The news comes after several Toyota owners told their story, apparently backed by interviews with auto safety experts and thousands of federal traffic safety incident reports, all of which point to a problem other than the initial floor mat or the later accelerator pedal design.
The problem became apparent in the Tacoma, a truck which after it received a drive-by-wire system in 2005 began experiencing accelerator problems. Since then, the source says, the number of complaints regarding the Tacoma increased by a factor of 20.
Brian Lyons, Toyota spokesman, said the manufacturer cannot explain the complaints, but it has always denied electronic control systems, to be at fault.
"Six times in the past six years NHTSA has undertaken an exhaustive review of allegations of unintended acceleration on Toyota and Lexus vehicles," Toyota said in a statement. "Six times the agency closed the investigation without finding any electronic engine control system malfunction to be the cause of unintended acceleration."
Still, Toyota released three technical service bulletins warning about a potential fault with the throttles in the 2002 and 2003 Camry. According to the warning notices, the cars can "exhibit a surging during light throttle input at speeds between 38 mph and 42 mph."
The NHTSA itself said it has not found any problems with the throttle during its investigations. On the other hand, the agency only looked into two out of eight complaints of unintended acceleration filed in the past years.
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