Toyota Sued Again By McCune Wright – Money Hungry?
Tim Esterdahl | Oct 13, 2013 | Comments 4
Automakers get sued quite often it seems these days. Are the cars really that faulty and manufactures that negligent? Probably not. Are law firms becoming more “sue happy?” You bet.
Yet another McCune Wright lawsuit has been filed. This time, the target is the Prius V 5 wagon.
Today’s winner for the “sue happy” award is McCune Wright, LLP. Remember these guys and gals? Nope. Does the unintended acceleration lawsuit ring a bell? Yep, this is the same firm that filed the first lawsuit on that disproved claim. That suit resulted in the law firm stealing a bunch of money from Toyota. Now they are at it again.
This time the suit, filed October 8th, Lee vs. Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. in California, deals with pre-collision system on the Toyota Prius v 5 wagon. Basically, McCune Wright is arguing that the system isn’t up to par, according to a story on Torquenews.com. This claim is based on an Insurance Institute for Highway safety test which found the system isn’t great. In fact testers found: “The Toyota Prius v wagon, which claims to have autobrake, had minimal braking in IIHS tests and currently fails to meet NHTSA criteria for forward collision warning. It doesn’t qualify for an IIHS front crash prevention rating.”
McCune Wright also argues that the advanced option runs more than $5,000 and is misrepresented to buyers. Furthermore, a press release says that the while the system is an “important safety development,” the buyers didn’t receive this system rather they got poor substitute from Toyota.
Toyota, for its part, hasn’t really pushed that system. On it’s sales site, it doesn’t even list that feature as one of its standard safety features. You actually have to dig deeper into the site to find it and it is only an option on the Prius v 5 wagon. There is also a note that comes along with the package that reads:
The Pre-Collision System is designed to help reduce the crash speed and damage in certain frontal collisions only. They are not collision-avoidance systems and are not substitutes for safe and attentive driving. System effectiveness depends on many factors such as speed, driver input and road conditions. See your Owner’s Manual for further information.
The lawsuit then bases its claims on a less than stellar IIHS test and seeks to have the owners reimbursed for the system. McCune Wright adds, “The Pre-Collision System problem illustrates our ongoing concern with Toyota’s electronic and brake systems.”
There you have it. The law firm helped to win a big lawsuit based on driver error and now is searching all of the other Toyota products looking for additional lawsuits. Well that is how we read the suit.
What do you think?
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Filed Under: Auto News
Ah, yes another frivolous law suit. Perhaps 75% of all law suits are frivolous. I really do not know. As strange as it may sound and difficult as it may be to connect the dots; this specific law suit is symbolic and merely an off-shoot of everything wrong with Washington DC, another bunch of lying thieving lawyers stealing from everyone.
Agree Tim. It isn’t the fault of the driver hitting another vehicle in the rear but Toyota for not stopping it’s vehicle for the driver. What ever happen to being responsible for your actions. I’m not much on lawyers. To me they hang around the scum of the earth. Same reason Congress is where it is today.
Sadly, we now live in a country where everything bad that happens to a person is someone else’s fault. Lost your job? Boss is just a jerk. Got a ticket for speeding? Cops are out to get you. People take no ownership for their actions these days. Its really quite sick. If the system is there, should it work? Yes, but I will NEVER rely on a computer to save my life or prevent a collision.
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