2 owners in Columbia area file suit against Toyota

COLUMBIA -- Odessa White said she put her foot on the brake of her Toyota Avalon as she neared Garners Ferry Road three weeks ago.

But the car kept going past the stop sign and into the path of an oncoming car, according to a lawsuit that White filed March 16 in Richland County.

White's is one of two local lawsuits filed against Toyota amid a massive worldwide recall over stuck accelerators. Linda Alford Wooten of Lexington filed a federal suit in Columbia that called her 2009 Toyota Camry "unreasonably dangerous" because of the recall. She said she also was not informed of defects when she bought the car.

Toyota has been under fire since recalling more than 8.5 million vehicles worldwide because of complaints about sticking accelerators.

Toyota drivers have testified in congressional hearings about their cars accelerating on their own even as the drivers tried to brake. And a number of wrongful death suits have been filed nationwide.

The two suits in Columbia are among the first filed in South Carolina.

Just one other suit has been filed in federal court in South Carolina, and no cases have been filed in state courts in counties home to South Carolina's largest cities, according to a check of records last week.

White said she suffered painful back and leg injuries and multiple bruises when her 2004 Toyota Avalon would not stop when she stepped on the brakes as it approached a stop sign, her complaint said. The car continued onto U.S. 378, where it was hit by another car, the suit said.

White remained in the hospital three weeks later, her lawyer, Charles Whetstone of Columbia, said. "She has still got a long way to go."

The Toyota Avalon is not included in the accelerator recall, although the 2005-10 models are. Whetstone said he is not seeking to get the recall expanded.

Toyota spokesman Richard Kelley said the 2005 model is a new design from the 2004 model with an unrelated pedal assembly. He said the company does not comment on pending litigation.

Wooten's suit said she purchased her 2009 Toyota Camry for $25,000 in September 2008 in West Columbia, where she lives. The suit, which does not name the local dealer as a defendant, said she has been "deprived of the full use" of her car but does not specify how much she is driving the Camry.

In addition to seeking damages, her suit asks Toyota to immediately stop marketing and selling vehicles that contain the throttle-control system in question.

One of Wooten's lawyers, Keith Babcock of Columbia, declined comment last week. Kelley would not comment on Wooten's case.

A lawsuit also has been filed involving a Spartanburg man who owns a 2007 Toyota Camry included in the recall.