LaHood says investigation into Toyota's actions still open

Transportation Department Secretary Ray LaHood said he is pleased Toyota has accepted responsibility for its safety issues while an investigation into the automakers disclosure practices continues. 

Toyota has agreed to pay a nearly $16.4 million fine for failing to report "sticky" gas pedal problems and "slow to return" defects, leading to a recall of 2.3 million vehicles in January. 

"By failing to report known safety problems as it is required to do under the law, Toyota put consumers at risk," LaHood said Monday in a statement. "I am pleased that Toyota has accepted responsibility for violating its legal obligations to report any defects promptly. We are continuing to investigate whether the company has lived up to all of its disclosure obligations." 

Toyota waited almost four months to report the pedal defect to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The fine is the largest ever civil penalty assessed against an automaker by the NHTSA. 

The Transportation Department launched an investigation Feb. 16. NHTSA officials are continuing to review Toyota's statements and more than 120,000 pages of documents to determine whether the company has complied with its legal obligations.