First Toyota Sudden Acceleration Trial Beginning

Considered a bellwether for liability

Noriko Uno was afraid of driving fast, often avoiding the freeway and taking the same route every day from her Upland home to and from her family's sushi restaurant. She had put only 10,000 miles on her 2006 Camry in about four years.

So when her car unexpectedly accelerated to speeds up to 100 mph on a street with a posted limit of 30, the 66-year-old bookkeeper did everything she could to slow down, stepping on the brake pedal and pulling the emergency brake handle as she swerved to avoid other vehicles.

Uno was killed when her car went onto a median and struck a telephone pole and a tree.

Hers is the first so-called "bellwether" case to go to trial that could determine whether Toyota Motor Corp. should be held liable for sudden unintended acceleration in its vehicles -- a claim made by motorists that plagued the Japanese automaker and led to lawsuits, settlements and recalls of millions of its cars and SUVs.