Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, says he’s concerned over new reports of Toyota cars that have still show problems with unintended acceleration after they received the recommended mechanical fix. Braley questioned the president of Toyota about the problems during a house hearing last week.
“We’ve been told by Toyota that this is a mechanical problem, that the shim that they provided and the mat retrofit are going to solve the problem. In the latest report there’s a clear indication to suggest that hasn’t solved the problem, even with the brake override on the computer system being retrofitted,” Braley says. Braley says Toyota needs to look beyond their initial diagnosis of the problem.
He says it’s essential that they look at how they can get to the root cause of the problem with further testing and further analysis from the black boxes of the vehicles. Braley says he also wants to be sure the company responds to requests for information, so legislators can understand what Toyota is doing to get to the bottom of the problem.
Braley says in two congressional hearings Toyota leadership has shown reluctance to admit the possibility that these problems are anything other than mechanical and user error.