Toyota sudden-acceleration settlement with family was worth $10 million

[DainBramaged]

Four people in a Lexus died in an August 2009 crash in San Diego. Toyota's settlement, in which it did not admit or deny liability, was disclosed in September, but the amount was not revealed until a judge rejected efforts to keep it secret.

Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit over a fiery San Diego crash last year that claimed four lives and drew national attention to the issue of sudden acceleration in its vehicles.

The automaker's settlement with relatives of California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor and three of his family members was disclosed in September but the amount it paid was not released then.

Toyota and the families had moved to keep the amount secret, but that request was denied by a Superior Court judge Monday. The amount was confirmed Thursday by Larry Willis, an attorney for a Lexus dealership that also is a defendant in the case.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-toyota-settlement-20101224,0,5017649.story

[TexasObserver]

1. Not surprised at all. Toyota is guilty as sin of negligence.

And not just negligence, but product liability and outright fraud.

Not surprised Toyota tried to hide their settlement cost, either.

[Hepburn]

2. Confidential Settlements have been outlawed in California for several years.

The reason is that a general clause in such agreements was that if anyone breached the confidentiality, they gave up something or paid more, etc., for some manner of penatly which was agreed to. Thus, this often caused more litigation ~~ claims that someone or some entity breached the agreement. The courts wanted finality in law suits and therefore, that ended confidential settlements for the reasons I stated.

Nice try by the Toyota lawyers ~~ no cigar. They should have known better than to try that kind of bull.

JMHO