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Toyota has settled hundreds of sudden acceleration cases

(Photo: jeffkubes, via Shutterstock)

On the last day of 2015, Berta Orellana picked up her seven-year-old grandson from daycare in a brand new Toyota and headed on a road trip with the boy and two of her children, planning to spend the holiday in Las Vegas with her daughter who lived there. Orellana, then a 51-year-old delivery driver for Amazon, left the minivan she used for work at home in Northridge, California. Her husband, a musician who was skipping the trip so he could play a New Year’s Eve gig, had rented a 2015 Toyota Yaris for Orellana to use for the trip.

By the time Orellana noticed a few issues with the rental – shaking at stop lights and an odd buzzing noise when she stepped on the gas – the Avis Car Rental store was already closed for the holiday. Orellana initially wasn’t too concerned, as she would later tell California Highway Patrol (CHP) investigators, according to a crash report obtained by FairWarning, figuring the problems had something to do with the car being so new.

The Yaris had jumped a curb along the shoulder at the end of the exit ramp and skidded into a Toyota Solara stopped at an intersection.

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