A lawsuit filed on behalf of a woman injured in a wreck in Shawnee, Kansas, caused by the unintended acceleration of her car, resulted in a settlement of more than $2
million in an out-of-state court.
According
to plaintiff’s attorney Jason Roth, in March 2013 the plaintiff, then 75,
was driving her granddaughter to school when her 2009 Pontiac Vibe accelerated
out of control, ran a stop sign and collided nearly head on with another
vehicle as plaintiff attempted to gain control of her vehicle. The woman
suffered severe injuries in the crash, including loss of her left leg below the
knee.
The
plaintiff’s Vibe had previously been a rental car. In 2010, that model year of
the Vibe — which was manufactured as part of a joint venture between General
Motors and Toyota and was essentially the same vehicle as a Toyota Matrix — was
the subject of two safety recalls related to the claims of unintended
acceleration in Toyota vehicles. The recalls required cutting the accelerator
pedal to reduce its length and removing padding around the area of the
accelerator to prevent entrapment.
The
rental car company took the car to a GM dealer for performance of the recall
work. According to Roth, the suit alleged that the dealership never completed
the work, even though it prepared paperwork indicating that it had done and
been paid for the work.
The
dealer returned the Vibe to the rental car company, which continued to use it
until selling the car to the plaintiff in August 2011. The rental car company
claimed it was not aware that the recall work on the Vibe had not been
completed.
The
plaintiff claimed the dealer was negligent and responsible for plaintiff’s
injuries because of its failure to complete the recall work. The defendant,
however, claimed the unperformed recall work had nothing to do with the cause
of the crash and that the cause of the crash was pedal misapplication by the
plaintiff. The investigating officer’s report said “the cause of the crash
appeared to be operator error” by the plaintiff, according to Roth.
After
litigating the matter for more than a year, the case settled for $2.075 million
following two days of mediation. Although the accident occurred in Kansas, the
case was handled in the state where the GM dealership was based. Roth said he
couldn’t identify the location. Roth provided a copy of the settlement
agreement to confirm the amount.
Out-of-state
$2.075
million settlement
Motor
vehicle collision
Venue: Confidential
Case
Number/Date: Confidential/April
20, 2015
Caption: Confidential
Plaintiff’s
Attorneys: Jason
P. Roth, Copley Roth & Wilson, Overland Park, Kansas; Chad C. Lucas,
Kuhlman & Lucas, Kansas City
Defendant’s
Attorney: Confidential
