THE TV ISN'T THE IDIOT BOX:

Driver error caused Toyota's 'runaway' cars, US study suggests (Andrew Clark, 8/11/10, guardian.co.uk)

[A]n analysis of vehicles' data recorders by engineers from the US department of transport and Nasa has found that in the vast majority of "runaway" cases, drivers failed to press the brake pedal at all or pressed the brake only in the final moments before a crash.

In preliminary findings delivered to Congress on 58 incidents, investigators found that in 35 cases, the brake was not applied. In a further 14 cases there was only "partial braking". In one case, both the brake and accelerator pedals were depressed and another showed evidence of pedals getting trapped in a floor mat. But the investigation found no evidence of any electronic problem suggested by Toyota's critics as a likely cause of crashes.