WASHINGTON (February 3, 2010)—U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood now says he misspoke earlier Wednesday when he told owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving the vehicles until they’ve been repaired.

Instead, LaHood says owners should take the vehicles to dealerships to get them repaired.

LaHood told reporters it was "obviously a misstatement" when he told the House Appropriations subcommittee earlier Wednesday that he would advise owners not to drive recalled vehicles.

Toyota, meanwhile, issued a statement Wednesday that said recalled vehicles whose gas pedals haven’t been sticking are safe to drive.

Toyota's most recent recall in the United States affects 2.3 million vehicles in which gas pedals could stick.

LaHood told reporters earlier in the day that Toyota owners should contact their dealer immediately and "exercise caution until repairs can be made."

Federal safety officials have widened their investigation of Toyota's sticky gas pedals to see if the same problem could exist in vehicles made by other automakers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has sent a letter to CTS, the Indiana company that made the pedals behind Toyota's recall of millions of vehicles, seeking information about pedals that CTS made for other auto companies.

CTS says it makes pedals for such companies Honda, Nissan and a small number of Ford vehicles in China.

CTS been adamant that the issues are limited to Toyota alone.

Other automakers have also said their pedals are based on different designs and aren't at risk for the same problems.