Earlier this month, the family of a woman from Boca Raton filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Toyota. The woman died from carbon monoxide poisoning and the lawsuit alleges that the wrongful death stems from problems with Toyota’s keyless ignition. The lawsuit claims that after the woman’s Lexus failed to shut off in the garage, carbon monoxide gas entered her townhome through the ventilation system, allegedly leading to her death and to her boyfriend suffering serious injuries. As a Fort Lauderdale Wrongful Death Lawyer, I feel that it is important to note that the plaintiffs are also suing the woman’s apartment complex over the aforementioned ventilation system.
The lawsuit is alleging that the car should have some monitor to detect when someone has failed to shut off the car via the keyless ignition. As a Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney, I am very curious to see how this case will be resolved. If Toyota is found liable, this could be one of the first of many lawsuits related to keyless ignition systems. It will also be interesting to see if car companies respond with a monitoring system that would shut off keyless ignition vehicles that are left running for an extended period of time.
I know that another lawsuit of this nature was filed in November 2010. The woman in that lawsuit is also suing Toyota after suffering brain damage. As a Fort Lauderdale Accident Lawyer, it will be interesting to see how the two courts in two different states rule in these two cases. As I mentioned, these two cases could set the precedent for many cases to come as more and more cars transition to a keyless ignition system.
The Schulman Law Group is a personal injury law firm located in Weston, FL that is committed to representing personal injury victims, including victims of Fort Lauderdale wrongful deaths. Please visit our website at www.schulaw.com. For a free consultation, please call us at (877) LAW-0444 or email us.
