Vehicles

- Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Toyota owners Wednesday they should stop driving their vehicles, then quickly took back his words, adding to confusion over the safety of millions of recalled cars. Toyota, for its part, tried to reassure drivers that sticky gas pedals have been rare - and that the cars can be stopped in any event by firmly stepping on the brakes. The final word from LaHood: "What I meant to say or what I thought I said was, if you own one of these cars or if you're in doubt, take it to the dealer and they're going to fix it."

Benita Johnson of Columbia has owned her share of unreliable vehicles. "I've had so many lemons, I don't think I can name them all," she said. But her current car, a 1993 Plymouth Acclaim, runs like a dream. And getting it was a dream come true. Johnson received her vehicle from Cars for Careers. Since its inception in 1998, the program has refurbished 100 donated cars and sold them at low cost to people who live in Howard County. It will celebrate that milestone with a ceremony today.

WASHINGTON - Bowing to vigorous opposition from automakers and their workers yesterday, the Senate easily defeated a proposal to require vehicles to become more fuel-efficient as a way to protect the environment. By a vote of 62-38, the Senate decided instead to direct the Bush administration to study how best to raise fuel-efficiency standards and to make recommendations within two years - effectively putting off action on the issue. Leaders of the drive for higher standards had argued that the result of adopting them would be cleaner air, a healthier environment and energy conservation.

Maryland new-car dealers ended a three-month sales slump by posting a 2.6 percent jump in deliveries during August, the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration reported yesterday.Though modest, the boost in showroom activity during August was more than double the gain of national sales.For the industry as a whole, U.S. sales of new cars and light trucks were up 1.1 percent compared with August 1996.Based on its revised figures, the MVA said consumers bought 30,221 new vehicles in August, compared with 29,459 in the same period last year.

Bill seeks to curb unsafe vehicle use by kids They are seen cruising throughout Anne Arundel County, down side streets and sidewalks, over yards and through environmentally delicate areas. Driving mini-motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and similar machines is illegal in most of these areas. Yet children as young as 5 have been seen behind the handlebars of these vehicles, causing a safety hazard to themselves and others who helplessly watch them fly by, several residents testified at a County Council meeting this week.

For nine days in Timonium, it's one-stop shopping for car buyers. More than 350 vehicles by 36 manufacturers are on display at the 16th Annual Maryland International Auto Show, which opens today at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. "The main purpose is for people to come here completely unhassled and see everything new the auto industry has to offer right next to each other," said Richard Kohles, show director. "Instead of going to a dealership, they can come here and jump in the three or four vehicles they've narrowed down to and get the feel for themselves and the whole family.

DETROIT -- Two big U.S. automakers saw their sales of sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks and minivans reach records last month, even as their car sales skidded.Ford Motor Co. said yesterday that its truck sales rose 2.1 percent to 183,342 in December, a record for the month, compared with the same period a year ago. Ford's overall sales fell 3.6 percent to 299,984 last month, pulled down by weak car sales. Ford sold 116,642 cars, down 11.4 percent from the same period a year ago.Sales of Ford's Explorer and Expedition sport-utility vehicles, along with its Ranger pickup truck, were especially strong.

... SAN ANTONIO --Toyota's vaunted reputation for quality has taken a pounding lately. More than 2 million of the Japanese automaker's vehicles have been recalled worldwide, and there are still four full months to go in the year. Some analysts say Toyota will be able to shrug off the quality questions, thanks to decades spent building its reputation for reliability. Others say Toyota is on the cusp of falling into a funk that could be hard to surmount. "It's gonna be interesting to see what's going to happen in the next six months," said Karl Brauer, editor-in-chief of automotive Web site Edmunds.

Automakers set a U.S. sales record in July, but it cost them plenty: a record $5.34 billion in incentives. That's $2,981 per vehicle to move all that metal, up 3 percent from a year earlier and an increase of nearly 5 percent from incentive spending in June, Edmunds.com, an automotive market information provider, reported yesterday. The run-up was the result of the popular employee discount plans, which were offered for the first time last month to the public by all three U.S. carmakers.

For the first time, federal regulators released figures yesterday that show how prone individual models of new cars and light-duty trucks are to roll over in an accident, exposing the occupants to high risk of death or serious injury. Instead of assigning a star rating to each model it tests, as it has done in the past, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released figures that allow consumers to compare rollover risk model by model. The star system, which is continuing, has been criticized for not providing enough information to distinguish among different vehicles, because nearly all received either three or four stars.