The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
What’s Bad for Toyota Is Good for America?
“Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood now says he misspoke today when he told the owners of more than 2 million recalled vehicles to stop driving and bring them to a dealer–a comment that sparked fears among owners and drove down the company’s stock,” the Detroit News reports:
“My advice is if anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it, and take it to a Toyota dealer,” LaHood said today at a House hearing.
This afternoon, LaHood said he directed that statement to drivers who have experienced problems with sticky pedals — a condition that Toyota says is extremely rare.
“If you are in doubt, take it to a dealer,” LaHood said. “What I said in (the House hearing) was obviously a misstatement.”
The Wall Street Journal reports on the hearing:
“While Toyota is taking responsible action now, it unfortunately took an enormous effort to get to this point,” Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said Tuesday in a statement. “We’re not finished with Toyota and are continuing to review possible defects and monitor the implementation of the recalls.”
Mr. LaHood said Transportation Department officials flew to Japan in December to meet with Toyota executives and remind the company “about its legal obligations.” The agency, he said, “followed up with a meeting at DOT headquarters in January to insist they address the accelerator pedal issue.”
Another DOT official said the agency is considering a civil penalty against the auto maker. Manufacturers that don’t issue a timely recall of defective vehicles can receive a penalty of up to $16.4 million.
So the U.S. government, majority shareholder of General Motors, is aggressively regulating Toyota, which is to say, its competition. How can owners of Toyota cars be sure Washington is looking out for their interests and not its own? Such is a pitfall of the “public option” in the auto industry–and in other industries as well.
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