NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2009 (Kyodo News International) -- More than 1,000 owners of Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM) vehicles have reported sudden vehicle acceleration since 2001, and at least 19 people may have been killed in subsequent crashes into trees, parked cars and other obstacles, a U.S. newspaper reported Sunday.
The Los Angeles Times said it obtained the findings in an independent review of records of accidents and drivers' complaints involving Toyota and Lexus vehicles at the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other entities.
The paper quoted federal regulators as saying the vehicles of both the Toyota and Lexus brands had been involved in accidents which owners blamed on sudden and unintended acceleration at ''far more'' frequency than vehicles of any other automaker.
It reported the NHTSA said its records show that a total of 15 people died in crashes related to possible sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles from the 2002 model year and newer, compared with 11 such deaths in vehicles made by all other automakers.
Owner complaints triggered at least eight NHTSA investigations into sudden acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the last seven years, it said.
Two of the eight probes led Toyota to recall fewer than 85,000 vehicles. The NHTSA closed six other cases without finding a defect.
But the paper criticized the NHTSA for closing those investigations on inadequate grounds.
''Those investigations systematically excluded or dismissed the majority of complaints by owners that their Toyota and Lexus vehicles had suddenly accelerated, which sharply narrowed the scope of the probes,'' it said.
On Oct. 6, Toyota told the NHTSA of a decision to issue a ''safety recall'' on 3.8 million vehicles in seven models, including the Prius hybrid car, due to the risk that a loose driver-side floor mat could slip forward and jam the accelerator pedal, causing the vehicles to accelerate uncontrollably.
Toyota sources later said the carmaker is considering both altering the pedal's shape and modifying a computerized control system of the vehicles to enable drivers to stop if they get out of control and accelerate to high speeds.
