Toyota apologizes over safety issues

Hearings have opened on Capitol Hill to examine Toyota's response to acceleration and braking problems, that led to massive recalls of its cars in the United States. But the company says that recalls alone will not solve the problem.

The hearing opened with a witness statement recounting a runaway acceleration incident in her Toyota-made Lexus, in October 2006.

Rhonda Smith, Owner of Faulty Toyota, said, "I put the car into all available gears including neutral, but then I put it in reverse and it remains in reverse as the car speeds to over 100 miles per hour down the interstate. After six miles God intervened. As the car came very slowly to a stop I pulled it to the left median with the car stopped and both feet on the brake the motor still revved up and down. "

She said it took many years for Toyota to respond to her complaints, and that lives had been lost.

She said the company and federal highway safety regulators, could have done more, as well as acting sooner.

The president of Toyota's US operations also appeared at the hearing.

James Lentz, President of US Operations, Toyota, said, "In recent months, we've not lived up to our high standards our customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota. Put simply, it's taken us too long to come to grips with a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our good faith efforts."