Ray LaHood Toyota Recall: "Take it to Dealer" not "Stop Driving"

by Scott Wu | February 3, 2010 at 11:18 am

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Ray LaHood advised owners of the recalled Toyota models to stop driving, but later backed off from the statement.

The Transportation Department head Ray LaHood made a statement earlier today urging Toyota owners to "stop driving it, take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it." At a new conference, Ray LaHood backed away from his previous remark and said, "What I said in there was obviously a misstatement."

Ray LaHood said, "I want to encourage owners of any recalled Toyota models to contact their local dealer and get their vehicles fixed as soon as possible."

The latest Toyota recall affects 2.3 million vehicles because of a sticking accelerator pedal. Toyota has begun shipping fix kits that address the accelerator problem.

Ray LaHood told reporters that he will have a conversation with the president of Toyoda, Akio Toyoda, about the recall. Ray LaHood said, "I think he understands, but I've never talked to him. I just feel like I need to have a conversation with him."

Until now, Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Toyota had been recommending only that drivers be careful and look for symptom that their cars could have unintended acceleration -- even though Toyota stopped selling the models last week.