Judge: 1st Toyota lawsuits to go to trial in 2013
The Associated Press, Santa Ana, California | Sat, 01/15/2011 9:17 PM
A federal judge says he expects the first lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. stemming from sudden acceleration allegations will go to trial in 2013.
U.S. District Judge James Selna gave the timeframe during a status hearing Friday in Santa Ana.
Selna is overseeing the economic class action and the personal injury lawsuits in the massive litigation that was consolidated in federal court in Orange County, California.
The so-called bellwether lawsuits are meant to test cases that will determine how the rest of the litigation will proceed.
The plaintiffs allege that problems with Toyota's throttle-control system led to the unexpected acceleration.
Toyota maintains the plaintiffs have been unable to prove that a design defect is responsible for vehicles surging unexpectedly. It has blamed driver error, faulty floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals.
