More Deaths Blamed on Toyota

Although the storm seems to get close to the end for Japanese carmaker Toyota, after all the intricate details of its huge recall appear to have been revealed, the number of complaints regarding Toyota vehicles is only getting bigger.

In what is the latest development, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced it is investigating nine new complaints claiming fatal crashes caused by sudden acceleration in Toyota cars since the end of January 2010.

The complaints, NHTSA says, refer to crashes which occurred in between 2005 and 2010 and caused the death of 13 people and injured another 10.

"It is normal for NHTSA to receive an increase in consumer complaints after a recall is announced and the public learns of a safety defect," Olivia Alair, NHTSA spokeswoman, was quoted as saying by CNN.

"The agency is quickly gathering more data on all of these additional complaints to help guide our examination of sudden acceleration, the Prius braking system, as well as other safety issues."

Separately, Toyota says it has already managed to fix half a million of the recalled vehicles and allowed dealers to resume sales. Now more than ever, Toyota strikes back through Bob Carter, general manager of Toyota's US division, who says Toyota is being treated unfairly.

"We have 13 sticky pedals out of 2.3 million vehicles. It's not my role to talk about other manufacturers and the other 200 recalls out there," he told the Wall Street Journal.