I don't think they appear to be, after numerous recalls affecting millions of Toyota cars. That there have been real cases on unintended acceleration related to Toyota is not really in dispute, unless you think Toyota did the recall mainly as a PR effort.

Some people might be unwilling to admit that they stepped on the wrong pedal, but the likelyhood that some random HNer would do that and then make a post about it?

ABS brakes work by relieving _or_ reinforcing brake pressure, so depending on the system you could end up with uneven, little or no braking action after a failure. Or you could end up with locked wheels.