FLAWED STUDY

House Panel: Toyota Deceived Public

Made misleading statements about repairs, reps say.

Toyota relied on a flawed study when investigating sticking accelerator pedals and made misleading statements about the repairs, according to high-ranking Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the committee's chair, and Bart Stupak (D-MI), a subcommittee chairman, sent the comments to the president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. in an 11-page letter today. The committee released the letter on the eve of its hearing into the Toyota recalls. In another letter, to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the representatives took aim at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the federal safety agency: “It appears that NHTSA lacks the expertise needed to evaluate defects in vehicle electronic controls, and its response to complaints of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles appears to have been seriously deficient,” the letter said.