Mrs. Smith

Rhonda Smith of Tennessee testified that her Lexus accelerated to 100mph and continued to do so even when she
-hit the brake pedal with both feet
-pulled the handbrake
-shifted to neutral
-shifted to reverse

Right. Let's assess this.

Stepping on the brake pedal with both feet:
I drive a Toyota. The brake pedal is not wide enough that both feet will actually fit on the pedal. If one is not careful it's actually more likely that the right foot will come in contact with the accelerator pedal, but let's just say it was an action in desperation.

Pulling the handbrake:
Pulling the handbrake while accelerating close to 100mph is a fairly reliable way of stopping the car. No, wait. What I meant to say was, pulling the handbrake while accelerating close to 100mph is a fairly reliable way of locking the rear wheels and spinning wildly out of control, resulting in a terrifying experience. It's a front-wheel drive car, too.

Shifting to neutral:
Mrs. Smith apparently has an incredible car that accelerates even when the engine isn't in gear. If this is the case then Toyota will need to reassess the problem, because it's obviously a transmission defect, not an engine one. Which is odd, because no one has mentioned that possibility.

Shifting to reverse:
Shifting to reverse while moving forward at close to 100mph will surely destroy the transmission. Instead, Mrs. Smith claims the car continued to accelerate. Again, this suggests a transmission problem.

From the above evidence, we can conclude that there are four possibilities:
-User error. Mrs. Smith is deeply confused about the events that transpired.
-Mrs. Smith is lying.
-Toyota has created a car that does things that are physically impossible.
-Act of God. The (foot) brakes, handbrake, transmission, and accelerator simultaneously malfunctioned, and then mysteriously fixed itself moments later.

It was also mentioned that while doing all of this at 100mph, she was able to phone for help.

The Wall Street Journal has revealed that the car was later sold and has performed flawlessly for the past 27,000 miles. This raises more questions:
-The ethics of the Smiths. Did they fully disclose what they claim to have happened? Complete with tears like in Congress?
-The mentality of the buyers. If full disclosure had taken place, the buyers are either crazy or rational. They don't care that the car supposedly almost killed someone, or they have deduced from the evidence that Mrs. Smith is the crazy one and they're getting a good deal on a Lexus.

"She said 'neither Toyota nor NHTSA' took her seriously when she reported the incident."
I don't blame them.