The problems that lead to Toyota recalls may prompt Congress to strengthen oversight over the auto industry. Rep. Henry Waxman, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee said that ultimately he believes additional legislation will be needed to strengthen the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA. The agency may be working in the mechanical age, while cars have today moved into the computer age he says and many regulators at NHTSA lack the necessary skills to critically challenge Toyota’s insistence that it has no problem. In fact, a review of NHTSA has uncovered that there are no electrical or software engineers on staff.
The NHTSA staff is relatively small for the 100 safety investigations it launches every year and 30,000 complaints it takes in. When there is a problem, the agency nudges auto makers into voluntary recalls rather than forcing them. Over the past three years, NHTSA has led 524 recalls involving 23.5 million vehicles. Waxman’s committee criticized NHTSA and its handling of those consumer complaints over Toyota and Lexus cars and their problems with sudden acceleration and brakes that don’t work.
Source Article: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61M6NC20100224?type=politicsNews
