Did the person put a foot on the accelerator vs the brake? Has the throttle system been altered? How do you pin it on the manufacturer? I'm not saying that they can be without blame, but that they go beyond reason to test these things and include fail safes. Even still there can be failures.
Your first sentence brings up an interesting point which I would love to add to if I may... One of the the most foolish thing I have seen in my life are people who drive automatics with two feet. When they do switch to a manual, I have seen where it took a couple of extra seconds longer for them to brake since they instinctively went to brake with their left foot and depressed the clutch... oops. Folks, if you drive an auto, you left foot should not be used. The left foot is only for the clutch and parking brake (if it is located down there).
A family friend drives this way, she has for years, but she drove a standard before she drove automatic. Idk why she drives an automatic like this. I'm confident 100% of the reports are from automatic vehicles. Were these standard vehicles no way the drivers would be blaming the manufacturer if they press the wrong pedal.