Rediker v. Toyota
In the Superior Court of Vermont, the plaintiff claimed that a spontaneous deployment of the driver’s side airbag in his Tacoma pickup truck caused him to lose control, go off the roadway and rollover. He alleged permanent and debilitating upper torso injuries. The case was dismissed with prejudice with no payment by Toyota after a Summary Judgment Motion was filed. The grounds for the motion were (1) information retrieved from the truck’s event data recorder (EDR) during a vehicle inspection proved the airbag deployed as a result of the crash and did not cause it and (2) Vermont law required expert testimony to prove a defect. Since the plaintiff had failed to identify any experts within the discovery schedule deadlines, the case was dismissed and a judgment entered for Toyota.
