It looks as if the defense team for Toyota is hoping to shift the blame onto drivers as one of the first lawsuits filed against the automaker is set to be heard. Toyota is facing nearly 200 lawsuits claiming vehicles experienced sudden acceleration, causing car accidents and deaths in 2009 and 2010. Litigants await the outcome, including those who filed claims in Louisiana. The cases have been consolidated in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California.

The first lawsuit, referred to as a "bellwether" case, involves facts from a 2010 case in which a Utah man hit a stone wall after exiting an interstate highway. He died as a result of the crash, along with one of three passengers. The surviving passengers stated that the man tried to brake, but could not. Police reports state that there were skid marks at the scene, indicating an attempt to brake the car.

If the changed strategy works, Toyota will convince the courts that it was driver error that caused the crash, which Toyota's strategy team will try to carry over to other cases. However, Toyota previously issued two recalls in 2009 and in 2010 for possible acceleration problems that totaled more than eight million vehicles. Also, the automaker has already settled in at least one other lawsuit for $10 million, after four people died following a crash in California.

Toyota argues that its vehicles routinely have a safety device in place that could have shut down the accelerator, but the victim in the upcoming trial did not have the particular system installed. The case is set to begin in February.

Source: Huffington Post, "Toyota sudden acceleration lawsuit defense revealed: Blame the driver" Sharon Silke Carty, Jan. 13, 2012