The Toyota recalls have begun to trigger the filing of lawsuits across the country. A class-action suit in Brooklyn, New York was filed yesterday, a team of lawyers representing 15 plaintiffs filed a $1 billion suit in Florida, and suits were also filed in Ohio and Texas, amongst many others. While most of these lawsuits may represent a pesky headache for Toyota, as many of those involved were uninjured, there is likely to be at least one fatal case that exemplifies the seriousness of Toyota's problems that could really put them in an even worse place than they are now.

On Friday, the New York Times highlighted one of these tragic cases. A 77-year-old grandmother was driving in her own neighborhood, and according to several witnesses they say her car accelerated out of control, ran several red lights, dodged other cars and eventually hit a tree at approximately 80 miles per hour. Guadalup Alberto, the driver, was killed.

Her accident occurred in 2008, and the case has already moved into discovery. The NYT highlights a deposition "from a Toyota executive about how the company and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration agreed to categorize different accidents" when the agency took a look at throttle issues in 2004. According to the article, the executive did not provide details of high-speed incidents because federal regulators had not requested them.

In the same case, Toyota's manager of technical and regulator affairs testified:

“I recall them saying to us, Toyota, myself, that they were not interested in reports alleging uncontrolled acceleration that occurred for a long duration.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said that no deaths have been reported from a stuck accelerator. And now, the question of Mrs. Alberto's throttle system and how similar it is to the Toyotas now under recall is a question that experts are going to have to answer. In addition, new fodder for these lawsuits will closely examine the cause of each ccident, how they were or should have been classified, and when a recall should have happened.

Cases including Alberto's will provide some of the answers, however it raises nearly as many questions. One thing is for sure though, Toyota's acceleration recalls, and now the brake issues with the Prius will not soon be forgotten and many more details are likely to come out in America's courtrooms. That can't be good for their brand image.