SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Toyota Motor Corp. has settled a lawsuit over a 2009 crash in California that made sudden acceleration in its cars a national issue, the company said.
The settlement, but no details, were revealed in a letter to a California judge, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Mark Saylor, an officer with the California Highway Patrol, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law were killed when their Lexus, loaned to Saylor by a local dealership, hit an embankment near San Diego and burst into flames in August 2009. In a recording of a 911 call, screams of "there's no brakes" could be heard just before the crash.
Toyota's settlement with the victims' families did not include Bob Baker Lexus. That could allow the company's lawyers to argue, in dealing with other plaintiffs, that the dealership was to blame for the Saylor crash, lawyers said.
"Toyota has sought to protect only its own interests. They decided to cut out their own dealer," said Larry Willis, a Bob Baker lawyer.
The dealership has suggested problems in the car's electronic system were to blame.
Willis said he expects Toyota to request Monday that Orange County Superior Court Judge Anthony Mohr keep the settlement under seal. Willis said he will argue against confidentiality.
