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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said
Toyota was slow to deal with safety problems with its gas pedals,
asserting in an interview Tuesday that it took government pressure
to force the company to recall millions of its most popular
vehicles.


      LaHood, in an interview with The Associated Press, defended his
department's handling of the Toyota investigation and said the
Japanese automaker was "a little safety deaf" during its probe of
the problem. The company was so resistant, LaHood said, that it
took a trip from federal safety officials to Japan to "wake them
up" to the seriousness of the pedal problems.


      "They should have taken it seriously from the very beginning
when we first started discussing it with them," LaHood told AP.
"Maybe they were a little safety deaf in their North American
office until we went to Japan."


      "If it had not been for the work of (the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration) pushing Toyota to make the recall,
traveling to Japan, meeting with the top officials of Toyota in
Japan and telling them that their folks in the United States seem
to be a little safety deaf when it came to us talking to them, I
don't know if the recall would be taking place," LaHood said.


      LaHood's remarks were his most pointed since Toyota recalled 2.3
million vehicles in the United States due to concerns over gas
pedals that can stick when drivers step on the gas. The Jan. 21
recall followed a separate action in October to recall millions
more over problems with pedals catching on floor mats.


      "It took a trip from (NHTSA deputy administrator) Ron Medford
to Japan to wake them up to the idea that this is a serious issue,
it's a serious safety issue," LaHood said. "We're not going to
sit by and let these kinds of crashes occur without them taking
very, very quick action."


      Toyota apologized to its customers Monday and announced a fix
that will involve inserting a piece of steel about the size of a
postage into the gas pedal assembly to address potential excess
friction. In rare cases, Toyota says, the friction can cause the
pedal to become stuck in the depressed position.


      Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, told reporters
Monday that the recalls were an embarrassment for the company but
it was acting quickly to address the problem. "We have to redouble
our efforts to make sure this doesn't happen again," he said.


      Asked for reaction to LaHood's comments to the AP, Toyota said
in a statement Tuesday: "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."


      "We are very grateful for his advice and we feel that we have
been given a chance to regain our customers' trust," Toyota said.


      Beginning in 2003, the government conducted several
investigations into reports of unwanted acceleration involving
Toyota vehicles but failed to find any evidence that the vehicles
were defective.

When the government probed reports of floor mats in Lexus vehicles jamming gas pedals, Toyota said there was "no
possibility of pedal interference" with the floor mats if they
were placed properly and secured.


      But a government survey of Lexus owners found dozens of reports
of sudden acceleration and evidence that in some crashes owners had
pressed hard on the brakes but failed to stop the vehicles. The
investigation led Toyota to recall an accessory all-weather floor
mat for 55,000 Lexus vehicles in September 2007.


      The problems grew last August when a California Highway Patrol
officer and three family members were killed in a high-speed crash
aboard a 2009 Lexus ES350. The Lexus hit speeds exceeding 120 mph,
struck a sport utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled
several times and burst into flames as a family member called 911.


      In October, Toyota recalled more than 4 million vehicles to
replace floor mats that were suspected of causing accelerators to
get stuck, leading to crashes. The recall has since grown to more
than 5 million vehicles.

      Following the latest recall and Toyota's decision to stop
selling those vehicles, LaHood told reporters Monday that Toyota
had "done the right thing" and urged car owners to contact their
dealers immediately and remain cautious until repairs can be made.


      But he defended the department's review of the Toyota case in
the interview, arguing that NHTSA had conducted several
investigations of the vehicles and pushed Toyota to recall the
vehicles. "I'm not going to take a back seat to anybody when it
comes to safety," LaHood said.


      Underscoring his concern, LaHood said the Toyota recalls "may
be the most serious safety issue that we have faced here at DOT"
during his tenure. "This is a big deal, this is a big safety
issue," LaHood said.


      The role of the government and the company in the recalls is
drawing scrutiny in Congress. The House Oversight and Government
Reform Committee has launched an investigation into the recalls and
scheduled a Feb. 10 hearing examining the risk to the public.


LaHood and other DOT officials are expected to testify. Committee
officials also have asked Yoshi Inaba, chairman and CEO of Toyota
Motor North America, to testify and are expected to seek testimony
from a consumer or consumer group.


 Separately, the investigative
panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is planning a Feb.
25 hearing on the Toyota cases.

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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said
Toyota was slow to deal with safety problems with its gas pedals,
asserting in an interview Tuesday that it took government pressure
to force the company to recall millions of its most popular
vehicles.


Transportation Secretary: Toyota slow to respond to safety problems

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