I would bet quite a lot that Toyota knows that almost all of these accidents are caused by driver errors. But they aren’t going to say that because that explanation won’t go over well with the US media and much of the US public. So they’re taking the long view, playing it cool, using Audi’s long-term strategy from the 80s, and just saying the cause is “unknown” and waiting for the media frenzy to subside.
I’m not sure this is going to turn into a hugely successful class action lawsuit either, because there isn’t much evidence of actual defects in Toyotas. When a trial jury hears all the evidence and testimony from the drivers and witnesses, that jury may just decide in favor of Toyota. This isn’t a tobacco lawsuit where there’s a mountain of hard evidence that smoking causes cancer and hear disease. This is probably going to end up more like the Firestone tire recall—very costly but not catastrophic for Toyota. I wouldn’t hesitate to jump into a Toyota and drive one right now.