If you're a New York personal injury attorney, you might want to sit up and listen to the Toyota news. After last Tuesday's widely broadcasted Prius chase and subsequent press conference in San Diego, on Wednesday came news of another runaway Prius.
This time, it was in New York.
But how could New Yorkers have heard of the local unintended acceleration incident when the San Diego Prius incident has been hogging the news?
San Diego's runaway Prius incident allegedly involved unintended acceleration; causing the California driver, online porn website owner James Sikes, to accelerate upwards of 90 miles per hour, weaving in and out of traffic with the California Highway Patrol shadowing the vehicle.
Of course, many are now shouting "Prius hoax" in the San Diego incident, citing that many of James Sikes' claims are unfounded and that the driver needed unreasonably long arms in order to grab the brake pedal and steering wheel at the same time-- a claim he allegedly made in his widely publicized press conference held a few hours after his Prius chase.
The overlooked New York Prius incident happened in a driveway, where the driver allegedly claimed that her gas pedal became stuck. As a result, the 56-year old housekeeper crashed the 2005 Prius into a stone wall, sustaining no injuries to herself but severe damage to the vehicle.
Unlike the San Diego incident, there was no subsequent press conference in the New York Prius incident.
The car crash occurred in Harrison, which is an affluent area just north of New York City. The Department of Transportation is investigating the New York Prius incident. Currently, the New York Prius incident is not being criticized as another Prius hoax. Unfortunately for Sikes, numerous posts on the Internet have appeared, shedding skepticism on his claims and mocking his Prius hoax.
Although New York is not much of a driving city, New York personal injury attorneys have their fair share of car accidents to deal with, given the density of the city's driving area. As a result, New York has a no-fault insurance law for car accidents.
This provision of New York law might not necessarily be helpful to any New York personal injury attorney in this case, as the Toyota lawsuits fall into the realm of products liability. Nevertheless, the public probably has not heard the end of the runaway Prius stories.
Both runaway Priuses involved, the San Diego Prius and the New York Prius, are being investigated by authorities, to determine whether a product defect was, in fact, the reason for the unintended acceleration.
Related Resources
- New York's No Fault Insurance Law (NY State)
- In New York, Another Runaway Prius (Washington Post)
- Toyota Recalls and Lawsuits (FindLaw's Injury Center)
- Find a New York Personal Injury Attorney (FindLaw Directory)
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