Last weeks blog, the cost of Quality in manufacturing was discussed. The local Toyota manufacturing facility has had and continues to have Quality issues. This issue is not only a Quality issue, but a critical safety issue. The Herald leader has had several follow up article to inform us of the status of the situation. In the Feb 15, 2010 issue of the Herald leader, the headline read "records show automaker hired former regulators to influence safety agency".
According to the article, Toyota hired former regulators that helped end four federal investigation of unintended acceleration by company vehicles in the last decade, preventing possible recalls. These former regulator persuaded the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to end the investigations into possible acceleration concerns with vehicles.
These gentlemen should not have been permitted to represent Toyota in these hearings, yet it was permitted by current NHTSA officials. This should have been considered a conflict of interest, and should be spelled out in the agency's code of conduct.
The NHTSA main goal should be to protect, and assure our safety on the highways and transportation systems. Someone needs to answer for the misconduct, and correction made to prevent any future unethical actions that leads to the dismissed probe into critical safety concerns with any company. If the folks in charge at NHTSA can be so easily influenced to "look the other way", then we don't have the right folks in those positions. We need folks in government positions that are dedicated to the job that they have accepted and are being paid to perform.
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