UT student opens lawsuit against Toyota

HOUSTON (KXAN) - A University of Texas student and her mother are trying to get more than a million dollars from Toyota Motor Corp. for a car crash they claim was caused by a faulty gas pedal.

The Houston-based Lanier Law Firm said that Anha Pham, 22, sustained back injuries, and significant lacerations in a crash allegedly caused by accelerator malfunction in her mother, Natalie Pham's, 2008 Toyota Camry SE. The law firm said the accident happened on Dec. 18, 2009 in the parking lot of Barton Creek Square Mall.

"When she was backing up the car, she released the gas pedal and pushed the brake, but the gas pedal would not return to normal," said Thai Pham, Anha's father who was translating his wife's Vietnamese during a press conference outside the Harris County courthouse Wednesday.

Anha crashed into another car. She suffered bruising on her face, chest and shoulder in addition to cuts on her leg.

Natalie Pham said she spent her life savings to purchase the car last year for Anha. A spokesperson for the Vietnamese community said buying a Toyota is the Vietnamese Dream.

In the lawsuit, lawyers have also gone after Auto Spot, the Houston-area dealership where the car was purchased.

"A car is not a cheap little piece of equipment," said defense attorney Mark Lanier. "It costs a lot of money and it ought to at least have the same safety features that you have in a blowdryer to keep it from frying you if it drops in a bathtub."

The Lanier Law Firm has taken more than 300 cases against Toyota for clients in Texas, California and New York.

In an e-mail response to Pham's lawsuit, Brian Lyons, the Safety and Quality Communications Manager for Toyota Motor Corp. wrote, "It is Toyota's policy not to respond to litigation inquiries."

Toyota has recently recalled around 8 million vehicles globally for possible floor mat and gas pedal problems associated with unintended acceleration The Camry has been among the recalls.