▁responsible ▁for ▁most ▁of ▁the ▁inc idents . ▁The ▁report ▁ended ▁stating , ▁" O ur ▁conclusion ▁is ▁Toy ota ' s ▁problems ▁were ▁mechanical , ▁not ▁elect rical ." ▁ ▁This ▁included ▁stick ing ▁acceler ator ▁ped als , ▁and ▁ped als ▁caught ▁under ▁floor ▁m ats . ▁ ▁However , ▁on ▁October ▁ 2 4 , ▁ 2 0 1 3 , ▁a ▁j ury ▁ruled ▁against ▁Toy ota ▁and ▁found ▁that ▁un int ended ▁acceleration ▁could ▁have ▁been ▁caused ▁due ▁to ▁def ic ien cies ▁in ▁the ▁ ▁drive - by - wire ▁thro tt le ▁system ▁or ▁Electron ic ▁Th rott le ▁Control ▁System ▁( ET CS ). ▁Michael ▁Bar r ▁of ▁the ▁Bar r ▁Group ▁test ified ▁that ▁NASA ▁had ▁not ▁been ▁able ▁to ▁complete ▁its ▁exam ination ▁of ▁Toy ota ' s ▁E T CS ▁and ▁that ▁Toy ota ▁did ▁not ▁follow ▁best ▁practices ▁for ▁real ▁time ▁life ▁critical ▁software , ▁and ▁that ▁a ▁single ▁bit ▁f lip ▁which ▁can ▁be ▁caused ▁by ▁cos mic ▁ray s ▁could ▁cause ▁un int ended ▁acceleration . ▁As ▁well , ▁the ▁run - time ▁stack ▁of ▁the ▁real - time ▁operating ▁system ▁was ▁not ▁large ▁enough ▁and ▁that ▁it ▁was ▁possible ▁for ▁the ▁stack ▁to ▁grow ▁large ▁enough ▁to ▁overwrite ▁data ▁that ▁could ▁cause ▁un int ended ▁acceleration . ▁As ▁a ▁result , ▁Toy ota ▁has ▁entered ▁into ▁settlement ▁tal ks ▁with ▁its ▁pla int iffs . ▁ ▁__ TO C __ ▁ ▁Rec all ▁tim eline ▁ ▁Sep ▁