U.S. widens probe of Toyota's problems

LOS ANGELES — The potential for electronic defects in Toyota vehicles to cause sudden acceleration faced growing scrutiny Tuesday as safety regulators and congressional leaders said they had begun new probes.

Toyota has blamed more than 2,000 reported cases of sudden acceleration over the last decade on floor mats and sticky gas pedals, triggering massive recalls worldwide.

The automaker has insisted it knows of no electronic defect that could cause drivers to lose control.

But federal safety regulators disclosed Tuesday they had begun a "fresh review" of the electronic throttle system in Toyota and Lexus vehicles, which connect a driver's foot to the engine through sensors, computers and wires, rather than a mechanical link.

Regulators are also considering civil fines against the automaker for its handling of the recall, an official said.

The action comes after a growing number of independent experts have voiced doubt about Toyota's explanation, saying it cannot account for all the reports of sudden acceleration and that part of the blame may rest with the electronic throttle system.

The Los Angeles Times reported last fall that complaints of sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles skyrocketed after the introduction of electronic throttles.

Although Toyota has denied electronics are to blame, those statements came under sharp attack Tuesday by Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.

In a letter to Toyota, they accused the automaker of telling the public one story about its engine electronics and a different one to committee investigators in recent meetings.

The letter alleges that while Toyota was assuring the public the problem involved only floor mats and sticking pedals, its executives were acknowledging to congressional investigators that they couldn't be sure about the causes and that reports of vehicles accelerating under wide-open throttles could not be explained by sticky pedals.

Toyota acknowledged to the committee that a sticky pedal might remain in a slightly depressed position, the letter said, but "they said that this would not lead to full-throttle acceleration." The letter also quotes Toyota representatives as acknowledging it is "very, very hard to identify" the causes of sudden acceleration.

In a media blitz this week, Toyota executives have insisted that electronic problems are not behind the reports of sudden acceleration.

Waxman and Stupak said they wanted to see the company's evidence "that substantiates this claim."

The letter also raises questions about when Toyota knew that it had a defect in its accelerator pedals. Although it has publicly said that it became aware of the problems in late October, it told the congressional staff it first learned of the issue in April or May.

Waxman is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which plans to hold a hearing on Toyota's action Feb. 25.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, meanwhile, said it would meet for the first time with outside safety experts, as well as manufacturers and suppliers, to review the potential that electronic defects are part of the problem.

The statement cautioned that the agency was conducting a "background examination" and had no reason to believe Toyota vehicles have an electronic defect.

The agency was without an appointed chief for most of last year. David Strickland, a former congressional staffer with extensive experience in auto-safety rules, took command in late December.

Separately, the agency issued a demand for information to CTS, the Indiana supplier that makes gas pedals Toyota has said can stick.

The agency is investigating whether CTS pedals sold to other carmakers may have the same problem, indicating the need for more recalls.

CTS was asked for customer lists, testing data and data on design changes.

Also

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into complaints that power- steering systems in the Chevrolet Cobalt can fail, making it more difficult to control the car. The agency said there are 1,132 complaints about the Cobalt's electric power steering, including reports of 11 accidents and one injury.