$1 billion deal major step in Toyota legal trouble

           
With a proposed payout of more than $1 billion, one major chapter of a nearly four-year legal saga that left Toyota Motor Corp. fighting hundreds of lawsuits and struggling with a tarnished image has ended, though another chapter for the Japanese auto maker remains.                      

The settlement unprecedented in its size, according to a plaintiff's attorney brings an end to claims from owners who said the value of their vehicles plunged after recalls over sudden and unintended acceleration.                       

Lawsuits claiming that the defects caused injury or death remain, with the first trial beginning in February, unless another major deal comes first.                       

Steve Berman, a lawyer representing Toyota owners, said the settlement is the largest in US history involving automobile defects.                          

The courtroom claims began with a highway tragedy. A California Highway Patrol officer and three family members were killed in 2009 after their car, a Toyota-built Lexus, reached speeds of more than 120 mph (193 kph), hit an SUV, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames.                               

Investigators determined that a wrong-size floor mat trapped the accelerator and caused the crash.                         

That discovery, and the accident, spurred a series of recalls involving more than 14 million vehicles. A flood of lawsuits soon followed, with numerous complaints of accelerations in several models and brake defects with the Prius hybrid.                           

Toyota has blamed driver error, faulty floor mats and stuck accelerator pedals for the problems. 


AP