Congressional Democrats sharply questioned on Thursday efforts by Toyota Motor Corp to investigate vehicle electronics to see whether they are linked to unintended acceleration of its vehicles.
Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, led an aggressive critique of Toyota and its engineering consultant, Exponent Inc, at a hearing centered on Toyota's professed belief that its software-driven throttle systems are sound.
Waxman and other lawmakers said that Exponent has not produced sufficient documents to congressional investigators to support Toyota's contention, and that submitted material does not fully answer basic questions.
"The results of our examination raise serious questions," Waxman said. "Toyota has repeatedly told the public it has conducted extensive testing for electronic defects. We can find no basis for these assertions."
Jim Lentz, Toyota's U.S. sales president, said in written testimony for the hearing that Exponent has completed more than 11,000 hours of testing and analysis of electronic throttles, and that separate tests also have found no problems.
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