Toyota owner James Sikes tells reporters that his Prius reached speeds topping 150 km/h after the accelerator became stuck on a San Diego County highway. Several Toyota executives are scheduled to appear at a House of Commons committee hearing in Ottawa to answer questions about recent recalls.
Toyota has recalled about 8.5 million vehicles worldwide since last fall because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius.
MPs will question Yoichi Tomihara, president and CEO of Toyota Canada, about sticky accelerators and safety concerns.
Yoshi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota North America, is also scheduled to appear before the Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities. The company had originally said Inaba wasn't relevant to the Canadian hearings, but the company later reversed that decision.
Inaba recently appeared before a U.S. congressional committee to discuss quality concerns, alongside Akio Toyoda, the CEO of Toyota Motor Corp.
Ray Tanguay, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc., and Stephen Beatty, managing director of Toyota Canada Inc., are also expected to appear.
Liberal MP Joe Volpe, vice-chair of the committee, said a key question will be whether Toyota Canada responded to complaints about sticky accelerators quickly enough.
"We’re going to be looking at the relationship between Toyota and transportation officials and the Minister of Transport, on whether they had the interest of Canadians at heart when they were applying the law," Volpe said.
Tuesday’s testimony comes after a California man claimed that his Prius sped out of control on a freeway last week. Toyota tested the vehicle after the incident and released preliminary findings Monday.
After testing the vehicle, Toyota said the accelerator pedal was tested and found to be working normally and a backup safety system also worked properly.
"It does not appear to be feasibly possible, both electronically and mechanically, that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time," a memo prepared for Congress by a Toyota official said.
Toyota said it found severe wear and damage on the front brakes from overheating, but it noted that the rear brakes and parking brake were in good condition.
Toyota owners have complained of their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
Source;
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/03/16/toyota-house-committee.html
