Ford Motor on Monday avoided what its lawyer called “the ultimate death penalty” when a judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion to throw out the automaker’s defense in a product liability suit and instead chose a lesser punishment for withholding information.

Toyota has moved to dismiss hundreds of lawsuits seeking damages associated with its recalls related to sudden unintended acceleration.

A Georgia jury held an alleged drunk driver responsible for $15 million in damages to a girl injured in a car accident, but the plaintiff likely will get only a fraction of the award because the driver has few resources and the designer of the seat, which broke during the wreck, was cleared by the jury. Complicating matters was the bankruptcy-mandated dismissal of what was then DaimlerChrysler from the case.

Plaintiffs lawyers spearheading the litigation against Toyota on behalf of consumers with recalled vehicles announced Monday that they have added RICO claims, alleging that the automaker falsely denied for the past decade that its vehicles are subject to sudden unintended acceleration and other defects. One of the attorneys making racketeering claims against the automaker estimated that damages against Toyota could soar to more than $24 billion a year.

Lawmakers fired questions Wednesday at two Toyota executives about whether the company’s lobbyists are too cozy with government regulators and whether those relationships slowed the response to complaints about the automaker’s safety record. The hearing, the second on Capitol Hill this week, also served as a forum for lawmakers to debate proposals related to the U.S. tort system