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Toyota to US Senate: Electronic Engine Controls Safe

   VOA News 02 March 2010
   A  Toyota  employee  installs  an  accelerator  into  a  new  Camry in
   Georgetown, Kentucky, 18 Feb 2009

Photo: AP

   A  Toyota  employee  installs  an  accelerator  into  a  new  Camry in
   Georgetown, Kentucky, 18 Feb 2009

   Toyota's  top  engineer says the automaker is confident its electronic
   engine controls are not causing cars to accelerate suddenly.
   Toyota  chief  engineer Takeshi Uchiyamada told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday
   that  electronic  engine  controls  are  designed  to ensure "absolute
   reliability" and that intense testing has failed to turn up any flaws.
   The  hearing  before the Senate's Commerce, Science and Transportation
   Committee  is  the  third  congressional  hearing  on the auto giant's
   safety problems in the past seven days.
   The  automaker  has recalled more than 8 million vehicles for problems
   with  unintended  acceleration.   Some experts and lawmakers believe a
   faulty electronic system is to blame.
   Senate   committee  Chairman  John  Rockefeller  opened  the  hearing,
   charging that safety concerns at Toyota "took a back seat" to profits.
   The   U.S.  Department  of  Transportation  said  Tuesday  it  is  now
   investigating  52  deaths  over  the past decade for possible links to
   unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.
   During  the  hearing,  Toyota Executive Vice President Shinichi Sasaki
   said  the auto giant is, in his words, "fundamentally overhauling" its
   quality assurance processes.
   Yoshimi  Inaba,  the  president  of  Toyota's North American arm, said
   former  U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater has been picked to
   head an independent quality control review panel.
   Last week, Toyota President Akio Toyoda apologized before a U.S. House
   committee  for not doing enough to fix safety problems that prompted a
   massive recall.
   A poll by the Gallup Organization and USA Today released Tuesday finds
   almost  one-third  of  Americans  now  think  Toyota-made vehicles are
   unsafe to drive.  Almost one out of every five people polled also said
   they would no longer consider buying a Toyota.
   Still,  a  majority  of  those  polled,  53  percent,  said they would
   consider buying a Toyota.
   Also  Tuesday, Toyota said it is repairing nearly one million vehicles
   in the U.S. and Japan for potentially leaky oil hoses, but the company
   says it is not a recall because the problem did not affect safety.
   Toyota  said  in  an  email  statement that the faulty hoses can cause
   engine noise and light up the oil pressure light on dashboards.


   Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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