ORLANDO, Fla. -- Sixteen deaths and 237 injuries have been documented over the last six years in connection with unintended accelerations in Toyotas, according to a safety advocacy group, and a Central Florida driver says he has encountered the frightening problem on three occasions.

The government has said that newer Toyotas have a defect that must be fixed, but it's limited to only the possible entrapment of the accelerator by the floor mats.

Martie Parson, of Orlando, contacted Local 6 after hearing about the issue, telling reporter Steven Cooper that he thrice has had the accelerator of his 2007 Toyota Tundra get stuck, thrusting his pickup to speeds of more than 100 mph.

The first time it occurred -- less than a year after purchasing his pickup new -- Parson had an expected reaction.

"I was panicking," said Parson, who added that the pedal became stuck while he was attempting to pass another vehicle. "The car just kept getting faster and faster -- and I knew there was a problem then, so I started mashing the brake and tapping the accelerator and three to five seconds later, the accelerator popped back up."

Parson said his top speed topped 115 mph.

"I immediately took it back to the dealer, and they said, 'We'll check it out, but Toyota doesn't have anything saying there's a problem with the accelerator,'" Parson said.

Parson's records show that the issue was filed as a "driveability problem."

Parson said he encountered the problem again in early 2008.

"It was real bad," Parson said. "It was stuck to the floor as if it was glued to the floor. We were over 100 mph -- probably about 110 mph. I was panicking, but I didn't want the guy who was driving with me to know it was that bad."

Parson said when it happened a third time, he knew the pickup had to be fixed.

"(The) accelerator is (to be used for whether) I want speed or I don't want speed. The accelerator gave me speed I didn't want," said Parson, who returned the pickup to the dealer.

Parson's records show that he requested the dealer to diagnose the problem twice since the 2007 incident. In late 2008, the dealer determined that the pickup was binding, so it replaced the accelerator assembly.

"I haven't had that problem since," said Parson, who contacted Local 6 after hearing about a deadly crash in California in August.

In that crash, a Lexus driver lost control of his car when the accelerator became stuck. Investigators said the floor mats interfered with the accelerator pedal. Lexuses and Toyotas are built by the same company, but Parson said his issue had nothing to do with the floor mat.

"I still have the same floor mats," Parson said. "The car is working fine."

The government has denied the latest consumer petition to expand the investigation beyond a possible floor mat problem, saying claims that there is more to the problem are unsupported and that further investigation is unlikely to find another common defect.