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TOYOTA AND N.H.T.S.A
Posted by: Darrell Castle
February 10, 2010
Topic: Personal Injury
Auto safety regulators made a request of Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in November of 2009 because they believed Toyota was dragging its feet in the investigation of Toyota design difficulties and resulting crashes. According to the New York Times, they requested that they be allowed to go to Japan to investigate and make their case themselves. The request was granted but it was two months before Toyota admitted to Washington that it had found problems with sticking accelerators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which is tasked with regulating auto makers did not use its power to subpoena Toyota's records, even though they said they believed Toyota was withholding critical information.
Now with eight million recalls including 400,000 of the new hybrid models this week alone, the N.H.T.S. is also under scrutiny. Members of congress want to know why the agency did not act more aggressively. The New York Times reports that Congress wants to know that, in the face of the most extensive recall in history for problems that have resulted in several deaths, what did the N.H.T.S.A. know, and did it act quickly enough. Some believe the agency became too close to the industry that it was charged with regulating.
Though the agency has enormous authority, did it have the money and staff to do its job, or did it simply take the path of least resistance? There were dozens of complaints going back years that were not investigated, at least not properly. Officials were often told that their requests for information had to be relayed to Japan for answers and the agency accepted that.
This all confirms my original suspicions that corporations and government are essentially the same predator. Sometimes these beasts are necessary but they must be carefully guarded.
