THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STEPS IN AND ISSUES WARNING!UPDATE TO ORIGINAL REPORT:
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood now says he misspoke when telling owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving then.
Instead, LaHood says take them to dealerships to get them repaired.
LaHood told reporters it was "obviously a misstatement" when he told a House panel earlier Wednesday that he would advise owners not to drive recalled vehicles. The remark came during testimony to the Appropriations subcommittee on transportation.
"What I said in there, or what I thought I said was, 'if you own one of these cars, or if you're in doubt, take it to the dealer,'" LaHood said.
LaHood initially said an owner of a recalled model should "stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it."
LaHood told reporters earlier in the day that Toyota owners should contact their dealer immediately and "exercise caution until repairs can be made."
ORIGINAL REPORT:
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is telling owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving the vehicles and get them fixed.
LaHood’s warning came today in testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation. LaHood says his advice to owners is to "stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it."
Toyota’s most recent recall in the United States affects 2.3 million vehicles with the potential for sticking gas pedals.
LaHood told reporters earlier in the day that Toyota owners should contact their dealer immediately and "exercise caution until repairs can be made."
Details developing now
Yesterday, LaHood criticized Toyota for dragging its feet on safety concerns over its gas pedals, suggesting the automaker was “a little safety deaf” to mounting evidence of problems.
LaHood said federal safety officials had to “wake them up” to the seriousness of the safety issues that eventually led Toyota to recall millions of popular brands like Camry and Corolla. That included a visit to Toyota’s offices in Japan to convince them to take action.
“They should have taken it seriously from the very beginning when we first started discussing it with them,” LaHood said. “Maybe they were a little safety deaf.”
LaHood also said the government was considering civil penalties for Toyota over its handling of the recalls but declined to elaborate.
The pointed comments came as Toyota showed just how painful the recall has been for the automaker. Its sales fell 16 percent in January, hurt by the halt in sales while a fix was developed for problems with faulty gas pedals.
Most other automakers reported sales gains for the month as the broader industry continued to show signs of improvement. General Motors sales rose 14 percent while rival Ford sales jumped 25 percent.
Toyota said in a statement yesterday: “Nothing is more important to us than the safety and reliability of the vehicles our customers drive.
Secretary LaHood said to us that the soonest possible action would be in the best interests of our customers, and we took his advice very seriously and instituted a recall.”
Do not forget that the US Government is Toyota's COMPETITOR.
ReplyDeleteThe US Government will benefit from consumers being frightened of Toyota, sales of GM cars would be expected to improve.
I will trust TOYOTA far more than I will trust the obviously compromised motives of the Federal Government.
Toyota has said that the problem needs to be fixed but is of a "slow onset" nature rather than "instant death" type of problem.
Get thee to a repair shop at your earliest convenience, but DO NOT PANIC.
If your accelerator is seeming sticky, then you need to hurry it up, but if you haven't noticed a problem, you're ok to drive until you can get it fixed.
PANIC sells papers and blog posts, but PANIC does not save lives.
Update: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving their vehicles, but later said he misspoke and advised owners to bring their vehicles to dealers if they were concerned.
ReplyDeletehttp://wcbstv.com/local/stop.driving.toyotas.2.1467177.html
Isiah - please update your post with this information. It is every bit as important to CALM PEOPLE DOWN as it is to get them riled up.
Thanks for posting the update. You're a good man, and a responsible reporter.
ReplyDeleteIt has to be tough to find the balance between concern for public safety and healthy skepticism that must be a part of every reporter's mindset. I don't envy you!
Everybody drive your Toyota down to the dealership even though they haven't received the parts to fix
ReplyDeletethem yet. *rolling eyes*
Obama needs to loan this guy one of his teleprompters. WOW