Adding to growing number of civil lawsuits from Toyota owners who have experienced unwanted acceleration or are fearful of it, Southern California prosecutor, Tony Rackauckas filed a consumer protection lawsuit against the automobile manufacturer. The suit claims that Toyota knowingly sold vehicles at risk for unintended acceleration while taking steps to hide and mislead the public about the defects. In addition to pending class-action lawsuits, Toyota also faces a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission and a criminal investigation by federal prosecutors.

These latest legal challenge comes at a bad time for Toyota who is trying move forward from its unintended acceleration woes. Toyota has apologized for the compromise in quality and has promised to work harder to regain the trust of their customers. Toyota executives have been visiting dealers across the United States this week focusing their attention on dealer incentives and zero percent financing, but a recent string of incidents this month involving Toyota's has threatened to overshadow the campaign by the automaker.