A Toyota Prius owner had a frightening experience yesterday when the driver realized that his car began to speed up.  When the brakes failed to engage he called- 911. At a speed of 95 miles an hour a highway patrolman pulled up alongside and instructed him on how to stop the vehicle.

THE PATROLMAN’S INSTRUCTIONS WERE TO PRESS THE ELECTRONIC ON BUTTON TO OFF  AND THEN  HEAVILY APPLY BOTH BREAKS AT THE SAME TIME.

As soon as the driver did this the car began to slow down.  When the speed reduced to 50 mph the patrolman positioned his car in front of the Prius and began to slow the Prius down with his patrol car until they both came to a stop.

Ironically, the driver had previously taken the vehicle into the dealer and was told it was not one on the re-call list and did not need fixing.

Many of our clients don’t find out that they do not have enough car insurance coverage until they have been in a life-altering accident and it is too late.

Basic coverage that you need to have:

Bodily injury coverage -

This is the normal insurance that is required by law. This covers the cost if you do damage to another. The normal logic is that you need to insure yourself well enough to cover your assets because they are on the line. But the real importance of having higher limits is not just in  case you harm someone else, but it’s the way that these limits are tied into your uninsured and underinsured policy limits. Your bodily injury insurance does NOT insure you for any harm that comes to you!

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage – This safeguards you when the other driver cannot pay for your damages, either because they are uninsured or underinsured. Without it, you can only collect up to the limits of the other drivers insurance. Those who choose to drive without insurance or just the  minimum required, can actually get off without paying for your losses!

Medical payments coverage – Here, your car insurance offers a small amount of medical insurance. The advantage of this insurance is that it has no plan or group limitations. Also, it is available to use during the course of your medical treatment rather than having to wait until after the case has settled, so it really helps with medical bills.

Evidence has been given to support Toyota in their theory that mechanical failure was the cause of unwanted acceleration and that electronics are not at fault.

David W. Gilbert, an automotive technology professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale raised doubts that mechanical fixes for unwanted acceleration will solve the problem.

The director of Stanford University’s Center for Automotive Research, Chris Gerdes, and a consulting firm, Exponent Inc., said  “the professor had tampered with wiring to create electronic glitches that could never occur on the road.”

The professor’s work “could result in misguided policy and unwarranted fear,” Gerdes said.

“We do not believe that electronics are at the root of the of this issue.” stated Mike Michels, a Toyota Spokesman, during a demonstration at the automaker’s North American Headquarters in Torrance, California.

The Highway Traffic Safety Administration is trying to determine if electronic magnetic interference may be causing the throttle system to malfunction after receiving complaints from owners following recall “fixes.”

After a flood of complaints involving uncontrollable acceleration Toyota is planning an event at Stanford University Center for Automotive Research  to seek to refute a study by Professor David W. Gilbert of Southern Illinois University. Gilbert reported to Congress on February 23rd that he was able to recreate sudden acceleration by manipulating the electronics in a Toyota vehicle.

Since January 27, NHTSA has processed 686 complaints from consumers related to “vehicle speed control” on cars and trucks manufactured by Toyota.

U.S. safety administrators are investigating complaints from Toyota owners who claim recent recall fixes haven’t solved problems with unintended acceleration. NHTSA has received 10 such complaints from Toyota owners since mid-February.

The new recall fix complaints are adding to fears that Toyota has yet to get to the bottom of the sudden acceleration problems. Some experts feel the vehicles’ electronic control system could be behind the problems, and Toyota has hired an independent consulting firm to examine the issue.

David Strickland, the NHTSA administrator, said in a statement that the agency wants to “get to the bottom of the matter and ensure that Toyota is doing everything possible to address the situation.”

“If Toyota owners are still experiencing sudden acceleration incidents after taking their cars to the dealership, we want to know about it.” Strickland said.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated,  ”We need to get to the point in society, where aggressive driving is simply not acceptable. To reduce injuries and deaths resulting from aggressive driving, public awareness must be raised. Prosecutors should develop guidelines on the uniformity and consistency in charging and disposing of cases. Law enforcement should reflect the seriousness by convicting the aggressive driver of every violation committed.”

The Motorcoach Safety Action Plan  lays out concrete steps for improving motorcoach safety across the board, addressing issues of driver fatigue and inattention, vehicle rollover, occupant ejections and oversight of unsafe carriers.

“We are committed to making sure that bus travelers reach their destinations safely,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today. “These improvements will not only help reduce the number of motorcoach crashes, it will also help save lives and reduce injuries.”

While motorcoach travel is a very safe mode of transportation in the U.S. carrying 750 million passengers annually, an average of 19 occupants are killed in crashes each year according to data collected by NHTSA. More fatalities result among pedestrians and other vehicles involved in these crashes.

Health care reform should improve safety, not restrict rights of patients The American Association for Justice is reminding lawmakers to remember the 98,000 patients killed each year by preventable medical errors and how restricting their legal rights will not fix the broken health care system.

AAJ President Anthony Tarricone stated “If Health Care Reform makes medicine safer, then fewer patients will need legal recourse – a win for everyone. But it is unconscionable to tell injured patients that they should be left with no recourse if injured through no fault of their own.”

Contingency fees offer personal injury clients a valuable advantage. They enable anyone who suffers an injury to bring a lawsuit without having the money up-front to pay an attorney.

With contingency fees, attorneys agree to accept a portion of the recovery and agree that if the client does not win and there is no recovery, there will be no fee.

Contingency fees give everyone–regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, age, or other factors–an equal chance to have their day in court, no matter what their financial resources may be. Individuals with limited assets can sue the richest most powerful corporations, which often have unlimited money for legal defense fees.

It also promotes efficiency and discourages frivolous lawsuits by motivating lawyers to make sure that the cases they accept have legitimacy and merit. It discourages wrongdoers from continuing inappropriate behaviors.

An off-duty police officer was killed in a four-vehicle collision that occurred in Diamond Bar last Thursday.  The collision was brought on by a head-on crash that occurred on Grand Avenue.

One vehicle was headed north on Grand Avenue when it crashed head-on with a southbound vehicle.  Two other vehicles then slammed into the vehicles that had already been wrecked.  While the driver of a small pickup truck was airlifted to Los Angeles, the off duty police officer was tragically killed in the crash.  Two adults and a teenager from a larger pickup truck were also injured and transported to an area hospital to be treated for their injuries.  Authorities are trying to determine the cause of the fatal accident.