LOS ANGELES, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp. has reached an out-of-court settlement to a $40 million lawsuit brought against the Japanese-based automaker by a quadriplegic over an allegedly flawed seat belt system, a spokesman for the plaintiff's lawyer said on Monday.
Terms of the settlement, reached Friday with the help of mediation from a judge, were not disclosed, said Ed Kimble, an associate of Garo Mardirossian, the attorney for the plaintiff.
Jian Zhong Yang, the only person seriously injured in a multi-vehicle crash in June 2000, sued Toyota last year in Los Angeles claiming his spinal cord was severed as a result of an improperly installed shoulder harness and lap belt in his 1992 model Paseo.
But Toyota rejected claims that its seat belt system was defective, or that the placement of the shoulder harness in Yang's car caused his spinal cord injury.