Washington and Seattle Injury Lawyers Phillips Webster

Obama Plan is No Alternative to Bankruptcy

Law Blogger — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:13:21 +0000

Bankruptcy is rough, emotionally as well as financially. Yet it is there because the alternative, the debt, the creditors, the foreclosure, and the stress, is worse. Experienced legal professionals understand this and try to make things as easy on the person going bankrupt as possible, but 2005 the congress made it that much harder.

Yet in 2005 there wasn’t a financially crippling economy with over 300,000 foreclosures across the country every month. In 2005 there was the false impression by the federal legislative body that bankruptcies were the favored cop-out of the habitually debt inept. Riding on that notion they made it harder for the normal consumer to file either chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcies, but especially chapter 7.

What they didn’t take into account was that the vast majority of defaulted debt in the United States was done by large corporations, which had no change in regulation. This point though is for another article. Let’s focus on consumer bankruptcy and the foreclosure market in a horrid economy.

The Differences and Obstacles of Bankruptcies

In an economic crisis such as the one we are in one would think that many people would turn to bankruptcy protection for piece of mind and relief, but the opposite is true. Many are choosing to allow the bank to foreclose on their houses and the collectors to go unpaid. To understand this one must know the differences in bankruptcies.

There are two kinds of consumer bankruptcies, chapter 13 and chapter 7.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy –This is where there is an agreement made to pay off debts with future earnings on a schedule. Chapter 13 is most favored by homeowners because they are less likely to lose their home or other assets in the process.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy – This is where all of the debtor’s assets are compiled and used to pay off as much debt as possible. The debtor then walks away to start again. Chapter 7 is most favored by non-homeowners because generally they have few assets to begin with.

Many borrowers have to wait to save the fees required to start a bankruptcy. This can be tough when they have no job. Also time becomes a factor as their home slips into foreclosure. The problem is that the 2005 changes to consumer bankruptcy doesn’t allow consumers to save their homes like the rules used to. So many (if not most) debtors are choosing to allow their homes to go back to the bank. What’s the point of bankruptcy if you’re going to lose your largest asset anyway, right?

Obama and the Short Sale

So consumers are now seeing foreclosures as not only a viable option, but their only option. The chart below from the Center for Responsible Lending shows the demonstrative differences in people’s choices.

You may be asking why consumers aren’t working with their lenders for loan modifications and payments plans instead of foreclosure. The reason is because their lenders aren’t working with them. The rules are so restrictive and the housing market is such that people owe more than their home is worth. Many times they have two mortgages and even though the first lien holder may be cooperative the second lien holder is not.

The reasons stack against the consumer the farther one looks down the socio-economic scale. Their home may not appraise for enough, their debt to income ratio may be too high, lenders don’t lend to unemployed people, and so on.

This is where the Obama Administration stepped in this week. They have begun a program that is slated to take effect April 5^th. It will offer incentives to buyers, bankers, and sellers to sit down and work out what’s called a “short sale”.

Short Sale – A short sale is where a bank agrees to allow a person to sell their home for what a buyer offers (almost always considerably less) in lieu of foreclosure if they are the first interested buyer in a long period of time. The bank takes what ever comes out of the sale and the owner walks away without a foreclosure on their credit.

The problem is, banks don’t like short sales, but in the end it’s usually more than they’re going to get out of the house anyway after foreclosure, but they’re so used to the foreclosure process that they prefer it. It’s a matter of familiarity.

Bankruptcy Planning

The Obama’s short sell program offers bankers and buyers $1000 to sit down at the table and sellers $1500 as an added bonus. But either way, short sales and foreclosures aren’t the end of the battle. It is important to keep in mind that there is still debt and transitional measures you can do to ease your burden such as filing for bankruptcy.

Your debt load doesn’t have to hamper your future. Just like bankruptcy isn’t a magic wand, foreclosure or short sales certainly aren’t either. But to combine all of your options into a viable plan that is right for you is the key to making things smoother and easier, and the best way for you to transition into a financially stable future.

Call Phillips Webster today to review your bankruptcy options.

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Wrongful Death Suit Brought Against Police for Fatal Car Wreck

Law Blogger — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:57:15 +0000

Tony Arroyo of Grandview died following a police pursuit in 2006. Now his family has filed a federal lawsuit against police officers from Grandview, Sunnyside, Mabton and Yakima County.

The lawsuit specifically names Grandview Officer Travis Shephard, and possibly Mabton Officer Anthony Russell.

The situation that prompted the lawsuit was a police chase that began about 1:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 10, 2006. Grandview police maintain that Arroyo ran from an attempted traffic stop. They pursued him in a high speed chase and when he failed to negotiate a curve, he smashed his car into a bridge. Instead of submitting to police at that point Arroyo jumped in the Yakima River and didn’t resurface, they claim.

Family members searched for him and found his body the following morning submerged under the water in the Yakima River.

The autopsy done on the 23-year-old determined that he had minor external injuries and had apparently drowned. The autopsy also revealed that he had considerable amounts of alcohol and methamphetamine in his system.

Police said that, given the circumstances, he was lucky to survive the crash. Shephard remarked at the time that Arroyo never got close to him before he jumped in the water.

Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Arroyo’s parents, Evita Mendoza and Abraham Reyes filed a lawsuit in November in U.S. District Court in Yakima. Christian Jimenez, the mother of Arroyo’s two children, is also listed as a plaintiff.

The plaintiffs allege that Shephard or Russell committed either murder or manslaughter. The suit accuses them of using excessive force against Arroyo. It goes on to allege that these aggressive actions either caused or permitted him to fall into the river.

The lawsuit further alleges that, as other officers showed up at the scene, they did not attempt to assist Arroyo. The suit charges that, along with the officers on the scene, a dispatcher did not request search and rescue on that Friday morning.

The county’s search and rescue unit is run by volunteers and typically does not participate in searches involving criminal suspects because of the risk involved.

Perhaps some of the most damning charges are against Sunnyside and the county. The plaintiffs allege that employees at those agencies destroyed dispatch tape recordings and evidence photos connected to the autopsy.

Details in the lawsuit are left out such as what the plaintiffs believe happened at the scene the night of the incident. Seattle attorney Anthony Murawski, who is representing the Arroyo family, has not yet commented or returned calls regarding the suit.

The Suit Begins

Summonses were sent out and various attorneys responded this month by notifying the court that they would represent the defendants.

Yesterday, facing calls from the press, Grandview police referred questions to Yakima attorney Scott Beyer, whose firm is also representing Mabton.

Beyer has not yet responded to calls. Sunnyside’s attorney also remains silent.

Larry Peterson, a county civil attorney, was the only person who had any opinion on the lawsuit. He said he believes the plaintiffs’ claim will be shown as inaccurate in the end. They will also dismiss the claim that autopsy photos were destroyed by sheriff’s officials.

“It was a terrible mistake, but it was [Arroyo’s] mistake,” Peterson said about the pursuit. “It’s really disturbing that the family has this idea that he was murdered or manslaughtered. I think that’s really unjustified and unfair to the police.”

Wrongful Death Settlements

This lawsuit has a lot of serious accusations attached to it. The motivation for Arroyo running from police is not clear. Also the decision not to look for him after he jumped into the water is also highly questionable. What is in this case is the pain of the loss of a son and father.

If one of your loved ones wrongfully dies in an accident it is important that you hire an experienced legal firm in wrongful death litigation. Call Phillips Webster for a consultation on your legal options.

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CPSC Releases Warning of Baby Sling Suffocation Risk

Law Blogger — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:26:29 +0000

You’ve probably seen baby slings everywhere because even men are wearing them now. They’re shoulder strapped baby slings and in the last decade they’ve become big business. They come in everything from a simple piece of strong cloth to a fleece lined papoose style sling bag. As the popularity has risen there have been some horrible flaws found in what seems like a simple baby hammock. Babies are suffocating in them.

The Consumer Product and Safety Commission issued a warning today cautioning parents of the dangers and offered some suggestions on how to properly carry the baby.

Defective Product?

The CPSC has confirmed only seven infants that have died suffocated in baby slings in the last 11 years, but the agency cautions the number could potentially be much higher.

The commission warning cites, “Many of the babies who died in slings were either a low birth weight twin, were born prematurely, or had breathing issues such as a cold. Therefore, CPSC urges parents of preemies, twins, babies in fragile health and those with low weight to use extra care and consult their pediatricians about using slings.”

The consumer agency Consumer Reports cited that at least 37 other children have suffered serious personal injuries, including skull fractures, while either being carried in or falling out of the baby slings. That information led to a recall of some sling products in 2007.

According to the CSPC warning, “Slings can pose two different types of suffocation hazards to babies. In the first few months of life, babies cannot control their heads because of weak neck muscles. The sling’s fabric can press against an infant’s nose and mouth, blocking the baby’s breathing and rapidly suffocating a baby within a minute or two.”

The CPSC warns that additional hazards are, “Where a sling keeps the infant in a curled position bending the chin toward the chest, the airways can be restricted, limiting the oxygen supply. The baby will not be able to cry for help and can slowly suffocate.”

“A very young infant’s head will be folded forward. That cuts off the airway, and they essentially suffocate,” said CPSC spokesman Don Mays. “Another problem could be if the baby’s head could be nestled up against the carrier’s body.”

Between 2006 and 2008, sales for soft infant carriers rose 43 percent, to more than $21 million but there are no federal safety standards covering sling-type carriers.

Standards of Quality and Usage

In the warning the commission suggested standards be set industry wide for construction and durability. They said that during their investigation of the slings they are working with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) to create suggested voluntary standards in the interim.

The commission also pointed out that parents and caregivers should be aware that the infant’s face is not covered and is visible at all times to the sling’s wearer.

When nursing the baby in a sling, change the baby’s position after feeding so the baby’s head is facing up and is clear of the sling and the mother’s body.

They recommend that parents and caregivers should be vigilant about frequently checking their baby in a sling.

They also provided a handy chart recommending position:

Common Sense

The executive director of Kids in Danger (a non-profit group working on product safety issues) Nancy Cowles, told CBS News that the CPSC needs to “look closely” at the brand types of the slings involved in the deaths to see if “there does need to be a specific recall of specific products.”

Cowles pointed out, “It should be noted that women have been using slings for centuries safely to carry their babies.” She went on to say, “With these products, you need to make sure you’re using one that’s been recommended to you, that they have adequate safety information, either on their Web site or that comes with the product, and that you check with someone and that you see what your baby’s position is in it at all times, not just when you first put them in it, to make sure that it’s going to be something that will keep them in a safe position.”

Essentially she gives the commonsense suggestion that people constantly monitor the position of their baby regardless of whether the baby is asleep or not. It is specifically in this resting position that they are most at risk.

Cowles suggested that parents wait to use them until a baby is several weeks old and has more control of his or her head.

Defective Product Litigation

CBS News reported today on the warning and interviewed Lisa Cochran, whose week-old infant suddenly stopped breathing as he rested quietly against her in May in a bag-style sling, made by Infantino. He ended up dying of suffocation.

She told CBS that, “(Such devices were) highly recommended especially for breast-feeding mothers and mothers in general.” She went on to say in the report, “(They) kept (the infants) close to your heart, so they could hear your heart beat.”

Cochran, of Keizer, Ore., and who is pregnant again, says, “I, as a first-time mom, had no clue I could walk into a store and pick something off the shelf that wasn’t safe.”

She is suing the Infantino.

Infanto has issued a statement regarding the lawsuit saying, “While Infantino believes that its Slingrider baby sling is a safe product, the company is working with the CPSC to address the agency’s concerns and those of any parents and caregivers.”

The CPSC has another suggestion, “Don’t use slings at all,” Mays recommends. “There are safer ways of carrying your baby than in a sling.”

If you or a loved one have had a child that has been seriously injured or killed by a defective baby sling, it is important that you have legal council with a proven record of success in defective product litigation. Call Phillips Webster for a consultation on your legal options.

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Suspect Sought in Hit-and-Run Pedestrian Injury Accident

Law Blogger — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:21:10 +0000

A 66 year-old man, whose name was not released, was trying to cross the street in the 4200 block of Meridian Street in Bellingham on Wednesday night when he was suddenly struck by a southbound vehicle at about 11 p.m., said Mark Young, Bellingham Police Department spokesman.

The driver then drove away from the scene leaving the pedestrian critically injured and bleeding on the street. Medical Units quickly rushed him to St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham where he is listed in critical condition.

The Hit-and-Run driver left a fair amount of evidence behind including a black passenger side-view mirror believed to by from a late 90’s to 2003 Pontiac Grand Am. Despite the color of the mirror, there was a report of a red Grand Am driving erratically southbound down Meridian only moments prior to the accident.

If you have any information about this incident you are urged to call Bellingham Police at 360-778-8800.

These types of accidents are usually perpetrated by a drunk driver and only made worse when they unwisely decide to run from the crime rather than stop and help the person they may have just killed. Alcohol not only impairs a person’s ability to react but also their ability to make reasonable decisions.

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a pedestrian accident then call Phillips Webster for a consultation on your legal rights.

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Two Women Sustain Serious Personal Injuries in DUI Collision

Law Blogger — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:23:42 +0000

Two women in a Toyota truck were traveling down Northeast St. Johns Road around 12:43 a.m. when they suddenly and brutally collided with a Chrysler minivan in the 6500 block.

Firefighters responded with the department’s heavy rescue unit and a single fire engine. The famed hydraulic tool the “Jaws of Life” was used to retrieve one of the woman who was trapped in the pickup.

She had suffered “severe intrusion on the driver side,” according to Jim Flaherty, a Vancouver Fire Department spokesman.

Both women from the truck were transferred to area hospitals to be treated for serious personal injuries.

The woman driving the minivan was no hurt in the accident, but was transported to the hospital for examination as a precaution. Police are investigating whether or not the woman consumed alcohol prior to the collision.

If the driver is found to have been intoxicated it could mean serious charges are stacked on top of the DUI charges. These situations yield giant fines and in some cases jail time, which generally leads to loss of job and income. This didn’t have to happen. Please don’t drink and drive.

If you or a loved one are injured or killed by a drunk driver it is imperative that you find experienced legal council successful in working with every facet of the case from insurance to the court room. Call Phillips Webster today for a consultation on your legal options.

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Johnson & Johnson and Omnicare Face Lawsuits over Risperdal in Nursing Homes

Law Blogger — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:08:36 +0000

If you had any reservations as to the length a giant pharmaceutical company will go to make a profit then this story may be the one that convinces you.

The Attorney General of Massachusetts, Martha Coakley’s office joined a federal lawsuit yesterday against Johnson & Johnson. The suit contends that, beginning as early as 1999, J&J paid tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks to national nursing home medical products provider Omnicare to get its drugs, especially the powerful antipsychotic Risperdal, prescribed in nursing homes.

This comes a year after the generic version of Risperdal was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Officials J&J wrote in a business plan as recently as just a few months ago, “The geriatric market represents Risperdal’s second wave of growth. The aging population will continue to drive market growth well into the next century.”

This means that J&J intended to treat dementia patients with Risperdal even after learning about the side effects.

You see, the problem is that FDA specifically warned that Risperdal considerably raises a dementia patient’s chances of death. J&J might have intended to use early death of senior citizens with dementia as an engine for profit.

Risperdal

Risperdal is an antipsychotic drug that is used to treat schizophrenia. It quells symptoms of the mental disorder. In the mid 90’s it was also touted as a go-to drug for a myriad of mental disorders, but was severely reigned in by the FDA by the late 90’s because the side effects can be pretty severe. It is used for more mild conditions such as bi-polar disorder and over-aggression in autistic children.

The Risperdal side effects include:

Severe allergic reactions
Abnormal thoughts
Confusion
Drooling
Fainting
Irregular heartbeat
Persistent Flu Symptoms – fever, chills, or sore throat
Inability to control urination
Increased sweating
New or worsening mental or mood changes
Seizures; Severe dizziness
Stiff or rigid muscles
Suicidal thoughts or attempts
Trouble concentrating, speaking, or swallowing
Pensiveness
Unusual bruising
Vision changes

The drug now competes with the likes of Seroquel, another antipsychotic that is currently facing thousands of lawsuits for misstating the side effects.

Currently 1.1 percent of the US population is thought to have schizophrenia, but the antipsychotic market in the US alone was $14.6 billion in 2008. This is opposed to $580 million in 1997 to 2004’s total US sales of just $1.4 billion. It sounded as if J&J needed to find something that would really catapult the sales figures. They found it in Nursing homes.

Anatomy of a Crime

Files full of more than 5,000 pages of official documents were made public by J&J, ordered by the judge in the case as requested by news agencies. The records give a detailed account of a decade-long campaign by Janssen (a subsidiary of J&J) to convince doctors, regulators and insurers that Risperdal was superior to older, cheaper antipsychotics.

It is illegal for drug companies to sell their products for off label uses.

The federal lawsuit details an elaborate program by J&J and Omnicare to allegedly convince resident physicians in nursing homes to prescribe Risperdal. Within the documents released, one was from 1999 in which Omnicare offered J & J’s sales team a list of nursing home physicians who had been resistant to prescribing the antipsychotic.

“These names were provided to the sales force in an effort to increase the call frequency on these resistant prescribers and to eventually influence them to use more Risperdal in the elderly demented patient,’’ the e-mail said.

Another J&J document, this one from 2003, showed that doctors accepted recommendations from Omnicare’s force of 900 consultant pharmacists more than 80 percent of the time.

Between 1999 and 2004 sales of J&J products to Omnicare nearly tripled from around $100 million to over $280 million. Annual purchases of Risperdal alone rose to over $100 million, the suit contends.

Omnicare then filed for reimbursement for these purchases, seeking payment from Medicaid, the joint federal and state health program for the poor, which pays for nursing home care for many seniors.

Protect Yourself and Loved Ones

Omnicare agreed in November of 2009 to pay $98 million to settle federal charges it took kickbacks. This may only be a fraction of what they actually received.

Johnson & Johnson is still fighting and are vowing to take this all the way.

J&J spokeswoman Carol Goodrich said yesterday that “airing the facts will confirm that our conduct, including rebating programs like those the government now challenges, was lawful and appropriate.” She added, “We look forward to the opportunity to present our evidence in court.”

Making a profit something that drug companies are very good at. Accountability on the other hand is perhaps their worst trait. This is why lawsuits are so important. Profit is the only thing that the large corporations see and the loss of profit is the only way they’ll learn that they have rules that they need to follow. The rules aren’t there to punish them. The rules are there to protect consumers.

If you or a loved one have been adversely affected by the conduct of Johnson & Johnson, Omnicare, your nursing home, or Risperdal call Phillips Webster today for a consultation on your legal options.

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Two Teenagers Seriously Injured in DUI Accident

Law Blogger — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:53:50 +0000

Two 17 year-old boys were traveling west on Highway 302 about 3:30 a.m. in a 2002 Jeep Cherokee. About 4 miles from Belfair near Victor, they left the roadway to the left and struck a tree, according to a Washington State Patrol report.

The driver, from Gig Harbor, was taken to Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton and flown from there to Harborview where he was listed in serious condition.

The passenger, also from Gig Harbor, was driven to Mason General Hospital in Shelton. The State Patrol report said he also was flown to Harborview, but the hospital had no record of him being there.

State Patrol believe both speed and alcohol are in the crash.

The accident blocked the eastbound lane of Highway 302 until about 7:45 a.m.

Teenage drinking and driving is always a tragic situation that can ruin the lives of everyone involved. Please don’t drink and drive.

If you or a loved one are injured or killed in a DUI accident it is important to find legal council immediately. Call Phillips Webster for a consultation.

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Toyota Recall: Lawsuits and Accusations of Cover-ups Loom

Law Blogger — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:24:44 +0000

Valuable foot traffic declines at dealerships on rainy days. Now, rain or shine, clouds are looming over Toyota. They desperately try to apologize and advertise their way out of it. It seems on a daily basis there’s a new PR campaign to bail water out of sinking reputation and every day there’s another story filling the boat up again.

The stories are like lightening strikes and the Congressional hearing just concentrated them so that the seemingly impossible happens; all of the lightening strikes in the same place. And right in front of the eyes of the congressional panel and National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) chief Ray LaHood.

There are harrowing descriptions of sudden acceleration to the panel, Toyota says there is no evidence and denies the existence of the problem, and then the denied problem happens to a Prius owner on a highway in California for all to see and exactly the way witnesses described.

Now the lawsuits mount, an estimated $3 billion dollars worth, and there’s no stopping them. Independent research has begun to plague Toyota and there isn’t anything they can do but try to advertise and yell over it.

Toyota Alleged Cover-up

Dimitrios Biller was a loyal Toyota employee for a long time. As a corporate lawyer he diligently defended the company in product liability and negligence cases from 2003 to 2007. His loyalty, of course, was well founded in his $4 million severance package when he quit 3 years ago. But despite the large payout, he also carted away with him 6000 potentially damning documents that have now been subpoenaed and passed along to the Congressional committee investigating the recall.

Biller is also personally entangled in litigation with the auto giant. He says he quit because of what he alleges were “criminal acts” by Toyota — specifically, withholding information the company was legally required to turn over to plaintiffs’ lawyers during litigation.

“There is a regular pattern and practice of not producing memos, minutes, reports, and e-mails,” Biller said. “These documents can be used to establish liability against Toyota in product liability and negligence cases.”

That type of allegation could potentially yield criminal charges if what Biller says is true.

The chairman of a U.S. House committee investigating Toyota, Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-New York, has reviewed the documents. There are numerous references to so-called “Books of Knowledge,” which are highly confidential internal data on design, safety systems and testing records allegedly generated by Toyota engineers. The data covers everything from roll-overs and roof safety to sudden unintended acceleration.

Edolphus agrees with the damaging assessment of the documents saying Toyota has engaged in a “systematic disregard for the law and routine violation of court discovery orders in litigation.” He goes on to say, “The material, I must admit, is very, very disturbing.”

These Books of Knowledge were never revealed because Toyota was deliberately keeping them safely in Japan and out of the US court system by paying premium settlements before the Books were subpoenaed to be brought in front of a US court of law.

But the problem is that the materials did get called to be brought in front of a judge and Biller was specifically ordered not to provide them. He, of course, agreed so to protect his client.

Toyota insists on calling the materials “trade secrets,” said Biller’s lawyer Jeff Embry. “That doesn’t mean that you get to keep them a secret from the court system.”

Toyota spokeswoman Cindy Knight responded by releasing this statement: “Mr. Biller continues to make inaccurate and misleading allegations about Toyota’s conduct that we strongly dispute and will continue to fight against vigorously.”

Toyota Recall Lawsuits Come From Surprising Place

The personal lawsuits regarding the recall are now at 89 according to the Associated Press. Experts say that this could translate into $3 billion dollars worth of losses or more worth of just judgments and settlements, not to mention the hard costs.

These lawsuits are associated with the recall, but not with regards to the actual problems which were the motivation behind the recall. No, the majority of these lawsuits are related to resale value.

Toyota commercials, particularly run by local dealerships, touted thousands of time the resale value of Toyota being the highest in the industry. There is a popular notion that cars begin depreciating in value the moment you drive them off of the lot and that notion seems to be pretty accurate. That’s what makes cars a “Depreciating Asset” or an asset that loses value over time.

To off set this depreciation many Toyota drivers were attracted at the prospect of getting the maximum value they could for their return, which is understandable, since many of them paid for the total value of the car twice over in interest anyway.

Tom Baker, a University of Pennsylvania law professor, told the Associated Press, “A super-big injury case would be $20 million. But you could have millions of individual car owners who could (each) be owed $1,000. If I were Toyota, I’d be more worried about those cases.”

Yes, but Prius’ and other Toyota models are still accelerating out of control. One happened on Sunday to Prius owner James Sikes and now another happened just yesterday resulting in a knee injury accident.

Police said a 56 year-old woman was about halfway down the driveway of her employer’s house at about 7:45 a.m. when the Prius sped up on its own. The car hit plowed through a metal fence, jumped a curb and traveled across a busy two-lane road before hitting the wall. The crash dislodged large boulders and caused the air bags to deploy. The impact flung the huge boulders 10 to 15 feet.

Ironically, the driver was on her way to an appointment with the Toyota Dealership.

Toyota Addressing Wrong Problem

Toyota claimed recently in a commercial that they are working 24/7 and fixing 50,000 cars per day. The question is that are they fixing the right problem?

The NHTSA is investigating claims from more than 60 Toyota owners that their vehicles continue to surge forward unexpectedly despite having their accelerator pedals replaced at the dealership after receiving a recall letter.

Toyota denies that its electronic throttle is to blame and has been focused on dealing with the recalls. As private research mounts against this notion, their strategy could backfire in court.

“Toyota’s strategy (should be) to fix them, fix them immediately and at no cost, and do it as quickly and effectively as you can so after the dust settles, your car’s value won’t have depreciated much,” said Edward C. Martin, a law professor at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.

“We do not believe that electronics are at the root of this issue,” Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said Monday.

That is the type of attitude that got them into so much trouble. They are still hiding behind their Book of Knowledge which at this point has been opened and displayed for all to see.

Toyota Liability, Insurance, and Settlements

With all of this bad press and Toyota denying their place in the mess rather than taking the research to heart and actually fixing the actual problem it seems that the people that suffer the most are the customers.

The NHTSA has estimated 56 deaths due to sudden acceleration in Toyotas over the past five years. Tat translates into hundreds of injuries and millions of dollars worth of damage. As people investigate into the demise and injury of loved ones who drove Toyotas, the lawsuits will mount. Not to mention inquiries into insurance payouts by the insurance companies. If Toyota is found to have covered up the information, you can only guess the amount they will have to pay insurance companies.

If you or a loved one have been affected by the Toyota Recall, it is important that you have experienced Defective Product Liability council on your side to protect your rights and show you your legal options. Call Phillips Webster today for a consultation.

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Fatality Accident on Highway 97 Involving Commercial Vehicle

Law Blogger — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:25:32 +0000

A man lost his life speeding up to pass a commercial tractor trailer on Highway 97 just north of Ellensberg last night. As he accelerated, the car and truck went into a blind curve and the man was not able to estimate the degree and regulate his speed accordingly. This caused him to fishtail, lose control, and run off the road where he slammed into a tree.

Adam J. McRae, 21, was pronounced dead at the scene, said Washington State Patrol.

This is a more common occurrence than people know. Particularly on winding downhill mountain highways where the roads can be deceptively slick. It is always best to use patience, particularly when passing a large rig. There are many unforeseen hazards that come with commercial vehicles such as wind sheer, blind spots, and blindness from splash back during heavy rains.

If you or a loved one are injured or killed in an accident involving a commercial vehicle it is important that you find representation with experience in insurance settlements. Call Phillips Webster for a consultation.

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10 year-old Girl Sustains Serious Head Injury After Struck by Car

Law Blogger — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:50:16 +0000

Tragedy struck a Marysville family yesterday afternoon as a 10-year-old girl when she rode her bicycle between parked cars into the path of a car. Policemen at the scene said that the driver had no time to react and could not avoid hitting her.

The girl was not wearing a helmet.

She was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where she is listed in critical condition with serious head injuries.

These scenarios are a parent’s worst nightmare and just drives home the point that no matter what age you are, a helmet can save you from a brain injury that can rob you of your speech, you ability to move, you senses, and even your personality.

If you or a loved one are a victim of a serious bicycle accident it is important that you call Phillips Webster for a consultation into your legal options.

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