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A federal jury found Friday that
Toyota Motor Corp. isn't responsible for a 2005 crash that the
driver blamed on the floor mat or the electronic throttle, in the
first case to go to trial since automaker recalled millions of its
vehicles.


      After 45 minutes of deliberation, the jury found Toyota was not
liable for product liability for the Scion's floor mat or for the
absence of a system that allows the brake to override the
accelerator when both are pressed.


      The car's driver, 59-year-old Long Island physician Amir
Sitafalwala, contended that defects in the electronic throttle
system or the floor mats caused him to suddenly accelerate and
crash into a tree. U.S. Magistrate Judge E. Thomas Boyle ruled out
evidence about the car's electronics earlier this week.


      Sitafalwala's 2008 lawsuit was the first to go to trial since
Toyota recalled millions of vehicles beginning in 2009.


      In a written statement, Toyota called the verdict an "early
indicator of the strength of the legal theories behind unintended
acceleration claims" against it.


      "We believe that this case sets an important benchmark for
unintended acceleration litigation against Toyota across this
country," the statement said.


      Toyota has recalled more than 14 million vehicles globally to
fix gas pedals and other safety problems, including more than 2
million that were recalled in February to address accelerator
pedals that could become entrapped in floor mats or jammed in
driver's side carpeting.


      The company paid the U.S. government a record $48.8 million in
fines for its handling of three recalls.


      U.S. regulators said earlier this month that electronic flaws
were not to blame for reports of sudden, unintended acceleration.


      Hundreds of claims from around the U.S. related to the recalls
have been consolidated under one judge in U.S. District Court in
Santa Ana, Calif.


      In December, Toyota agreed to pay $10 million to the family of
four people killed in a runaway Lexus crash near Santee, Calif.,
that led to the recalls. Investigators determined that a wrong-size
floor mat trapped the accelerator and caused the August 2009 crash.

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A federal jury found Friday that
Toyota Motor Corp. isn't responsible for a 2005 crash that the
driver blamed on the floor mat or the electronic throttle, in the
first case to go to trial since automaker recalled millions of its
vehicles.


Toyota wins NY case over unintended acceleration

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