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.
Afton woman charged with criminal vehicular homicide
A 19-year-old Afton woman was charged today with criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the death of a Stillwater woman in a car crash last week.
Alicia Rae Haupert appeared in court this morning and bail was set at $40,000, according to the Washington County Attorney’s office. She is being held at the Washington County Jail.
Killed in the crash was Andrea Barbara Zimmerman, 20, who was a passenger in a car driven by Haupert.
Police say Haupert was driving a 2006 Pontiac G6 south on Minnesota 95 in May Township about 8:30 a.m. Friday when she lost control of the car and slid sideways off the road. The car rolled over and struck an electric pole near 144th Street.
The other passenger in the vehicle was the owner of the car — Trisha L. Hughes, 20, of Lake Elmo. Hughes, who was sitting in the front seat, and Haupert had minor injuries.
All three had been drinking and were not wearing seat belts, according to the State Patrol.
Haupert told police she was going 55 mph when she hit some black ice, according to the criminal complaint filed in Washington County District Court. When she tried to correct the car’s movement, the car “fish-tailed” and spun out of control, the complaint states. There were no other vehicles in the area.
Haupert told police she had been drinking vodka mixed with Full Throttle — an energy drink — the night before the accident. She said she stopped drinking about midnight and “went to another house and fell asleep around 4 a.m.,” according to the complaint. Haupert said she and her friends left about 8 a.m. so she could go to work.
According to the criminal complaint, Hughes said she had seven or eight shots of vodka the previous evening and that Haupert “drank more than she did.”
Haupert told police she “did not remember how much she had to drink the night before … and did not feel that what she had to drink affected her ability to drive.” A preliminary breath test at the scene of the accident indicated that she had an alcohol concentration of 0.108; the legal limit is 0.08.
The funeral service for Zimmerman, who was a 2008 graduate of Stillwater Area High School, will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Stillwater. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 tonight at Simonet Funeral Home, 6429 Osgood Ave. N., and one hour before the service at the church.
Washington County Attorney Doug Johnson said his office is also reviewing police reports indicating who furnished the liquor to the women, who were all underage. He said criminal charges against the individual who furnished the liquor may be forthcoming.
Mary Divine can be reached at 651-228-5443.
Rob Kornfeld represents clients who have suffered major personal injuries caused by motor vehicle collisions which can result in wrongful death. There are many types of accidents which can cause serious personal injuries that can last a……..more on Washington Car Accident Lawsuits
Police report: One dead, four injured in head-on wrongway crash
A medical problem may have led an Oregon man to black out while driving, which in turn led to an accident that injured four Vancouver residents, one critically, and killed the Oregon man.
The Oregon State Police identified the Vancouver residents as Terry Bradbury, 43; Charles Bradbury, 14; Ashlee Bradbury, 15; and Dawn Nicole Misener, 17. All were taken to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, where Ashlee Bradbury was reported in critical condition Saturday afternoon. Terry Bradbury was reported in serious condition and Charles Bradbury was in stable condition. There was no report available for Misener.
Police said all four were expected to survive the accident.
The accident occurred at 5:35 p.m. Friday on Highway 26 near Boring, Ore. A 2008 Toyota Prius driven by Anthony Petereit, 53, of Boring, was eastbound in the westbound lanes when it struck the Chevrolet S10 pickup that Terry Bradbury was driving.
According to a police news release, Petereit had some health problems, including diabetes, and may have blacked out at the wheel, allowing the Toyota to cross a grassy median and roll into the oncoming lanes.
Petereit, who had been on his way home from work, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Man Killed in Crash With Dump Truck
Montgomery County investigators are probing a wreck that killed a 90-year-old driver who drove a silver Honda Civic into a curb and onto a yard, hit a sign, and crashed into a dump truck.
The motorist, Edward F. Hawkins of Silver Spring, died Tuesday night at Suburban Hospital, about six hours after the accident at the corner of Georgia Avenue and August Drive, which is about two miles north of downtown Silver Spring.
The dump truck driver, 70, was not injured, police said.
Crash investigators believe that at 1:22 p.m. Tuesday, Hawkins was driving south on Georgia Avenue and made a left onto August Drive. He turned too wide, and the Civic struck cement steps, traveled onto a grassy area at the corner and hit a pedestrian-crossing sign, police said.
Hawkins then steered the Civic back onto August Drive, hitting a 2003 Peterbilt truck, according to police.
The dump truck was stationary, waiting at a red light, according to police. Investigators ask anyone with information about the crash to call 301-840-2435.
Pe Ell Man Shot With Crossbow
The Lewis County sheriff’s office says a Pe Ell (pee-EL’) man was shot with a crossbow by an attacker who hid and waited outside his house.
The 26-year-old victim also was stabbed in the attack about 8 p.m. Wednesday and was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with severe head and chest injuries. He’s reported in stable condition.
Deputies are looking for the attacker they have identified as 33-year-old Lehman Neil Delavergne (del-ah-vern-ee).
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Stacy Brown says investigators aren’t yet releasing any information about a possible motive.
If you have sustained injuries due to the maliciousness of another, punitive damages shoudl be an option. Contact our injury attorneys today for a free consultation.
Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against Police
The family of mentally disabled man, who died in police custody after being shot twice with a Taser stun gun, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Fort Worth and one of its police officers. The lawsuit comes after a local medical examiner in Texas declared the man’s death a homicide caused by use of the Taser.
Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., 24, died after being jolted with a Taser by police when they responded to a call that he was causing a disturbance outside his family’s home on April 18. The first Taser shot was used to deliver 50,000 volts of electricity for 49 seconds, which is substantially longer than the standard five seconds. After the extended shock, Jacobs was shocked a second time for five more seconds.
The medical examiner, Nizam Peerwani, ruled that the cause of Jacob’s death was “sudden death during neuromuscular incapacitation due to application of a conducted energy device.” There were no signs of drugs or abnormal conditions which could have contributed to his death, according to Peerwani’s report.
Wrongful death cases are usually brought on behalf of the deceased by his or her close family members. Common types of wrongful death cases include:
- Medical mistakes
- Car or airplane accidents
- Criminal attacks
- Work-related exposure to dangerous conditions or substances
- Death during a supervised activity
If you think you have a Renton, Washington wrongful death claim we welcome you to contact our Renton wrongful death lawyers for a free consultation at a time and place of your convenience.