Toyota's Congressional hearing may be over, but lawmakers say they are planning further hearings investigating both Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the agency that oversees automobile safety, including recalls and technical service bulletins. "This is not the end," said Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Next week, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, chaired by Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), will hold its own Toyota hearing. On Thursday it invited five witnesses, including Shinichi Sasaki, Toyota's top safety official in Japan, to appear, along with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The committee wants to discuss how Toyota has handled the unintended acceleration recall. They want to know the timeline of when Toyota first learned about the problem and want to discuss whether they acted in a timely fashion. A big part of this meeting will be geared toward whether electronic computer problems may still be the problem.

The committee said they would also be looking at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has been criticized as being ineffective in regulating automakers and their increasingly high-tech cars. Rockefeller's committee sent a letter demanding an audit of NHTSA to determine whether it had thoroughly and fairly investigated the causes of sudden acceleration and whether its officials have "the potential to be excessively influenced by the industry they are supposed to oversee."

The outcome of all these meetings could take months and may end up with new legislation and vehicle regulations. It has been suggested that the law should require automobiles with data recorders that can be easily read by regulator.