The case started the recall of 6.5 million Toyota vehicles for sudden acceleration problems and other safety issues. On August 28, 2009, California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, who was off-duty at the time, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law were killed after their Lexus ES 350 vehicle suddenly accelerated to 120 mph then flipped over and burst into flames in a San Diego freeway.
The accelerator pedals of other Toyota vehicles were later found to be sticking to floor mats and the company issued the recall. The California wrongful death suit was filed in San Diego Superior Court in March and the amount of the settlement was not disclosed until Monday when the judge ruled for it to be made public. About 89 crash deaths are being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration for possible links to sudden unexplained acceleration (SUA). The California wrongful death suit which involved the Saylor family sparked a wave of other lawsuits filed against Toyota.