On May 25 the U.S. government said that eighty-nine deaths have been linked to public complaints of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that as of May 20, it had received complaints covering a total of 71 fatal incidents that allegedly involved unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.
"These reports covering incidents dating back to 2000 include 89 fatalities and 57 injuries," a spokeswoman for the agency said.
From 2000 to mid-May, NHTSA received more than 6,200 complaints concerning unintended acceleration involving Toyota vehicles. The complaints have not been verified by the agency.
In February, Toyota vehicles were linked to 34 deaths by consumers filing complaints with the U.S. government over unexpected acceleration.
Toyota has pulled around 10 million vehicles worldwide since late last year for safety issues and has paid a record $16.4 million to settle claims it hid gas pedal defects blamed for more than 50 U.S. deaths.
The beleaguered auto giant also faces a host of lawsuits over "unintended acceleration" issues that prompted the majority of the recalls.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
