Lawsuit claims Toyota ignored safety issues

Toyota Motor Co ignored evidence of acceleration problems in its vehicles for most of the past decade and failed to install a brake override system it knew could have prevented accidents, an amended federal lawsuit filed on Monday claims.

The revised lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Southern California on behalf of nearly 40 consumers and businesses for claims of economic losses, including diminished vehicle values, stemming from complaints of Toyota cars racing out of control.

Plaintiff lawyers say they expect the litigation will encompass some 40 million U.S. consumers if class-action status is conferred on the lawsuit as intended.

The amended suit cited an internal company memo as saying that Toyota's U.S. sales arm had requested a "fail-safe (brake override) option" in 2007, three years before the company committed to making that safety feature standard.

Toyota also failed to address a marked spike in complaints involving sudden unintended acceleration starting in 2002, the year a new electronic throttle control system became standard equipment in its cars and trucks, the lawsuit claims.

Toyota has insisted the only defects causing their vehicles to speed out of control were ill-fitting floor mats and sticking gas pedals -- both addressed in safety recalls.

The company says many unintended acceleration cases stem from driver error -- motorists hitting the gas pedal instead of the brakes -- and has steadfastly denied the existence of a glitch in its electronic throttle system.

"Toyota firmly believes that the system is completely safe and that reliable scientific evidence will demonstrate the safety of our vehicles in the investigations currently under way and, ultimately, to the court," it said in a statement.

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