Senate presses NHTSA in Toyota investigation

After House hearings last week, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee are taking on Toyota today. Questioning in the Senate has been considerably more pointed yet less partisan than in the House hearings.
 
In the morning, questioning was directed at government regulators, Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) David Strickland. Both gentlemen are appointees of the new Administration, and so were not in their roles for most of the years receiving scrutiny from Congress. LaHood has been on the job since early 2009; Strickland was sworn in to his position in January 2010.

Senators were trying to get to the bottom of why government safety officials didn't respond sooner to reports of problems with runaway Toyotas.

One senator, Byron Dorgan (D-ND), cited a timeline of investigations NHTSA has launched since 2003 into unintended acceleration and quoted from the closing comments of each, saying "no data to support further investigation." (Read: " Timeline of Toyota acceleration investigations.")

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) asked LaHood if brake override technology should be mandated. He responded that NHTSA is looking into it and agrees that it is a good safety device. Consumers Union has recommended a requirement that cars to be able to stop within a reasonable distance, even with the throttle fully open, indicating that "smart throttle" technology is one way to accomplish that goal.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) put it well. She compared the process of NHTSA's past investigations into Toyota to a hockey puck being hit back and forth among players, but never reaching the net.

Klobuchar said, "Drivers would file complaints by the dozens, federal regulators would open official reviews, Toyota would promise to answer, the regulators would complain about not receiving the information they needed and in the end ... nothing was resolved, and people died..."

Klobuchar pointed out that NHTSA has the authority to levy a $16 million fine against automakers if they don't comply with a recall. Yet instead, an internal Toyota memo cited $100 million saved in 2007 by avoiding a recall for sudden acceleration and instead recalling only floor mats in 55,000 2007 Lexus ES 350s. Klobuchar says this document could have been called "Losses for Consumers."

Consumers Union has also asked for the cap on civil penalties to be lifted to make sure that fines are not seen as just a "cost of doing business" for car companies. (Read: " Consumers Union calls for changes to strengthen U.S. car-safety net.")

One problem NHTSA may have is a lack of resources, as we have pointed out.

According to an OpEd piece in the Los Angeles Times by Ralph Nader on Sunday, NHTSA's total budget is just $145 million. (Nader says that figure is a sixth of the $875 million the United States spends on security alone for the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.)

In 2007 motor-vehicle crashes accounted for 99 percent of all transportation-related fatalities and injuries. Yet NHTSA's budget currently amounts to just over 1 percent of the overall Department of Transportation (DOT) budget.

NHTSA administrator Strickland may have given a more telling reason why so many investigations into sudden acceleration complaints were closed: The litmus test for NHTSA to order a recall in response to an investigation, he says, is whether the agency has solid enough evidence to prove in court that a vehicle has a defect that creates an unreasonable risk to public safety.

Toyota's top Japanese and American executives are up next, along with safety advocate and Consumers Union board member Clarence Ditlow.

We'll provide highlights from this afternoon's hearing in a later post.

Be sure to follow Consumer Reports Cars blog (RSS) and Twitter (@CRcars) to keep up with the latest information and advice, also see our unintended acceleration guide.

—Eric Evarts

Related:
Consumers Union calls for changes to strengthen U.S. car-safety net
Toyota reportedly worked with feds to save $100 million in recalls
Eight things that can dramatically improve auto safety
Five key fixes automakers should make now to reduce unintended acceleration
Unintended acceleration stories wanted
How to tell if your Toyota is affected by the recent recalls
Consumer Reports suspends recommendations for recalled Toyotas
Toyota suspends sales, production of recalled vehicles
More than floor mats: Toyota recalls 2.3 million vehicles for sticking accelerators
Analysis shows over 40 percent of sudden-acceleration complaints involve Toyotas
Toyota recalls 3.8 million cars to modify gas pedals, carpets, and software
More than floor mats: NHTSA report gives more details on Lexus crash
Putting a car in Neutral might save your life
Putting stuck floor mat survival strategies to the test
Floor mat survey reveals problem with all-weather mats
Toyota and Lexus floor mat recall is official
Toyota advises 3.8 million Lexus and Toyota owners to remove floor mats