It's not just the NHTSA either. FDA, EPA, pretty much all the gov't "protection" agencies have less than optimal practices. If you freaked out about all the shady stuff going on like the public is doing with Toyota, you'd never eat anything (including local organic due to chemicals leaching into the water supply) or take another medicine (FDA approved or not) or buy any toys for your kids, etc. The systems in the US are better than in many other countries, but they're hardly infallible.
Overall, I think Toyota makes good products. I'd rather the hysteria die down to a reasonable level so they have a shot at surviving. All the car companies do stuff just like Toyota, and I wish they'd all survive so we have the jobs and vehicle choices that we do.
I don't think anyone wants to see any company go belly up but yes it makes me very wary about their lack of safety of their customers. They have known for years of this issue dating back to '02 and haven't corrected the problem. I am not saying no other manufacture is perfect I am just saying this whole thing could have been prevented back in '02 and saved a lot of lives. Same thing with Ford back in the '90 with the roll over/tire issue. Ford could have made changes to their body to help reduce the chance of a roll over when a tire blew out. That was the time they redesigned the Explorer (late 90's) but not all fault is on them. Also once they started getting reports they started investigating and it sure as heck didn't take them 8yrs to fix the problem.
So yes their image is greatly tarnished as it should be. They need to prove they are worthy of our business and by showing that they need to step up to the plate.