Congress Should Determine If NHTSA Can Be Made More Effective

The key questions that emerged from Wednesday's hearings on Toyota's sudden acceleration problems are whether the sources of the defect have been pinpointed and whether the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is equipped to adequately deal with such issues. It is by no means clear that either question has been resolved.

With the president of the giant automaker, Akio Toyoda, apologizing to members of a congressional committee for the deaths that have occurred as a result of sudden acceleration, it is no longer a question of the firm seeking to evade responsibility for the problem. But another Toyota executive admitted to the committee that it still doesn't know all the causes of the dangerous phenomenon.

The hearings have also disclosed that earlier responses by the firm to complaints about sudden acceleration may not have been fully forthcoming to the public or federal regulators. The Detroit News reported on an internal 2009 memo in which Toyota safety officials crowed to their superiors that they had saved $100 million by limiting an early recall to floor mats rather than admitting a possible mechanical defect.

Since then, there have been recalls to deal with sticky gas pedals, and there are still worries that there may be an electrical system flaw that may lead to sudden acceleration.

Congressional hearings are targeting NHTSA for its failures to prod Toyota for more extensive investigations of defects or to move more quickly beyond its initial insistence that the acceleration incidents were solely the result of floor mats becoming stuck under gas pedals.

Critics of Toyota's responses were certainly given more ammunition with the statement made in an e-mail by Jim Press, a former member of the Toyota board of directors, that the firm had been "hijacked" by "financially oriented pirates." Press said Toyoda had the values needed to "save" the auto giant if he received enough support from others in the company.

Based on the president's testimony, the firm is now committed to rectifying its problems.

It can best do that by acting on Toyoda's promise to vigorously work to solve the puzzle of sudden acceleration.

Toyota's possible culpability in covering up its problems is under investigation by a federal grand jury.

If it turns out that it misled federal regulators, Toyota may have to answer in a more demanding forum than the court of public opinion.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood admitted during the hearings that NHTSA could have moved more quickly to deal with the Toyota complaints.

Congress and the Obama administration should now determine if there are structural changes that can make the agency more effective.

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