NOTICE: The audio and video below contain elements which may be considered disturbing. Following last and this weeks' hearings in DC, a shroud of relative quiet seems to have settled over the Toyota recall. At least this is how things appear, as in fact they are heating up behind the scene.
Most recently, the family of the dead California state trooper who was driving a Lexus which apparently crashed due to sudden acceleration filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court.
The filing of the lawsuit makes public some fiery details of the crash which took place on August 28 near San Diego and killed Chris Lastrella, 38, his sister Cleofe, 45, her husband, 45-year-old Mark Saylor, and their 13-year-old daughter, Mahala.
The lawsuit does not contain allegations that the cause is the unintended acceleration, despite the fact the San Diego County Sheriff blames the crash on the gas pedal becoming stuck in the floor mat. The "other avenues of unintended acceleration could not be explored," the Sheriff's report reads.
Even more disturbing is that a report surfaced, claiming another driver experienced a somewhat similar incident in the same car, a few days before the crash. This driver claims she notified the dealer, yet the dealer denies receiving any complaints or notifications.
According to the documents in the lawsuit, the Lexus ES 350 sedan "began to accelerate on its own" and kept on doing so despite attempts to "apply the brakes and otherwise do everything possible to stop". The Lexus ended up reaching 120 mph before hitting another vehicle.
The last living moments of the four were recorded in a 911 call made by Chris Lastrella. The recording finds Lastrella saying "Our accelerator is stuck ... We're in trouble ... there is no brakes." Elsewhere in the car, "hold on" and "pray" can be heard. After that, the call ends.
Most recently, the family of the dead California state trooper who was driving a Lexus which apparently crashed due to sudden acceleration filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court.
The filing of the lawsuit makes public some fiery details of the crash which took place on August 28 near San Diego and killed Chris Lastrella, 38, his sister Cleofe, 45, her husband, 45-year-old Mark Saylor, and their 13-year-old daughter, Mahala.
The lawsuit does not contain allegations that the cause is the unintended acceleration, despite the fact the San Diego County Sheriff blames the crash on the gas pedal becoming stuck in the floor mat. The "other avenues of unintended acceleration could not be explored," the Sheriff's report reads.
Even more disturbing is that a report surfaced, claiming another driver experienced a somewhat similar incident in the same car, a few days before the crash. This driver claims she notified the dealer, yet the dealer denies receiving any complaints or notifications.
According to the documents in the lawsuit, the Lexus ES 350 sedan "began to accelerate on its own" and kept on doing so despite attempts to "apply the brakes and otherwise do everything possible to stop". The Lexus ended up reaching 120 mph before hitting another vehicle.
The last living moments of the four were recorded in a 911 call made by Chris Lastrella. The recording finds Lastrella saying "Our accelerator is stuck ... We're in trouble ... there is no brakes." Elsewhere in the car, "hold on" and "pray" can be heard. After that, the call ends.