Hope and Fail

LaHood immediately walks back ’stop driving’ Toyotas remark

Is Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood taking rhetorical lessons from Vice President Joe Biden?

Immediately after telling a House committee that people who own a Toyota automobile affected by the car maker’s massive accelerator recall to “stop driving” them, LaHood said it was a misstatement.

From the New York Times:

Mr. LaHood, the transportation secretary, was asked what guidance he would give to Toyota owners affected by a series of recalls.

“My advice,” Mr. LaHood said in his characteristically folksy tone, “is if anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it. And take it to a Toyota dealer.”

He finished his remarks to a House appropriations subcommittee, then headed outside the hearing room, where it became clear that his testimony would be remembered for three words: “Stop driving it.”

When greeted by reporters, he immediately tried to modify his words. “What I said in there was obviously a misstatement,” Mr. LaHood said, adding that he meant to say, “If you own one of these cars, or if you’re in doubt, take it to the dealer.”

Here’s CNN’s video:

The secretary’s remark sent Toyota’s shares on the stock market down, even after he “clarified” his remarks.

LaHood may have made the classic mistake of saying something true: A car that accelerates on its own and won’t stop isn’t safe to drive.

Despite that, the incident caused some to ask if the Obama administration was attempting to use its influence to prop up General Motors, of which the government owns a majority share (but that’s just silly).

This isn’t the first time LaHood’s comments had to be quickly withdrawn. Almost a year ago he said the administration would explore taxing drivers on the mileage they traveled — his own department retracted the statement the same day.