Unintended acceleration by Toyota linked to 89 deaths in the US

Toyota had recalled nearly 9 million cars worldwide due to the problem with sudden unintended acceleration as a result of faulty accelerator pedals. The NHTSA is now investigating as to whether the problem is the cause of 71 car crashes resulting in deaths.

The NHTSA have reported 6,200 cases of sudden acceleration since 2000, with 2,600 of them coming since March 2010, including 100 from consumers who reported the problem after Toyota had already repaired their vehicle. The problem may have been the cause of 89 deaths since 2000, with the NHTSA reporting 52 casualties linked to the defect in March.

Toyota had issued a recall with regards to the problem in late 2009, but the delay in notification of consumers resulted in the Japanese company receiving a US$16.4 million fine from the US Government. Toyota will install a brake override of the throttle-by-wire on new models starting in 2011 to solve the problem, and will also retro-fit the system to seven models subject to the recall.