with operating a tractor-trailer while texting. The study, "Driver Distraction in Commercial Vehicle Operations", showed that the most risky behavior was text messaging on cell phones and that a driver texting was 23.2 times more likely to be involved in an accident while texting while driving. Technology has its place, but most of it has no place in the driver's seat of a big rig truck or any other vehicle.

The Kisselburgh Law Firm is a Mississippi accident injury law firm which handles all types of cases involving serious injury or death including tractor-trailer crashes, car accidents, motorcycle accidents, drunk driving accidents, injuries from defective products, on-the-job injuries, and medical malpractice. If you have questions, call us at 601.936.4040 or contact us online.

Toyota halts production of 8 models due to accelerator problems

Toyota has temporarily ceased production of 8 different Toyota models due to accelerator problems that have left the company searching for answers. According to the press release, Toyota instructed its dealers to remove the models from the sales floor and will temporarily cease production of the models. The eight models are:

• 2009-2010 RAV4,
• 2009-2010 Corolla,
• 2009-2010 Matrix,
• 2005-2010 Avalon,
• Certain 2007-2010 Camry,
• 2010 Highlander,
• 2007-2010 Tundra,
and
• 2008-2010 Sequoia

Reported by Robert Kisselburgh, Product Defect and Injury Attorney

2 dead after a pickup truck and tractor trailer collide in Forrest County, Mississippi

Late yesterday afternoon, two men were killed in a four vehicle accident involving an 18-wheeler, a Dodge Charger, Honda Accord, and a Ford Ranger pickup truck. The two killed were Percy L. Jones and Benjamin Gray. According to authorities, the pickup truck, driven by Jones, was rear-ended by the 18 wheeler. Gray was a passenger in the pickup truck. One other person was transported to a local hospital. There is still some question as to the exact chain of events leading up to the collision and law enforcement officials are investigating.

Source: Hattiesburg-American

Two Rankin County, Mississippi school buses collide

Two Rankin County, Mississippi school buses collided today, sending a number of children to local hospitals. According to the article, one school bus rear-ended the other bus. Although there were no life-threatening injuries, a number of students were transported to local hospitals.

Source: Clarion-Ledger

Reported by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Injury Attorney

Accelerator length, not floor mat, is key problem in Toyota recall

In September, I reported about Toyota's largest recall of over 4 million vehicles. At that time, Toyota reported the problem as a faulty floor mat. Now, Toyota has decided to replace the gas pedals in those vehicles as the gas pedal could get stuck in the floor mat, causing serious injury or death.

If you own one of the covered vehicles (see previous post listing the recalled vehicles), contact your local dealer to schedule an appointment to have the repairs made. However, it appears the fix will be a two-step process as Toyota still has to produce a shortened accelerator pedal and dealers will shorten the length of the gas pedal by three-fourths of an inch until the replacement pedals are available sometime in April, 2010. Do not put off having these repairs made. Your life could depend on it.

The Kisselburgh Law Firm is a Mississippi product liability and accident injury law firm which handles all types of cases involving serious injury or death. If you or a loved one has been injured, please call us now for a free consultation at 601.936.4040 or contact us online.

Attorneys beware--watch out for those subrogation liens.

Two days ago, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a summary judgment where a plaintiff's attorney was found liable to the ERISA health plan for settlement funds he disbursed. A fellow blogger, Health Plan Law, has a great discussion of the case here.

For those with personal injury lawsuits, if your health insurance company pays for your medical and you ultimately recover money from the person who caused those injuries, your health insurance company has a subrogation lien for the amount of medical paid. That means you could possibly have to pay the insurance company for the amount it paid for medical expenses you ultimately recovered from the liable party.

In the case above, the client did recover monies and the attorney disbursed the settlement funds without paying the insurance company back for the medical it paid on behalf of the client. The plan ultimately sued the client and attorney for the money. Lesson to all parties. Prior to settling a personal injury case or disbursing funds from a personal injury settlement, make sure you have paid all liens.

Reported by: Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Accident Injury Lawyer

Motorcycle crash kills Seminary, Mississippi man

On Saturday night, Shawn Jesse Bullock of Seminary, Mississippi, died when his motorcycle collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Mississippi 598 and Old U.S. 49. According to Jefferson Davis County Coroner, Bullock died on the scene. The accident is under investigation by the Covington County Sheriff's Department

Source: Clarion-Ledger

Reported by Robert Kisselburgh, Mississippi Accident Injury Attorney

NHTSA appears to have dismissed previous claims of unexpected acceleration in Toyota vehicles

Previously, I wrote about Toyota's record recall of a number of vehicles due to unexpected acceleration. At first, the acceleration was attributed to the floor mat. However, it appears something more serious is causing the problem and investigators are finally looking into the cause.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a federal agency whose mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce vehicle-related crashes, is charged with protecting the public, not the auto manufacturers. But according to a recent L.A. Times article, since 2001 more than 1,000 Toyota and Lexus owners reported their vehicles suddenly accelerated, many times resulting in injury. However, NHTSA dismissed many of those complaints for a variety of reasons. Even though NHTSA recently changed its course and is calling the Toyota issue a "very dangerous problem", the Times article paints a different NHTSA under the previous administration.

Hopefully NHTSA will be more vigilant in living up to its mission statement in the future. With the recent turn of events, it appears headed in the right direction. Read other articles about this issue below.

Runaway Toyota cases ignored
Toyota Acceleration Problem Still Unresolved
Safety Agency Rebukes Toyota Over Floor-Mat Issue

If you have been injured as a result of a defect in your car or truck, contact an experienced Mississippi product defect lawyer. At the Kisselburgh Law Firm, we have years of experience in successfully prosecuting product defect cases. Contact us at 877-601-4040 or contact us online.