An investigation into the accidents involving subsequently recalled Toyota’s has revealed that the Japanese companies electronic were not to blame.
The announcement also showed that in “virtually all” cases where the driver had said they pushed the brake they had actually touched the accelerator.
The announcement will come as a relief to Toyota as since the incidents came to light they have had to recall over eight million vehicles world wide.
A spokesperson for the investigators said that factors for the accidents included “pedal entrapment, sticky pedal and foreign objects in the car”, the panel also highlighted “pedal misapplication” as a major cause of the accidents.
But many have criticised the findings describing them as “biased” and “wrong.” Car-safety advocate Joan Clybrook formerly of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) said:
"That is totally ludicrous,they should be looking at the electronics in their cars and everyone knows it."
Toyota will still face up to 325 lawsuits as a result of the incidents, one of which caused the deaths of four people. In one US case a man driving a Toyota in an accident was freed from jail after suggestion that it was not his fault and the car had malfunctioned.