Last Updated on January 9, 2023 by CCAR Staff
A San Diego-based law firm is suing Toyota on behalf of a 9-year-old boy whose father died in a crash on Vineyard Avenue in Ontario on New Year’s Eve, saying the car accelerated on its own.
“Many Toyota vehicle models since 2002 had the tendency to accelerate without input by the user,” the lawsuit, filed Thursday, says. It calls the car “dangerous and defective.”
Five people died when an eastbound Toyota Yaris exiting the 10 Freeway collided into a sedan shortly after 7 p.m.
The crash killed all four of the sedan occupants — Matthew Joseph Pusateri, 29, from Mission Viejo; Anthony Andrew Flores, 30, from Hemet; Jeffrey Albert Willey, 29, from Huntington Beach; and Monica Marie Flores, 37, from Arcadia, according to the San Bernardino County coroner’s office. It also killed a 7-year-old passenger in the Yaris, Joel Michael Pineda.
David S. Casey Jr. of the law firm CaseyGerry is representing the 9-year-old son of Pusateri, who lives in Temecula. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, names at fault Toyota Motor Corp. and other Toyota entities, as well as Avis Rent a Car and the Yaris’ driver.
“The driver of the Yaris — who was driving east on I-10 near Ontario in San Bernardino County — exited the freeway on the Vineyard Avenue off-ramp, then slammed suddenly into the Toyota Solara,” Casey said in a news release. “She maintains that her rented Yaris suddenly and inexplicably accelerated to 100 mph, and she was unable to stop or even slow the out-of-control vehicle.”
The Yaris driver’s family had rented the car in Northridge for use on a trip to Las Vegas, according to the lawsuit.
Toyota Motor North America Inc. officials said in a statement they don’t believe a mechanical malfunction was the cause of the fatal crash.
“We sympathize with anyone in an accident involving one of our vehicles,” the statement reads. “However, we do not believe that any vehicle-based issue was responsible for this unfortunate crash, and we look forward to providing our full response to the court at the appropriate time.”
Several years ago, Toyota and its Lexus luxury brand vehicles were plagued by complaints of unwanted acceleration as well as investigations, recalls and lawsuits.
Federal transportation safety officials took an interest in the Ontario crash after the driver of the Yaris said the car began to accelerate uncontrollably before smashing into the other car.
The crash is still being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the California Highway Patrol.
