The problem of sudden acceleration in modern cars, initially blamed by Toyota on floormats interfering with gas pedals, isn't likely to go away soon. And it seems to be an issue with many other manufacturers' cars and trucks, not just Toyotas'. Attorney Tom Murray of the law firm Murray & Murray in Ohio says he's personally handling 20 cases of sudden acceleration, and he claims that 100,000 incidents may have occurred. He maintains that the problem, inherent to all modern throttle-by-wire automobiles, is electromagnetic interference with electronic accelerator controls. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has repeatedly investigated without confirming that diagnosis, but Clarence Ditlow, the longtime director of the Center for Auto Safety, says automakers have long sought to blame drivers for this problem, and NHTSA has supported that view. I'm not presuming to know what causes sudden acceleration, but it is hard to deny so many detailed reports. Here are excerpts from some other dramatic stories e-mailed in by readers after I wrote about this last week:

"My girlfriend ... was going about 45 miles per hour when the Ford Explorer accelerated to 70 to 80 miles per hour. She pressed the brakes as hard as she could. When they didn't work, she pressed the emergency brake, which slowed the car down a bit but did not stop it ..." "I have a 2008 Camry LE, bought brand-new in November 2007. I experienced unintended acceleration on my way to work, on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2009, riding in rush hour traffic on a major highway. The car started accelerating on its own and forcing the brake pedal down and pumping it wouldn't stop it ..." "I purchased a Honda CRV new in April 2003 and experienced an initial episode of sudden acceleration in September 2004 at about 14K miles. ... Then I had a particularly hair-raising incident ... in February 2005 ..." "I had a problem with sudden acceleration in my 2008 Ford F150 pickup. I took my foot off the gas petal in order to slow down, and the truck started to accelerate on its own while coasting ..." These are only a few of the many, many stories I received. Write me if you have had similar experiences. There's something happening here, and we don't know what it is.¦