House committee schedules Toyota hearing for May 6, invites Lentz

The House Energy and Commerce Committee and its subcommittee on oversight have asked Toyota to present more information on what causes unintended acceleration of their vehicles. They scheduled a hearing for May 6. Rep. Henry Waxman, D – California, and Rep. Bart Stupak, D – Michigan wrote to Jim Lentz, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA, asking him to testify.

Lentz was also asked to provide all contracts, correspondence and emails relating to unintended acceleration between Toyota and Exponent, a company hired recently by Toyota to test its vehicles.

Toyota said that it is “more than willing to meet with the committee and discuss the ongoing testing related to our electronic throttle control system, as well as the steps we are taking to improve our quality assurance processes.”

“Nothing is more important to us than the safety and reliability of the vehicles our customers drive,” said Toyota spokesman John Hanson.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Detroit News