Toyota Motor Corp. recently reached a settlement with the family of a California state trooper and three relatives that were fatally injured in a high-profile car accident that was caused by uncontrolled acceleration of a Lexus vehicle in 2009. This case is one of the original cases that brought the topic of sudden acceleration problems to the media's attention, which ultimately spurred the massive Toyota recall of some of its vehicles. Details of the settlement were not made public in this wrongful death case. The wrongful death case was filed by "the family of California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, his wife Cleofe, their 13-year-old daughter Mahala and Cleofe's brother, Christ Lastrella."

According to news reports, the Lexus they were riding in accelerated to speeds as high as 120 mph before causing the vehicle to slam into another car and tumbling off an embankment. Additionally, the suit claimed that when Saylor attempted to stand on the brakes, the tire caught fire. The suit following the accident was filed in San Diego Superior Court in March and names Toyota Motor Corp. and other Toyota entities in the U.S. as defendants.

About one month after the accident, Toyota recalled floor mats in a number of its vehicles, approximately 3.8 million, which contained a certain type of floor mat that could cause the accelerator to stick. Additionally, it was determined that the Lexus's push button start also played a part in the accident. They found that the start button had to be held down for 3 seconds in order to shut off the vehicle, some believe that many drivers never knew this.

Source: Kansas City Star "Toyota settles lawsuit over high-profile California crash" 10/09/2010