NHTSA Asleep At The Wheel Over Toyota Malfunctions

11:36 pm EST February 9th, 2010 | News | 8 Comments

These are structural issues, but a lot of the fail came during the last corporate-cosy presidency.

But internal agency documents and interviews with auto safety experts demonstrate that the safety agency and the auto giant it regulated engaged in a Kabuki dance of sorts in the months and years before tensions coalesced. Drivers would file complaints by the dozens about mysterious accelerations and other hazards, federal regulators would open official reviews, Toyota would promise answers, the regulators would complain about not receiving the information they needed, and in the end, almost nothing would come of any of it.

Six times since 2003 in fact, the safety agency opened inquiries into possible Toyota safety problems, and six times it closed them without any significant action.

In 2008, for instance, the agency examined a request from the owner of a Toyota Tacoma pickup to investigate ‘sudden and uncontrolled acceleration.’ After a preliminary review, the safety agency concluded in a memorandum given to House investigators that: ‘In view of the need to allocate and prioritize N.H.T.S.A.’s limited resources to best accomplish the agency’s safety mission, the petition is denied.’

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8 Responses to “NHTSA Asleep At The Wheel Over Toyota Malfunctions”

  1. Jaim says:
    February 9, 2010 at 11:43 pm

    Proud to be a former Honda owner.

  2. durablend says:
    February 10, 2010 at 5:45 am

    “All Clinton’s fault, of course” -cons

  3. SaveFarris says:
    February 10, 2010 at 9:12 am

    And yet you can’t wait for the Feds to take over Health Care…

  4. abanterer says:
    February 10, 2010 at 9:23 am

    Because letting the industry regulate itself worked so well.

  5. The Dark Avenger says:
    February 10, 2010 at 11:12 am

    It’s better that we have private health insurance companies and look after their stockholders than have medical systems like those socialist hellholes like France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, etc.

  6. Sean D. Martin says:
    February 10, 2010 at 12:32 pm

    Wait, lemme see if I get this. Six times under Bush the NHTSA had evidence of a serious problem that was costing lives and did nothing about it. Now, under Obama’s watch, Toyota has recalled the suspect cars and the problem is being dealt with.

    And this is a bad thing.

  7. mambochicken23 says:
    February 10, 2010 at 12:48 pm

    I seem to remember a saying…

    The Republicans always say that government is a bad thing, that it doesn’t work. And then they get elected and prove it.

  8. Wiz says:
    February 10, 2010 at 5:06 pm

    Don’t know all the backstory on this, so may be common knowledge, but I’m wondering, what was the catalyst that got the recalls going now? Was it that the number of complaints had reached a high enough level to finally register on somone’s radar’?