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Hirata v. Toyota Motor Company;
First Circuit Court,
Hawaii
Year of Settlement: 2002
Attorney(s) of Record: Robert Palmer
Type of Case: Product Liability
Nature of Injury: quadriplegic / paraplegic
Case Details:
A woman was operating a 1990 Toyota Camry, which included a motorized, passive shoulder harness and a manual lap belt. The woman was properly wearing this restraint system when a 1995 Nissan attempted to turn right and struck the 1990 Camry. The woman was 5’ tall and weighed approximately 130 pounds at the time of the accident. She was rendered a C4-5 quadriplegia. Plaintiffs alleged that the restraint system in the 1990 Toyota Camry was defective and unreasonably dangerous, especially to small statured persons. The shoulder belt in this system naturally rested on the neck of smaller individuals greatly increasing the chances of neck injuries in frontal collisions.
Toyota admitted it never sled or crash tested this restraint system with fifth percentile female test dummies. Toyota’s own fit checks showed the belt would rest on the neck of small occupants. Jaguar and other manufacturers of this type of passive restraint system had developed designs that helped remove the belt from the neck of small statured occupants. More importantly, Toyota in response to numerous customer complaints, designed a “fix” that guided the belt off the neck of smaller occupants; however, it failed to tell its customers or even its dealers of this alternative design.
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