The company has so far received about 100 complaints from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, who also reported two crashes related to the problem. In Japan, the transport ministry has also received 14 complaints with regards to the faulty pedal.

The most high-profile case so far belongs to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who said during a speech at the Discovery Forum, "I have many models of Prius that got recalled, but I have a new model that didn't get recalled. The new model has an accelerator that goes wild but only under certain conditions of cruise control. And I can repeat it over and over and over again safely." In a later interview Wozniak added, "This is software. It's not a bad accelerator pedal. It's very scary, but luckily for me I can hit the brakes."

The U.S. Department of Transportation is investigating into the possible software glitch that could cause the Prius to accelerate unintentionally. According to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, "We're not finished with Toyota and are continuing to review possible defects and monitor the implementation of the recalls."

Despite the concerns, Toyota has downplayed reports about a software glitch. Toyota spokesman John Hanson said "After many years of extensive testing, we've found no evidence of an electronic problem that could have contributed to unwanted acceleration. We've investigated many times and found no evidence to point to."

Toyota’s vice president of quality, Shinichi Sasaki, added, "We have not come across any case in which we have found a malfunction. But if any additional reports arise, we will conduct testing using all technology at our disposal."