Jeffrey Uno (left), son of the crash victim, attorney Garo Mardirossian (center)
and husband Peter Uno at press conference announcing Toyota lawsuit.
(John Guenther)

Los Angeles attorneys filed a lawsuit Thursday against Toyota in a case involving a "sudden acceleration" crash of a Toyota car that killed the driver last year.

The Camry model associated with the lawsuit is not included in the company's current recall. This means the liability suit brought by the husband and son of the victim could add to the public relations and mechanical woes of the Japanese automaker.

The suit seeks unspecified punitive damages and, if successful, will force Toyota to expand its recent recall to older model years because of sudden acceleration issues.

"We believe these vehicles have an electronics issue," said attorney Garo Mardirossian at a press conference Thursday. "Until Toyota accepts that and corrects the problem, these Toyotas out there are ticking time bombs."

When Peter Uno, the husband, sat down in front of the microphones, he held a framed photograph of his wife, Noriko Uno, against his chest.

My wife should not die," Peter said. "I have a message to Toyota Motors and president Mr. Toyoda and vice president Mr. Sasaki: please bring back my wife."

He then repeated his plea in Japanese with tears in his eyes.
 

VIDEO: Peter Uno, husband of the victim sends a message to Toyota president.

66-year-old Noriko Uno of Upland died last August when her 2006 Camry crashed into a tree at high speed.

Her husband and her son, Jeffrey, brought forward the lawsuit five months later when it appeared the cause of the crash was related to so-called "sudden acceleration," which is out of the driver's control.

The current Toyota recall, which began in November, covers 8.1 million vehicles and includes 2007 through 2010 Camry's. The Unos want to compel Toyota to recall all sixth generation Camrys, which include the 2002 through 2006 model years.

Toyota blames the acceleration problems with the models it is now recalling on driver error, floor mats and sticky accelerator parts.

But Mardirossian said at a press conference the current recall fix does not address the problem, and attributes the acceleration issues to difficulties with Toyota's drive-by wire system.

However, the lawsuit faces sizable obstacles. An individual plaintiff forcing a large corporation into a big and expensive action, like a recall, is uncommon, said Alan L. Calnan, professor at the Southwestern School of Law.

Additionally, because Uno was in the car alone and because the car was significantly damaged, there will be an extra burden of proof for the plaintiff.

"The plaintiff will have to disprove other possible causes and circumstances to suggest that it was a defect in the car that caused the crash instead of the driving," said Calnan. "It might be problematic in this case, especially if the car is not under the recall."

The Unos' lawyer filed the lawsuit on the same day the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced it is investigating problems with the braking systems of the Toyota 2010 Prius.

The accident that killed Uno happened on Aug 28, 2009, the same day an off-duty CHP officer and his family were killed in a now-famous sudden acceleration crash in San Diego involving a Lexus.

On that day, Uno was traveling on Euclid Ave in the City of Upland when witnesses say her Camry suddenly accelerated and quickly reached speeds close to 100mph.

Bystanders say Uno swerved to avoid other cars and veered onto the wrong side of the road. The traffic report concluded Uno then entered the median to avoid an oncoming truck and collided with a telephone pole. The car went airborne and finally smashed into a tree.

Uno was declared dead at the scene of the crash.

VIDEO: Attorney for the family describes the crash.

Jeffrey Uno, 34, said his mother was a very conservative driver and there would be no reason for her to be driving 100mph.

"She didn't like going on the freeway because it was too fast," said Jeffrey.

The complaint filed by the plaintiff says Uno tried to stop the car with the brake pedal and the hand brake, which was found pulled up all the way.

Jeffrey said he began to wonder if the cause of the crash was related to the news of Toyota's accelerator problems about a month after the crash.

Pictures of Noriko Uno who died during a sudden acceleration incident
while driving her Toyota Camry in 2009 (John Guenther).

Toyota started addressing concerns with sticking accelerators last November, and by the end of January announced it would stop sales and production of eight models.

The company said on Thursday a software glitch causes problems with the brakes on 2010 Prius models. Drivers of the model complain about a loss of braking ability when driving on bumpy roads.

Mardirossian said Toyota's acceleration problems go back much farther than the most recent Camry models. He said the car maker knew about the issue three years ago but chose not to respond.

Toyota's media relations department did not respond with a comment on the case before publication.

The Uno's attorney showed the local media who attended the press conference examples of Toyota Camry accelerator pedals. Mardirossian said Toyota in its current recall is attempting to fix the springs inside the accelerator mechanism. He called the fix a "parlor trick," which involves adding a shim to the springs to make the pedal come back more quickly.

He added Toyota should instead install brake override systems that allow drivers to stop a vehicle even if the accelerator is all the way down.

Attorney Garo Mardirossian shows the throttle of a Toyota Camry during
the press conference.(John Guenther)

Such systems have been available for 10 years and have been installed on car models made by BMW, Chrysler and Mercedes Benz. Toyota is installing the safety feature on all new models.

Mardirossian said there have been 389 acceleration complaints filed with the NHTSA for sixth generation Camrys. He wants to see Toyota install brake overrides on all sixth and seventh generation Camrys to address the issue.

The Uno case will go to trial in 2 years in Los Angeles County. A backlog in Superior Court cases is preventing the trial from beginning earlier.

In front of the news cameras, Jeffrey Uno expressed the difficulty of learning his mother had died in the car he helped her buy, and that Toyota knew about the problem.

"I know people make mistakes and cars are a product of people," said Jeffrey. But he added that those mistakes should be addressed when they're discovered.

"I would like see them own up for what happened, for the defects and warn people and tell them and correct the issue because nobody should experience the tragedy my family and I suffered."

UPDATE: Toyota's president Akio Toyoda apologized on Friday for the problems with the gas pedals in the company's vehicles.
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