[timwiseman]

The only thing that is proven with these numbers, is that the elderly are getting into more accidents because of the acceleration problem.

No, what is shown is that elderly are in more accidents attributed to the acceleration problem. How much of it is really the acceleration problem and how much not is precisely the question this article is asking.

To really answer it, we need a little more information, such as the proportion of drivers of the affected Toyotas that are older.