As Toyota scrambles to repair manufacturing defects responsible for sudden acceleration, not to mention the automaker's reputation for quality products - the latest "mechanical solution" doesn't get to the heart of the matter, says Texas attorney Bob Hilliard, who filed a class-action lawsuit against the carmaker last week. Instead of focusing on a perceived mechanical flaw in the gas pedal mechanism, Toyota engineers should instead be looking at the vehicles' electronic controls. The concerns have resulted in a recall of millions of vehicles -- the largest safety recall ever mounted by an automaker.

"Toyota has known about this problem far too long, but inexplicably has not chosen to address what appears to be the true culprit, electrical problems in the faulty throttle controls," says Hilliard, who represents a couple whose Toyota Avalon crashed after unexpectedly accelerating through a stop sign last month. "First Toyota said it was the floor mats, and now they claim it is the gas pedal. Perhaps they'll fix the problem some day, but my clients and I aren't holding our collective breath."

Despite assurances from Toyota that there is a mechanical fix to the sudden acceleration problem, federal regulators have launched a probe into the electronic throttle system, the Washington Post reports. The government's review will look at the electronics systems across all manufacturers as well as the possibility that engine operation could be disrupted by electromagnetic interference caused by power lines or other sources. The automaker, meanwhile, attributed incidents of unintended acceleration to improper floor mats and sticky gas pedals, and it has issued recalls involving millions of vehicles.