LOS ANGELES, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A $10 million settlement by Toyota in a sudden-acceleration lawsuit could set the bar for a deluge of similar suits the company is facing, analysts say.
The automaker agreed on the figure to settle a lawsuit filed by relatives of four people killed in a fiery crash near San Diego in August 2009, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The accident set off a string of massive recalls, congressional investigations and federal fines.
Citing disappointment that the amount was revealed, Toyota said in a statement it had made the settlement with the families of the victims so they could "move on from this difficult period."
"We are disappointed that the amount of this settlement has now been made public against the express wishes of these families and Toyota," the automaker said.
Toyota's effort to prevent the amount of the settlement from being made public, rejected this week by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, suggests it's concerned that the number could set the tone for the scores of other sudden-acceleration suits in state and federal court, lawyers said.
"Ten million dollars is a strong indication of admission of liability by Toyota," said Edgar Heiskell, an attorney representing the family of a Michigan woman killed in a crash blamed on sudden acceleration.
