Saturday, January 31, 2015

Toyota Prius Fatal Accident.....








One dead in multi-car accident


By St. John Barned-Smith | January 31, 2015
 

A bizarre car crash left one person dead and shut down the North Freeway for several hours early Saturday morning.
According to Houston Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva, a driver traveling south on the freeway lost control of his car around 2:45 a.m., crashing into another vehicle.
The driver of the vehicle that caused the crash got out of his vehicle, stepping into the freeway.
A person in a Prius driving down the freeway saw the motorist step into the roadway and slammed on his brakes, which caused another person in a BMW behind to hit the Prius and swerve into the person standing in the freeway, Silva said.
Rescue crews took the person struck in the crash to Ben Taub General Hospital, where he died.
Police checked the driver of the BMW for signs of intoxication but there was no evidence of driving under the influence, said Silva, adding that police were still investigating.
For several hours I-45 was shut down, reopening around 6 a.m.



http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/One-dead-in-multi-car-accident-6053495.php


 
 
 
After the LEMON LADY'S experience.....TOYOTA BRAKE PROBLEMS give pause.....
 
 
 
 
 
JUST MY OPINION...AT THE MOMENT....
 
 

RECALLS: Auto Industry Lap Dog: NHTSA



One of the biggest problems with AUTO RECALLS is the FAILURE of owners to address/correct the issue.

Sometimes, the vehicle has been sold - ever had that happen when you sold or traded a vehicle and received a RECALL NOTICE?

THE LEMON LADY has!




Edmunds pointed out the FAILURE OF THE NHTSA web site to include the TOYOTA FIRE RISK here:

Reminders of PINTO'S EXPLODING GAS TANK! There is NO Excuse!



Ya buy a used TOYOTA AVALON!

You're supposed to conduct your own RESEARCH to determine .... you're supposed to conduct a lengthy internet search to reveal RECALLS......?







I don't think so!




Beware of Toyota. Their next victim may be you....author has called NHTSA TOYOTA'S LAP DOG....






Is that so?  Why isn't the TOYOTA FIRE RISK on NHTSA's web site?







While comments are effusive....point well taken....

Fire risk exposed in Toyota Avalon - lapdog NHTSA remains silent


Tough to decide.....is it the pretense to keep your mouth shut.....





or the GAGGLES OF ATTORNEYS TOYOTA retains......









TOYOTA's Expert LIES UNSUCCESSFULLY, Paid $1.4 MILLION!






Doesn't this beat all?



Thanks go to Trudy Baltazar for documenting TOYOTA'S ANTICS!







Bob Hilliard Startled Courtroom in 1996 Toyota Camry Liability Lawsuit




http://trulinespublishing.com/2015/01/31/bob-hilliard-startles-courtroom-1996-toyota-camry-liability-lawsuit/











Let's not forget that TOYOTA BLAMED THE DRIVER in Oklahoma [Bookout & Schwarz] and couldn't explain SKID MARKS indicating the DRIVER tried to slow the RUNAWAY TOYOTA!


When the jury didn't believe TOYOTA'S LIES, TOYOTA rushed to settle with a confidentiality agreement. We'll never know what lives are worth to TOYOTA!










Friday, January 30, 2015

Reminders of PINTO'S EXPLODING GAS TANK! There is NO Excuse!


Edmunds points out that the TOYOTA FIRE RISK RECALL is NOT on the NHTSA web site.

CURIOUS!




Instead of making TOYOTAS safer, we're going backwards!




2011-'12 Toyota Avalon Recalled for Fire Risk


2012 Toyota Avalon Picture

The 2011-'12 Toyota Avalon sedan is being recalled due to a fire risk. | January 29, 2015
 
 
 



 
 
 
 
 



 
 
 



 
 
 
 
 
 



Prison For a Defective TOYOTA?



Brent Schafer and Koua Fong Lee

 

 

 

 

Release of Koua Fong Lee

ABC NEWS: Toyota Driver Koua Fong Lee Released from Prison; No New Trial for Deadly Crash
CNN NEWS: Minnesota Judge Frees Minnesota Man
WCCO NEWS: Judge Frees Koua Fong Lee...Charges Dismissed

The Koua Fong Lee Story

Koua Fong Lee came to America with his family from a Thailand refugee camp in 2004, looking for a better life and an education. Instead, Mr. Lee has been serving an 8-year prison sentence for criminal vehicular homicide, following a 2006 car crash that killed three people.

Koua Fong Lee was returning home from church on June 10, 2007. He was driving a 1996 Toyota Camry. His pregnant wife sat beside him. His 8-year-old daughter, his brother and father sat in the backseat. He was traveling from Minneapolis to his home in St. Paul. The radio was off and he was not talking on a cellphone. He exited I-94 eastbound onto the Snelling Avenue exit ramp traveling at 50-55 mph. He took his foot off the accelerator and applied the brake as he approached the intersection of Concordia and Snelling Avenues. The brakes did not slow the Camry. Mr. Lee yelled to his family ”brakes not working!”

Mr. Lee continued to pump and press the brake pedal. The Camry would not slow but instead continued to accelerate. He moved from the most left lane of the ramp to the center lane, avoiding vehicles traveling in front of him. He then moved from the center lane to the far right lane of the ramp to avoiding hitting other vehicles traveling and stopped on the ramp. Mr. Lee continued to pump and press the brake pedal during these maneuvers. The was no place for him to go as he approached the intersection. The signal light was red and cars were stopped at the intersection. One was stopped in the far right lane and the other about two vehicle lengths off the intersection in the center lane. Mr. Lee observed a space between the two stopped vehicles. He attempted to negotiate his vehicle through the space. As he split the two vehicles, he sideswiped the vehicle in the center lane. The force of the initial collision redirected his vehicle into the rear driver-side of the second vehicle stopped in the far left lane. Mr. Lee's Camry recoiled back from the collision and then accelerated forward across the intersection of Snelling and Concordia. Mr. Lee struck the rear driver-side of another vehicle that was traveling northbound on Snelling. Mr. Lee's Camry came to rest against a fence across the intersection. Two people in the second vehicle struck by Mr. Lee's Camry died at the scene and another young girl died a year and a half later. Three others were seriously injured.

Investigators calculated that Mr. Lee's car was traveling 70 to 90 miles an hour when it slammed into the back of a stopped Oldsmobile, instantly killing Javis Adams, 33, and his 10-year-old son, Javis Adams Jr. Another passenger, 6-year-old Devyn Bolton, died from her injuries more than a year later.

After examining the vehicle, a mechanic found nothing wrong with the brakes. Prosecutors argued that Lee stepped on the gas, not the brake, and a jury agreed, convicting him of criminal vehicular homicide and sentenced him to 8 years in prison.

Lee fired his attorney following his conviction and retained Minneapolis Attorney Brent S. Schafer to represent him at the sentencing phase of the case. Schafer filed extensive documentation with the judge who would be sentencing Lee. Schafer requested and argued that Lee serve only 1 year in jail rather than several in prison, as required by Minnesota law. Following a lengthy sentencing hearing, the Judge disagreed with Schafer and sentenced Lee to spend 8 years in prison.

Attorney Brent S. Schafer says his client has always focused on the brakes as the problem. "He could only explain what happened in that he tried to apply the brakes and it didn't work and that the vehicle would only accelerate up the ramp," Schafer said.

In January of 2010, Schafer reopened the Lee case after numerous Toyota recalls for sudden unintended acceleration (SUA). Schafer teamed-up with a well known products liability attorney, Robert Hilliard of Corpus Christi, Texas. Together Schafer and Hilliard promised Lee that they would do whatever it took to gain his release and a new trial. Schafer soon discovered that Lee was not the only owner of a 1996 Toyota Camry that had accelerated out-of-control.

After Lee's story was reported in newspapers and news programs such as CNN, MSNBC, Good Morning America and World News Tonight, Schafer was flooded with letters, e-mails and calls from people all over the country who had experienced the same SUA as described by Lee. Schafer said, "It was at this point in time when I was absolutely convinced that there was an innocent man in prison."

This was a defective prosecution caused by a defective car." Schafer collected affidavits from over 50 late-model Toyota drivers throughout the United States, each one describing an experiencing during which their Toyota would accelerate out-of-control.

In April of 2010, Schafer and Hilliard filed a Petition for Post Conviction Relief seeking a new trial for Lee based upon the new evidence of SUA, the ineffective assistance of trial counsel and improper/wrong expert testimony during trial. In July, a Ramsey County District Court Judge granted Lee's request for a hearing to determine whether he was entitled to a new trial. The hearing was scheduled to begin on August 2, 2010.

On Tuesday, August 3, 2010 during the second day of an evidentiary hearing, two more victims of sudden acceleration testified that their vehicles sped out of control just like Koua Lee’s 1996 Toyota Camry. Expert witnesses also testified about important key facts -- reasons his lawyers say Koua Lee should be given a new trial. “From the moment Lee stepped out of the vehicle and was interviewed by the police officer at the scene he said he was pushing the brakes,” said defense attorney Bob Hilliard. “He said that through trial and his lawyer stood up and told the jury the exact opposite.” In the original trial, his attorney told a jury that Lee may have simply been confused. That he mistakenly pressed the gas when he thought he was hitting the brake. But Lee never gave his attorney permission to make that statement. “This is your lawyer telling the jury that you’re wrong,” said Hilliard. “That his client is wrong,”

Samuel Sero, a forensic engineer testified that Lee’s Toyota Camry was equipped with ABS brakes at the time of the accident. But the jury that convicted Lee of criminal vehicular homicide was told the car did not have anti-lock brakes. “That’s a big deal because they had to show the brakes were functioning properly so they put on testimony that Mr. Lee’s brakes were working and he said he was braking. If that was true he would have stopped.” Hilliard says, that would explain why there were no skid marks at the scene. A technical witness who inspected the car back in April testified the tail lights showed the brakes were being applied at the time of the crash. “Everybody, even the state’s experts agree that light, when you look at it today right now, shows that the light was on at the time of impact,” said Hilliard.

On August 5, 2010, the morning of the final day of the trial, the Ramsey County Attorney offered to release Mr. Lee and allow him to go home. However, the County Attorney would not agree to reverse the convictions and give Mr. Lee a clean criminal record. Accepting the offer would return Mr. Lee to his wife and four children but he would arrive back home a convicted felon on probation for nearly 15 years and a person not eligible for a driver's license for the next 10 years. Mr. Lee declined the offered. Later that day Lee sat quietly and watched Schafer stand before the Judge and lay out in detail the new evidence and other legal reasons that entitled Mr. Lee to a new trial.

At approximately 5:00 p.m. on August 5, 2010, in a highly anticipated decision by a Ramsey County, Minnesota Judge, Koua Fong Lee was granted a retrial and released from prison! Later that day, the Ramsey County Attorney announced that they would not be retrying Mr. Lee.

See the back-story on the Koua Fong Lee Toyota Case below:

ABC News Special Report with Brian Ross--Part 1
ABC News Special Report with Brian Ross--Part 2
CNN Minnesota Man Jailed for Fatal Toyota Accident...Defective Toyota?
- See more at: http://www.schaferlawfirm.com/noteworthy-cases/koua-fong-lee-toyota-case/#sthash.zJ398r65.dpuf



Jury asks to see video of Toyota accelerator test






Ba Boom! Expert in Koua Fong Lee v Toyota trial -- Lee "stepped on brakes"

Jury asks to see video of Toyota accelerator test

  • Article by: RANDY FURST , Star Tribune
  • Updated: January 29, 2015 - 9:01 PM
Members want to view tests done on Camry’s throttle control box.
 
Jurors deliberating the liability case involving Toyota Motor Corp. indicated Thursday that they wanted to look at video that was played during the trial in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.
 
They finished their first full day of deliberations Thursday and will resume at 9 a.m. Friday.
 
 
 
Toyota is accused in a lawsuit of installing a defective accelerator system in its 1996 Camry, causing a crash in 2006 in St. Paul that resulted in the deaths of three people and a prison term for the Camry’s driver, Kuoa Fong Lee. Lee, his family and relatives of the victims have sued for damages.
 
 
 
 
Jurors asked for viewing equipment so they could watch two versions of a video of a test by John Stilson, an Illinois-based automotive consultant hired by Lee’s attorneys. The videos showed Stilson using a hair dryer to heat up the throttle control box that controls acceleration of the Camry.
 
The jurors were given an edited video shown at the trial and a longer, unedited version.
 
Stilson contends that when heated, two nylon pulleys in the accelerator system got stuck. Toyota attorneys argued that Stilson did not conduct the tests properly.
 
The crash occurred June 10, 2006, when the Camry struck an Oldsmobile Ciera at the end of the Snelling Avenue exit off eastbound Interstate 94. Killed were the Ciera’s driver, Javis Trice-Adams, 33, and his son, Javis Adams Jr., 9. His daughter Devyn Bolton, 6, was paralyzed and later died.

If jurors find the Camry was not defective, Toyota wins. If they find it was defective they must decide if the car’s design “was a direct cause of the plaintiffs’ injuries.” If they find it was, they must decide if Lee was negligent.
 
Depending on those answers, the jury may have to assess what percentage of blame, totaling 100 percent, must be attributed to Toyota Motor Corp. and to Lee.
 
They must also decide any damages for Trice-Adams’ daughter Jassmine, who was injured in the crash. If Toyota is deemed at fault, the jury can award damages to Lee, to the other passengers in the Camry and to Devyn Bolton’s mother and grandmother, Bridgette Rice and Carolyn Trice.
 
They must also consider damages for Quincy Adams, Bolton’s grandfather.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Families testify that Toyota crash has left powerful emotional scars




Families testify that Toyota crash has left powerful emotional scars



by: RANDY FURST, Star Tribune

January 21, 2015

Judge Ann Montgomery twice called brief halts in a day of emotional testimony.







In riveting testimony interrupted by tears and sobs, members of two families described Tuesday how their lives had been ravaged by a fatal automobile crash that they blame on an out-of-control Toyota Camry that struck an Oldsmobile Ciera in St. Paul in 2006.
 
Jurors in the federal trial heard testimony from Carolyn Trice, a grandmother who lost her son and two grandchildren who were in the Ciera. The accident upended relationships and shattered her family, she said.

“Our family is no family like it used to be,” a visibly distraught Trice said.

No one died in the 1996 Camry that was driven by Koua Fong Lee, but his wife testified that she worried she’d lose them in another crash.

“There are many times that I want to walk away from my family, I want to walk away from my children, I want to walk away from my husband,” said Pang Houa Moua, Lee’s wife, dabbing her eyes with tissues. She said she loved them but she wondered every morning, “how are we going to get through today, or can I make it home today, and I feel I am going insane.”
 
The emotional testimony caused U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery to call a brief recess in her Minneapolis federal courtroom so that Trice, who appeared close to breaking down, could gather herself.

Montgomery called another 10-minute recess after Moua ended her direct testimony and before cross-examination began.

The two families, one black, the other Hmong, whose lives dramatically intersected on June 10, 2006, have united in a single lawsuit against Toyota. The accident occurred at the top of the Snelling Avenue exit ramp from eastbound Interstate 94.

The families are seeking damages for pain and suffering and infliction of emotional distress, in addition to reimbursement for medical costs that exceed $1 million.

Their lawyers argue that the Camry had a built-in defect that caused two nylon pulleys to overheat and stick together, causing the vehicle to accelerate even as Lee desperately pumped the brakes in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the car.

The two families’ lawyers are expected to rest their case on Wednesday after a counselor for Moua testifies, then attorneys for Toyota will begin their defense.

They are expected to pre­sent expert testimony to support their claim that the Camry’s engine was soundly built, there was no defect and the crash occurred because Lee panicked and inadvertently pressed the accelerator instead of the brakes.

Earlier Tuesday, Nhia Koua Lee, Lee’s father, testified he was seated behind his son in the Camry and heard him yelling in the Hmong language that the brakes were not working.

Then, he said, the vehicle crashed. “I was so scared,” he said. He woke in the hospital, unable to move.

“I thought we were going to die,” said Moua, who was also in the Toyota and recalled her husband shouting that the brakes had failed. When the car stopped, she said, her daughter was screaming and her father-in-law was unconscious.

She said her husband’s demeanor has dramatically changed in the years since the accident. “He used to be very positive,” she said. “ … I can see he is not the same person anymore.”
 
She said he wakes up crying after nightmares. While he has tried to be a strong support figure for the family, “I can see that he’s not.”

During cross-examination, Bard Borkon, a Toyota attorney, did not ask Moua about her personal concerns, but had her acknowledge that when she had driven the Camry before the accident, the car’s brakes and accelerator worked properly.

Devyn Bolton, Trice’s granddaughter, who died at age 7 from injuries suffered in the accident, was “a sweetheart” who was athletic and friendly, said Trice. “She would light up everybody’s life.”
Trice said the far-flung family used to gather regularly for holidays, but has not done so since the crash.

“Family get-togethers aren’t family get-togethers,” she said. “My grandkids, they don’t like to stay at home. They don’t like to be around each other.”
 
Trial testimony is expected to wind up early next week.


http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/289248901.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue




Startling approach in Toyota crash case's closing catches automaker off-guard




Startling approach in Toyota crash case's closing catches automaker off-guard

  • Article by: RANDY FURST , Star Tribune
  • Updated: January 29, 2015 - 6:24 AM
In an 11th-hour bombshell, the attorney for the driver unveiled his theory for what caused a Camry to speed up in 2006: Each time the gas pedal was pressed, the car kept on accelerating.





In an 11th-hour bombshell in the federal case against Toyota Motor Co. on Wednesday, the attorney for the driver suing the carmaker unveiled his new theory for what caused a 2006 fatal crash.
 
Toyota’s attorneys appeared to be caught off guard. Since the car company delivered its closing arguments first, it had no chance to rebut.
 
Jury deliberations began Wednesday afternoon and will resume Thursday.
 
Driver Koua Fong Lee lost control of his 1996 Camry, said his attorney Bob Hilliard, because each time he tapped the gas pedal on the long exit ramp off eastbound Interstate 94 at Snelling Avenue, the car accelerated.
 
Lee’s Camry got stuck at higher and higher speeds, Hilliard said, so when Lee pumped the brakes he was unable to stop and he rear-ended an Oldsmobile Ciera stopped at a red light. The driver of the Oldsmobile and his 9-year-old son were killed instantly. The driver’s 6-year-old daughter was badly injured and died a year later.
 
Hilliard based his case on the testimony of his automotive consultant, John Stilson, who spoke only briefly during the trial about the scenario laid out by Hilliard in his summation. If the system is stuck and the pedal is pushed further, “it will keep binding,” Stilson testified, demonstrating a model of the accelerator device to jurors. “If you push further, it will stay there.”
 
Nylon pulleys attached to the accelerator overheated because of where they sat near the engine, Stilson said in court, and the heat caused them to bind.
 
None of Toyota’s witnesses spoke to the gas-pedal issue as described by Hilliard during the three-week trial in Minneapolis.
 
Instead, they argued that if in fact the accelerator became stuck, it stayed at that level and tests showed that applying the brakes would override the accelerator, rapidly slowing the Camry.
 
“It would slow down the vehicle,” said Lee Carr, president of Carr Engineering, in testimony on Tuesday.
 
In attorney David Graves’ closing argument for Toyota, he said that Stilson never explained how the Camry got to full throttle.
 
Asked after the trial was adjourned Wednesday why he held back his key points until closing arguments, Hilliard said, “I’m not responsible for spoon-feeding Toyota on how to defend its case.
 
It’s their responsibility to pay attention to how the evidence is entered, and listen to the witnesses.”
 
Toyota’s attorneys appeared upset by Hilliard’s closing. Graves, who gave the closing argument for Toyota, rose several times to raise objections, saying Hilliard was misrepresenting testimony, including Hilliard’s interpretation of a document. A Toyota spokesman said attorneys would have no comment on Hilliard’s closing argument.
 
What happened at the Toyota trial was unusual, said Cooper Ashley, a Minneapolis attorney who handles product liability cases.
 
“It’s rare that you have some primary theory of liability or defense theory, and get through an entire trial without somebody from the opposing counsel taking a shot at it,” Ashley said.
 
It is also unclear whether the jurors, who never focused on that aspect before, will embrace it, he said.
 
“It’s a risk that they may think that it should have been developed more fully during the trial,” he said. “The positive is you have a key piece of evidence that goes unrebutted by the defense.”
 
Hilliard buttressed his case by citing three other drivers who testified during the trial that they had experienced unexplained acceleration.
 
Hilliard argued that Toyota spent millions to make the case that Lee was at fault, while drivers for his side were paid nothing to testify.
 
Graves said in his closing argument that Toyota “is a corporate citizen and spent money” to defend itself. “It’s not cheap to run these tests,” he said.
 
Graves said Stilson had run four tests showing that the accelerator pulleys got stuck, but he insisted that Stilson ran the tests improperly. In the one test that Stilson conducted correctly, Graves said, the pulleys did not stick.
 
“There is no evidence that this was a defective design,” said Graves. He noted that the previous owner of Lee’s Camry testified that he drove the vehicle for years without any problems.
 
He also said Lee hit the gas instead of the brakes, and he highlighted Lee’s testimony at his 2007 criminal trial, where Lee said that he drove a truck and that driving the Camry was different.
 
“When I drive the truck and go to the Camry, I have to look down and see where the gas and brake is, so I can get used to it,” Lee testified.

Lee, convicted of criminal vehicular homicide, faced an eight-year sentence, and spent more than two years in prison before his attorneys gathered evidence of other 1996 Camrys that had unintended acceleration. Susan Gaertner, then the Ramsey County attorney, decided to not hold a new trial, but instead let Lee go free.
 
In seeking damages, the jury was instructed by U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery on Wednesday not to take the conviction or prison sentence into account if it decides to award damages, because Toyota was not involved in the criminal case and was not responsible for Lee going to prison.
 
Also in closing arguments, attorneys Bill Markovits and Anne Brockland, representing members of the families and people who were inside the Oldsmobile, made emotional pleas to the jury that they should be awarded damages to be paid by Toyota.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Friday, January 23, 2015

TOYOTA Recall notice from NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation





You are receiving this message because you have requested to be notified if there is a safety recall regarding Vehicles from NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.
Please click on the following NHTSA Campaign ID links to view the recall information.
NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 15V013
Manufacturer : Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing
Make / Model Years : TOYOTA / 2014-2015
Subject : Passenger Air Bag may not Deploy/FMVSS 208

Thank you,

Recalls Subscription Team
Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)



To file a vehicle safety-related complaint, please go online to our File a Complaint web page, or call us toll-free at 1-888-327-4236.

To find out more about NHTSA, please go to the Safercar.gov website or call our Vehicle Safety Hotline toll-free at 1-888-327-4236.


Report Receipt Date: JAN 16, 2015
NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V013000
Component(s): AIR BAGS
Potential Number of Units Affected: 4,971

All Products Associated with this Recall expand

Details close

6 Associated Documents expand

Thursday, January 22, 2015

NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation: TOYOTA RECALL





You are receiving this message because you have requested to be notified if there is a safety recall regarding Vehicles from NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.
Please click on the following NHTSA Campaign ID links to view the recall information.
NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 15V011
Manufacturer : Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC
Make / Model Years : TOYOTA / 2013-2015
Subject : Trailer Lights may Shut Off Due to Software

Thank you,

Recalls Subscription Team
Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)


Report Receipt Date: JAN 16, 2015
NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V011000
Component(s): EXTERIOR LIGHTING , TRAILER HITCHES
Potential Number of Units Affected: 1,140

All Products Associated with this Recall expand

Details close

2 Associated Documents expand

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

U.S. opens probe into 50,000 2015 Jeep Cherokee SUVs



This continues to highlight the failures of NHTSA and an Auto Industry run amok!

PROFITS are placed before SAFETY!







VIDEO ON LINK

U.S. opens probe into 50,000 2015 Jeep Cherokee SUVs

 



CBS News 8 - San Diego, CA News Station - KFMB Channel 8



The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday it is opening an investigation into 50,000 2015 Jeep Cherokee SUVs for fire risks after a high-profile fire in a San Diego-area vehicle.
 
The auto safety agency said it received a report of a severe engine compartment fire incident resulting in the total loss a new Jeep Cherokee. The report said the "vehicle was engulfed in flames approximately 20 feet high within seconds of parking the vehicle. The complaint alleged white smoke coming from under the hood immediately after parking the vehicle and while the ignition is off."

NHTSA said it has also "identified field report data submitted as part of Early Warning Reporting that relate to the alleged defect."

The preliminary investigation is the latest example of NHTSA's much more aggressive posture — with the government opening a formal investigation the same day it formally received the complaint.

The complaint said the vehicle was purchased on Jan. 2 from Perry Chrysler Jeep in National City, Calif., and had been driven less than 100 miles on Jan. 4 when the driver noticed an oil smell. The complaint also said either burning oil or fuel ran down the street over 50 yards — and said two San Diego TV stations posted videos of the fire (watch here and here). No one was hurt in the incident.

Videos posted by the TV stations showed a charred vehicle on a California street with some melted belongings.

"I was actually very afraid for my life," owner Margareta Knoos told CBS station KFMB-TV. Knoos said she had only driven it twice — including once to a park with her newborn nephew. Family members tried to help put the fire out.

Chrysler spokesman Eric Mayne said it is reviewing the incident.

"We are aware of this incident and our investigators are cooperating fully with NHTSA's preliminary evaluation," Mayne said.

A separate complaint filed on Jan. 5 said an owner of a 2015 Jeep Cherokee, while driving at 60 miles per hour, noticed smoke under the hood. The SUV only had 45 miles on it.
NHTSA has previously been in a long-running battle with Chrysler over older Jeep SUVs for fire risks with a different design.

In November, NHTSA's deputy chief said he sent an urgent letter to Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne, demanding the automaker improve its efforts to fix 1.56 million Jeep SUVs at risk of gas tank fires in a rear-end collision.

Chrysler recalled an estimated 1.56 million 2002-07 Jeep Libertys and 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees for the problem in June 2013, and agreed to install trailer hitches to protect the gas tanks. But it didn't start fixing them until August.
 
"They've got to get their act in gear," NHTSA's David Friedman told reporters in November.

"They've got to make sure that they are getting those parts in the hands of consumers. They've told us that they have nearly 400,000 parts, and yet we're getting complaints from consumers saying the dealers are telling them there aren't any parts."

It's the latest battle between Chrysler and NHTSA over the pace of recall fixes.
 
Earlier in November, NHTSA issued a consumer advisory urging owners of the recalled Jeeps to get them fixed immediately. Gas tanks on the older Jeeps are located below the rear bumper and behind the rear axle, and can rupture and leak gasoline if the SUVs are rear-ended. The fix that NHTSA called for involves installation of a trailer hitch to protect the gas tank.

However, the agency acknowledged the hitches will not offer much additional protection in high-speed crashes. Its investigation did find they provide incremental safety benefits in certain low- and moderate-speed crashes. Chrysler has said since 2013 that the fix would not address high-speed crashes in which most of reported deaths have occurred.
 
NHTSA says at least 32 rear-impact fire crashes involving the Grand Cherokees have resulted in 44 deaths, and at least five rear-impact crashes involving the Liberty have resulted in seven fatalities.

The letter from NHTSA came the week after a 23-year-old pregnant woman from Ferndale was killed in a fiery crash on the Lodge freeway in a recalled 2003 Jeep Liberty. Kayla White was killed when her Jeep was struck from behind, causing it to overturn and catch fire. She died of burns and smoke inhalation, an autopsy found.
 
Michigan State Police said they were nearing completion of its investigation of White's death.

In November, Chrysler vowed to step up efforts to convince Jeep owners to get them fixed. Chrysler mailed out 2 million letters in August and September to owners advising them of the recall. Chrysler plans to buy ad time on Facebook this month and is working to launch a video featuring a company vice president to remind owners to get recalled vehicles fixed.

The automaker has maintained all along that the Jeeps are not defective.

Chrysler said that as of last week, the company's more than 2,500 dealers had 58,600 repair kits on dealer shelves and more than 313,000 kits in regional warehouses. To date, about 10 percent of the vehicles have had the recalls completed. About 144,500 vehicles have been repaired, 47,800 inspected that didn't need repairs and 1,157 that were too rusted or damaged to be repaired.

The company also agreed to conduct a customer service campaign for another 1.2 million 1999-2004 Grand Cherokees. Chrysler will replace non-factory-installed trailer hitches to make sure aftermarket hitches don't have potential to puncture gas tanks. It will not, however, install hitches for vehicles that don't already have them.

NHTSA has been clashing with Chrysler over a number of safety issues. In October, it launched an investigation into Chrysler's recall of nearly 1 million Dodge Ram trucks for steering issues, prompted by more than 1,000 complaints from owners seeking faster repairs. And NHTSA said in November it was unacceptable that Chrysler wasn't starting until December its repair of 371,000 vehicles for potentially defective Takata air bags that were recalled in June.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Out-Of-Cotrol TOYOTA CAMRY hits house



It is unclear from published reports and inquiries if the TOYOTA CAMRY  [in the article below] was struck by another vehicle before ACCELERATING UNCONTROLLABLY.

If the TOYOTA CAMRY was struck by another vehicle that caused its WILD ACCELERATION, this will be the 3rd such incident that has been documented and reported.




The TOYOTA SOLARA that caused the death of Lily Quintus was struck in the rear before careening uncontrollably into her Day Care Center.




...skid marks revealed that the TOYOTA SOLARA driver attempted to stop.....






This nice lady is Noriko Uno....





...after Noriko Uno's TOYOTA was struck by another vehicle, the TOYOTA took off accelerating  uncontrollably.....





Is this another TOYOTA problem that NHTSA is ignoring?







This Toyota Camry reportedly had a mechanical malfunction, causing a minor crash in North Coventry, then causing the vehicle to travel into Pottstown out of control before crashing through the wall of this house at 259 N. Hanover St. Monday morning. KEVIN HOFFMAN —THE MERCURY

Updated: Car races out of control on Hanover Street, crashes into house




By Kaitlyn Foti, The Mercury
Posted:


Pottstown >> A driver lost control of her car Monday morning, causing her to speed through nearly one mile of Hanover Street and ending only as she crashed into a home at Third and Hanover streets, police said.

The incident began at 11:18 a.m. when the woman’s Toyota Camry was struck by another vehicle on the 422 off-ramp at South Hanover Street. Police said the impact cause her to hit a porch and lose the ability to brake.

“We are investigating whether it was driver error or mechanical,” said Sgt. Thomas McCloy of Pottstown Police.


The woman travelled at a high rate of speed up Hanover through busy intersections at Industrial Highway, High Street, King Street and Beech Street. Finally, she went through the parking lot at Third, hitting a grass embankment, launching into the air and hitting the porch and brick outer wall of a home on the 200 block of North Hanover, police said.

The 59-year-old driver took to the wrong side of the street to avoid traffic, driving northbound in the southbound lanes, police said.

When police arrived on the scene, the woman was out of the car and “was very upset,” McCloy said. Goodwill ambulance treated the woman for minor injuries and she was taken to Reading Hospital for evaluation, police said.

The accident caused extensive damage to the house, according to police.



Earlier version of the story:
POTTSTOWN ­­>> A car that careened out of control for several blocks on Hanover Street crashed into a house at the corner of Third and Hanover streets Monday morning. No one was reported injured in the house.

The visibly shaken driver was being tended to by paramedics at the scene.

Witnesses said it appeared the driver had a mechanical problem with her car while driving on Hanover Street in North Coventry, causing her car to race forward across the Hanover Street bridge and through downtown Pottstown. The vehicle crashed into the house across from St. Aloysius Church, witnesses said.



http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20150119/updated-car-races-out-of-control-on-hanover-street-crashes-into-house#disqus_thread


JUST MY OPINION ..... AT THE MOMENT.....