Recently, a study was conducted to determine the causes of sudden, uncontrollable acceleration that has often led to fatal car accidents in Toyota vehicles. The study indicates that vehicle electronics are not to be blamed in the numerous incidents of sudden acceleration. Rather, the researchers believe that the problems are due to obtrusive floor mats, "sticky" acceleration pedals and driver error.

Many auto industry experts are skeptical of the study's findings, however. Joan Claybrook, who is currently the president of Public Citizens (a noted consumer advocate group) and formerly headed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is among them. Claybrook pointed to evidence offered by "hundreds of witnesses" who experienced their own Toyota vehicles speeding uncontrollably. Claybrook says that in hundreds of these cases, floor mats were not an issue and accelerator pedals were properly resting in their normal position.

The study was conducted by the NHTSA in partnership with a group of engineers and scientists. The study surmised that many of the dangerous Toyota acceleration problems were due to drivers who mistakenly pressed the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal, an explanation that many simply aren't buying.

The NHTSA has received approximately 3,000 reports of sudden acceleration incidents in Toyota vehicles over the past 10 years. Many sudden acceleration incidents resulted in fatal car accidents. Toyota recalled almost 8 million of their vehicles in 2009 and 2008 as a result, and later paid nearly $50 million in civil fines for failing to respond to the incidents in a timely manner.

Source: CNN, "Pedals, drivers blamed for out of control Toyotas," Peter Valdes-Dapena, 2/8/2011