Toyota in triple-fatal case towed from St. Paul police impound lot

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.twincities.com/ci_16103699

By Emily Gurnon
Updated: 09/17/2010 05:24:31 PM CDT

[e-mail]

The 1996 Camry belonging to Koua Fong Lee was towed this morning to a secure storage center in Lakeville, Lee's attorney, Brent Schafer, said.

The now-infamous sedan was involved in a triple-fatality in St. Paul on June 10, 2006, after which Lee was convicted of criminal vehicular homicide and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Lee, 32, was released from prison Aug. 5 after a judge granted him a new trial and prosecutors dropped the charges. Schafer and his co-counsel, Robert Hilliard, had argued that Lee's case deserved new scrutiny in light of widespread recalls of newer Toyotas for sudden acceleration problems.

Lee's car rear-ended another vehicle at Snelling and Concordia avenues as he was driving home from church with his family.

Killed were Javis Trice-Adams Sr., 33, of St. Paul, his son Javis Jr., 9, of Kansas City, Mo., and his niece, Devyn Bolton, 7, of St. Paul.

The victims' families have filed suit against Toyota, making the car the subject of what is sure to be protracted litigation.

FULL story at link.

[Omaha Steve]

1. Kick

[madokie]

2. Toyota is not going to admit fault ever

I don't think that the NTSB should let them sell another vehicle until they can prove that their autos does not have a problem with sudden acceleration. After all it is you and I who is in danger as long as there are Toyota's on the street. Every time we go out on the hiway we're taking chances anyway but when you think about the number of Toyota's that are on the roads too and any one of them could have a problem with sudden acceleration our chances of harm increases. Personally I think the mechanism that controls the throttle plate in the engine and the transmission engagement should only be allowed to be by a mechanical connection. Hydraulically maybe but not electronically. I wonder how many people have been harmed or died because of this problem that we don't even know about due to the deaths or impairments of the people who were driving the damn things. I really think there should be a real in-depth investigation into this drive by wire and shift by wire that many autos have now.