Toyota to turn over data from fatal Bellingham crash
The parents of a man killed when his Toyota Tundra pickup truck crashed into a tree near Bellingham three years ago may finally get the answers they’ve been seeking since their son’s death.
Sen. Maria Cantwell announced Tuesday she has secured a commitment from Toyota executives to turn over ‘black box’ data that could provide answers to the cause of Chris Eves’ crash, which was originally attributed to driver error.
Toyota has resisted family requests for the data, but with recent revelations about problems with some Toyota vehicles experiencing unintended acceleration, the company has now agreed to release the information.
Eves, 29, was driving a three-month-old Tundra on Oct. 26, 2007 when the vehicle veered and crashed head-on into a tree on a rural road north of Bellingham.
The truck never swerved. There are no skid marks and no clear evidence as to why he hit the tree. There’s only a final ominous note in the police file: “It remains unknown why the collision occurred.”
As the Eves kept pushing for answers, the Washington State Patrol said fatigue and Chris’ blood alcohol level, which was at the legal limit of .08, were contributing factors to him falling asleep at the wheel.
But as part of our Problem Solver Investigation, KOMO News obtained crash photos showing extensive front-end damage. And nearly every accident report we examined indicates this crash was at a very high rate of speed.
And that left Chris Eves’ parents wondering: How does any of that data add up to falling asleep at the wheel?
“I don’t think Chris would have hit that stump so hard if he had been asleep,” Lori Eves said during our original investigation. “I think his foot would have went off the pedal.”
Two years later, the data kept in the vehicle’s event data recorder (EDR) is the only way to know how fast Chris Eves was going. According to Toyota’s Web site, the EDR could have recorded speed, pressure on the gas pedal and if he’d tried to brake.
“I know that the speed of my son’s vehicle is on there,” said Chris Eves’ father, Ron Eves said in February.
But car owners need a Toyota tool and software to download the information from the EDR. And for more than two years, Toyota, citing corporate policy, had refused to help.
Subsequently, the Eves learned that their son’s 2007 Toyota Tundra was among the millions of vehicles on Toyota’s October 2009 and January 2010 recall lists for problems with the driver-side floor mat and accelerator pedal, either of which could cause unwanted acceleration.
And on Tuesday, under pressure from the U.S. government and a specific request by Sen. Cantwell for Eves’ data, Toyota relented.
“We will be glad to do so,” said Yoshimi Inaba, President and Chief Executive Officer of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. “This is our desire also to find out what has happened. And very, very sorry about what has happened to this family.”
In addition to Eves’ case, Inaba said the automaker will start making available to U.S. safety regulators all EDRs on Toyotas involved in sudden acceleration episodes.
The company will be delivering three data readers to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Wednesday and hoped to make the data more accessible to other systems by the middle of 2011.
Rob Kornfeld is a Renton, Washington State personal injury attorney.
Traffic stop outside Ashland results in large cocaine bust
An early morning traffic stop on Friday led Oregon State Police troopers to 13 pounds of cocaine hidden in a vehicle.
At 4:40 a.m. Friday, a trooper stopped a 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe displaying Washington license plates for speeding on Interstate 5 near Milepost 13, just south of Ashland.
During the stop, troopers and a drug-sniffing dog searched the car and found 6 kilograms of cocaine (approximately 13.2 pounds) wrapped in 1-kilo bundles hidden in the car.
The estimated wholesale value of the cocaine is about $150,000, but it would be much higher after the drug was cut with other substances and repackaged on the street, OSP Lt. Kelly Collins said.
“This cocaine could sell for close to half a million dollars after it reaches the street dealers,” Collins said.
Arrested were A male, 24, of Renton, Wash., and A Male, 28, of Seattle, on charges of delivery of cocaine and possession of cocaine.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have placed a federal hold on the suspects on the suspicion they are in the country illegally. They were lodged in the Jackson County Jail without bail.
“This was a large drug bust for us,” Collins said. “We’d like to have more of these.”
Collins said that OSP’s recent staff increases have bolstered the agency’s ranks enough to allow troopers to focus on drug interdiction rather than just responding from one traffic accident to another.
“It’s nice to have the back-up you need to make these large drug stops,” Collins said. “Before, we rarely had time to really look for drugs on the interstate.”
Collins, a 25-year veteran with OSP, said the agency has seized more hard drugs such as cocaine over the past two years simply because there are now more troopers on the road.
“I don’t think there’s necessarily more drugs on the interstate, it’s just that we now have the manpower to do something about it,” Collins said. “There’s always been a lot of drugs coming up and down Interstate 5.”
These are the types of people who keep causing these Renton personal injuries! If you would like like to file a claim in pursuit of financial compensation for your pain, suffering and medical bills call Renton Personal Injury Lawyer Kornfeld at 425-893-8712 to schedule a free consultation at a place of your convenience.
Wondering How Much Your Renton Personal Injury Claim is Worth?
No one can tell you exactly what your case is worth without fully evaluating all the facts. In most cases, an evaluation cannot be performed until your medical condition has stabilized and you have reached maximum medical improvement. At that point in time, your claim may be ready to be evaluated. An investigation will be performed and your doctor or other experts will need to provide final reports. We shall need to obtain all medical records and relevant documents to determine how a pre-existing condition may or may not have been impacted by your injury.
Visit Renton Personal Injury Lawyer to learn more or schedule a free consultation.
Questions About Wrongful Death
Q. What is a wrongful death?
A. Whenever someone dies as the result of negligence, a defective product or a deliberate act, a wrongful death has occurred.
Q. What is the difference between a wrongful death and a murder?
A. Wrongful death is a civil claim in which a person, loved one or family member seeks to recover a judgment as compensation for the passing of a loved one. Murder is a criminal judgment which seeks to compensate loved ones by punishing the perpetrator through time in prison. In some cases, while proof beyond a reasonable doubt cannot be proven, civil liability can still be secured.
If a family member of yours has died financial compensation is problably the last thing on your mind. However, your deceased loved one may have wanted you to pursue a settlement and time is sensitive for these types of claims. To learn more visit our Renton Wrongful Death Lawyers.
Police Seek Witnesses in Two Accidents
Detectives from the Washington State Patrol are seeking witnesses in two recent serious injury accidents involving commercial vehicles.
The first crash occurred just before 10 p.m. on Feb. 4 on northbound I-5 at the 88th Street NE. overpass. The crash involved two tractor-trailer trucks and two passenger cars. One truck was slowing down for slower traffic ahead when the second truck struck it from the back. One of the truck drivers was seriously hurt and airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The other wreck happened Monday afternoon on eastbound Highway 522 east of Highway 9. A dump truck crashed into the back of a passenger car, injuring three people, including two children. All three were rushed to Harborview, one of the victims with critical injuries. The car may have been stopped in the slow lane when it was struck by the truck, trooper Keith Leary said.
He said seeking additional witnesses is standard procedure when the patrol’s Major Accident Investigation Team is involved.
If you saw either of the collisions or know someone who did, please call detective Sgt. Jerry Cooper at 360-805-1192 or detective Curt Ladines at 360-805-1160.
Email Renton Truck accident lawyer Rob Kornfeld at Rob@Kornfeldlaw.com or call 1 (800) 282-4878 for scheduling a free consultation or case evaluation over the telephone, by e-mail or in person at a convenient location for you, either at our main office, a satellite meeting location, or at your home or in the hospital.