Chicago Car Accident Attorneys Blog

A Cook County woman who lost her husband and son when the 1984 Chevrolet Astro Van they were riding in rolled over on March 3, 2009 in Mexico is suing the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. Alicia Mendoza and Roberta Graff filed their Cook County wrongful death lawsuit over the deaths of Jose L. Mendoza Sr., Jose Mendoza Jr., and Leonardo Medina. Graff submitted the complaint on behalf of Medina.

According to their Illinois wrongful death complaint, the catastrophic van accident happened because of a tire defect that resulted in tire tread separation and failure.

Also named as defendants in the Illinois wrongful death complaint are Martha and Ruben Mendoza. They lent the van to the deceased. The lawsuit is seeking over $300,000 from the Mendozas and over $600,000 from the tire company.

Common Kinds of Tire Defects:

• Tire failure
• Tread separation
• Tire blowouts
• Rim blasts
• Tire explosions

Tire issues can occur because of design flaws, manufacturing defect, or due to negligence during installation/repair. In the event that a tire blowout happens or tread separation occurs, there is a good chance that a driver can lose control of the vehicle, causing the auto to crash into other cars or roll over. Spinal cord injuries, head injuries, traumatic brain injuries, paralysis, quadriplegia, paraplegia, and death can result.

Tire manufacturers, retailers, and tire repair and installation shops are supposed to make sure that tires are in proper working condition, no defects exist, and no maintenance errors are made that can cause a tire-relate crash to occur. Injured parties may have grounds for filing a Chicago, Illinois defective tire lawsuit or wrongful death complaint.

Suit: Defective tire led to triple-fatal crash, Chicago Sun-TImes, February 26, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Products Liability, Justia

Motor Vehicles, Recalls.gov

In Cook County Circuit Court, Ed Izenstark filed his Chicago, Illinois auto products liability complaint against Toyota Motor. Corp. over the sticking gas pedal defect that has led to the recall of over 2.3 million Toyota vehicles in the US. The 23-year-old St. driver is seeking over $50,000 in Cook County personal injury damages after he was involved in a St. Charles, Illinois car accident on December 26.

Izenstark filed had rented a 2010 Corolla from a Hertz located in the Chicago area. According to his Chicago car accident lawsuit, he crashed into another vehicle when his gas pedal got stuck. Izenstark and another passenger sustained injuries.

The sticking gas pedal defect is at the center of one of two major recalls by Toyota involving accelerator problems. To date, Toyota has recalled 5.3 million autos over concern that sudden acceleration might occur. Millions of other Toyotas have been recalled in Europe and China.

Last week, Toyota announced that it had figured out how to fix the sticking gas pedal defect. Repairs on the affected vehicles are being completed.

Over 60 Runaway Toyota car accidents have occurred in the US in the last few months. Last December, four people died in a single car crash involving a Toyota that investigators believe accelerated out of control. In August, another four people died when the other accelerator defect, this one involving the gas pedal getting entangled with the driver’s side floor mat, caused another deadly runaway Toyota car accident.

Meantime, Toyota’s troubles seem to be growing. Yesterday, the automaker announced two recalls. One global recall involved 437,000 Prius and Lexus hybrids over an ABS software defect. The car manufacturer issued a separate recall involving 7,300 Camrys (2010 model) because of a brake defect that make it difficult for a driver to stop his/her car.

Toyota sued in car crash, Chicago Tribune, February 5, 2010

Toyota Begins Fix for Sticky Gas Pedal Problem, KHON2.com, February 6, 2010

Related Web Resource:
Toyota Motor Corp.

Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. is asking car dealers to temporarily stop selling eight of its vehicle models. The suspension is part of the steps the automaker is taking to deal with a problem that can cause the gas pedal to stick.

Last week, Toyota recalled about 2.3 million autos over the accelerator defect, which it says is a separate issue from the one that prompted its recall of 4.2 million Lexus and Toyota vehicles last November. That recall was issued because of concern that a loose floor mat on the driver’s side could cause the gas pedal to jam and the vehicle to accelerate to extremely high speeds. Our Chicago auto products liability lawyers have been following that auto defect story in our Chicago, Illinois car accident blog site.

Since last year’s massive Toyota recall, ABC News reports that there have been over 60 new incidents involving runaway Toyotas, including one fatal car crash that killed four people on December 26. The floor mats were not a factor in that collision.

Vehicles that are part of this latest recall in include Toyota’s:

• Sequoia: ’08 – ’10 models
• RAV4: ’09 – ’10 models
• Matrix: ’09– ’10 models
• Tundra: ’07 – ’10 models
• Corolla: ’09 – ‘10 models
• Avalon: ’05 –’10 models
• Pontiac Vibe: ‘09 model
• Highlander: ’10 model
• Camry: ’07 – ’10 models

Gas pedal defects, poorly fitting floor mats, faulty seat belts, defective air bags, weak roofs, seatback malfunctions, defective tires, engine malfunctions, and faulty breaks are auto defects that can cause serious injuries and deaths.

Toyota Recall Prompts Automaker to Suspend Sales, CNN, January 26, 2010

TOYOTA RECALL: Reports of Runaway Cars, ABC News, January 21, 2010

Toyota Recalls Millions of Motor Vehicles, MyFoxLA.com, January 21, 2010

Related Web Resource:
Toyota Motor Corp.

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