Toyota Sudden Acceleration May Be Tied to 89 Deaths, U.S. Says

Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles involved in unintended-acceleration crashes may be linked to 89 deaths since 2000, up from 52 reported in March, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

The deaths occurred in 71 accidents, more than the 43 reported in March, the agency said, citing data through May 20 in an e-mailed response to a request from Bloomberg News. The agency received 6,200 complaints concerning sudden, unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles between 2000 and mid-May, the agency said, up from 2,600 reported in March.

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, faces at least 228 federal and 99 state lawsuits, including proposed class actions, over economic loss and claims of personal injury or death allegedly caused by unintended acceleration. The company has recalled about 8 million vehicles worldwide to fix sticky gas pedals and misshapen floor mats and agreed to pay a record $16.4 million U.S. fine for failing to alert auto-safety regulators quickly enough about defects.

Regulators haven’t found evidence to warrant a new defect investigation after speaking to 100 car owners who complained about sudden acceleration after the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker recalled and repaired their vehicles, NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said at a May 20 hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Toyota hasn’t found any electronics flaws after examining more than 2,000 vehicles that would help explain the reports of sudden acceleration, Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. President James Lentz said at the hearing.

Toyota has said it will install advanced brake-override systems in all new models beginning in 2011. The company will also retrofit seven current models with a software fix, which slows a vehicle if it receives signals both to accelerate and brake, Lentz told a House committee in February.

The carmaker rose 0.3 percent to 3,315 yen as of 9:02 a.m. in Tokyo trading. The shares have dropped 15 percent this year, compared with a 9 percent decline in the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average.