Toyota settles sudden-acceleration crash lawsuit

LOS ANGELES — Toyota Motor Corp. has settled with family members of two people killed in a sudden-acceleration crash in Utah as part of a lawsuit that was to go to court next month and serve as a test case for a group of hundreds more that are pending.

Toyota reached the agreement in the case brought by the family of Paul Van Alfen and Charlene Jones Lloyd, company spokeswoman Celeste Migliore said Thursday. They were killed when their Camry slammed into a wall near Wendover, Utah in 2010.

Migliore declined to disclose the financial terms.

Attorney Mark P. Robinson, who represents the nine plaintiffs named in the suit, did not reply to phone or email messages.

Last month, Toyota agreed to a settlement worth more than $1 billion to resolve hundreds of lawsuits claiming economic losses Toyota owners suffered when the Japanese automaker recalled millions of vehicles because of sudden acceleration problems.

But that settlement did not include those suing over wrongful death and injury, and hundreds more of those remain.

The Van Alfen case was one of a handful selected as a bellwether case that would be tried before the rest.

The remaining lawsuits are not affected by the latest settlement, Migliore said.