Automotive Legal News Articles & Interviews

Santa Clara, CA: A $55 million jury verdict brought against Honda Motor Co, in 2014 will stand, according to a ruling by the Pennsylvania Superior Court. The settlement resulted from a personal injury lawsuit against Honda that alleged the automotive manufacturer ignored a seat belt defect. The suit was brought by a man who claimed that defect resulted in his becoming paralyzed.

Santa Clara, CA: Three people familiar with Volkswagen defeat devices allege that the German automaker was aware that several versions of the software were made in order to “rig” diesel emission test results, according to a report by Reuters.

The Ninth Circuit revived the wrongful death claims against Chrysler Group that arose from a transmission defect in Chrysler vehicles. The federal court of appeals held that “genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether the “false park” defect in the Grand Caravan” caused the deaths of plaintiffs’ mother and father.”

Los Angeles, CA A massive truck accident recently caused the shutdown of the HOV and No. 1 lanes on the freeway just north of Pearblossom Highway in Southern California earlier today.

Detroit, MI Various complaints have dogged Chrysler with regard to steering problems inherent with some of their trucks. This week, the manufacturer made it official and pulled the trigger on a voluntary recall of nearly quarter million Ram pickups over the potential for "loss of directional stability," according to Chrysler.

Torrence, CA Toyota has agreed to pay federal officials $32.4 million in fines resulting from investigations into the handling of several massive recalls the Japanese automaker instigated in 2009 and 2010. According to a report on CNN.com the two fines - $16.375 million and $16.05 million – are the most severe allowed by law. These fines are in addition to the $16.375 Toyota has already paid for failure to notify the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration within five days of learning of the 'sticky pedal' effect. The so-called effect resulted in some Toyota vehicles accelerating without the ability to stop.

Tokyo, Japan And now, it is Nissan. The automaker announced today that it is recalling more than 2.1 million vehicles worldwide over engine problems that could cause an engine to stall, with the possibility that it could not be re-started in extreme cases.

Tokyo Toyota Motor Corp. has announced yet another recall. This time 740,000 vehicles in the US (1.53 million globally) are being recalled to fix a brake-related problem that may cause fluid leaks. The models recalled include the 2005-2006 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2006 Toyota Highlander (non-hybrid models), 2004-2006 Lexus GS300, 2004-200 IS250, 2004-2006 IS350.

Detroit, MI Chrysler is recalling approximately 600,000 vehicles because of brake or wiring problems that could cause safety issues. The recall, which affects minivans and Jeep Wranglers, was announced on June 6, 2010.

Philadelphia, PA A TV news item in Philadelphia recently featured a family of six standing beside their defective Ford Windstar minivan up on the hoist in a local garage. A mechanic was inspecting the vehicle because its rear axle had cracked into two, exposing rust corroded interior axel tube.