To put the deaths attributed to runaway Toyotas into perspective, below is a comparison to the deaths attributed to the Ford Explorer - Firestone tire problems in 1990’s.
Experts believe there may be as many as 250 deaths and more than 3000 catastrophic injuries associated with the defective tires. Most of the deaths occur in accidents involving the Ford Explorer which tends to rollover when one of the tires blows out.
The government estimated that 89 deaths could have been related to unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles in the last ten years. Compare that to 250 deaths in less than half that time in the Ford Explorer/Firestone tire problems of the 1990's.
The government has a vested interest in going after Toyota for two reasons.
First, Toyota is the biggest competitor to the government owned General Motors.
Second, Toyota’s are made in non-union plants and the Obama administration is very pro-union. Unions contributed heavily to the Obama presidential campaign.
Link here and here.