It seems the recent spate of Toyota recalls have prompted consumers to file more complaints involving sudden acceleration and faulty breaks with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).
When Toyota recalled millions of cars in January to fix accelerator pedals, unintended acceleration crashes had allegedly caused 21 deaths between 2000 and the end of 2009. Now according to the Associated Press, since the January recall, consumers have reported nine crashes involving 13 alleged deaths between 2005 and 2010 due to accelerator problem to the NHTSA database, bringing that total to 34. Since January 27, the NHTSA has processed 686 complaints from consumers about problems related to speed control involving Toyota-manufactured vehicles, the Associated Press said.
Last Tuesday, Toyota recalled 400,000 hybrid vehicles, including the 2010 Prius and the Lexus HS250h, to fix their breaks. At that time, the NHTSA said it had received 124 reports from consumers, including four reports alleging that crashes occurred.
In the past week, complaints to the NHTSA database involving the Prius grew by almost 1,000. Through February 11, the Associated Press says the database has received a total of 1,120 complaints alleging 34 crashes, six injuries and no deaths.
