Whistleblower lawsuit accuses Toyota of concealing evidence in hundreds of rollover accidents.

According to the LA TIMES, "Toyota spent years concealing evidence from victims of hundreds of rollover accidents that resulted in death and injury, a former top lawyer for the automaker says." Dimitrios P. Biller of Pacific Palisades, "a former managing counsel for Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., said in the suit that the company repeatedly forced him to illegally withhold information from opposing lawyers and made him resign in September 2007."

In the July 24 lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles, "Biller accuses the world's largest automaker of destroying data in more than 300 accidents that proved vehicle roofs were substandard." Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, "said that if what Biller says is true, the financial repercussions for Toyota could be massive."

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SOURCE - LA TIMES

2010 - Vehicle safety tests to become more rigorous - Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

NATIONWIDE - In a column in the Wall Street Journal (8/25), Joseph White writes that beginning with 2010 models, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety will require that vehicles meet higher standards for roof strength in order to receive its top safety pick rating.

In addition, starting with 2011 models, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will make its crash tests more rigorous.

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ROLL OVER CRASHES - cause fatalities & serious injuries in the United States including FLORIDA

Every year in the United States, more than 10,000 people are killed in rollover accidents, and some 24,000 more are seriously injured. SUVs and pickups are the most rollover-prone vehicles. Some say that tougher standards and more rigorous testing are urgently needed.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's report published in 2008 - Roof Strength and Injury Risk in Roll over crashes is available by clicking on the following link:

www.iihs.org/research/topics/pdf/r1098.pdf

NHTSA upgrades roof strength regulation. "The long-awaited federal upgrade of the 35-year-old regulation governing vehicle roof strength will save 135 lives, prevent more than 1,000 injuries and add up to $1.4 billion annually to the cost of new cars, the Transportation Department said."

The new regulation boosts the requirement to three (3) times to the weight for vehicles up to 6,000 pounds. Vehicles weighing from 6,000 to 10,000 pounds must meet 1.5 times standard. It said that the new regulation will add $54 per vehicle.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, "These new standards go a long way toward reducing deaths, but safety belts are the first, most important step everyone should take to protecting themselves and their families."

If you or a loved one has been injured in a roll over vehicle crash, call the TRIPP LAW FIRM for an immediate injury case evaluation. Our injury law team is available 24 hours a day to discuss your concerns. Florida Injury Attorney G. Alan Tripp, Jr., and his staff investigators are available by calling toll-free (888) 392-LAWS (5297).

NO FEES OR COSTS IF NO RECOVERY.

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