WASHINGTON –Toyota Motor Corp President Akio Toyoda said he was "deeply sorry" for accidents caused by safety problems with Toyota vehicles and detailed a set of reforms that would shift control of recall decisions away from the automaker's Japan headquarters.

Toyoda admitted a period of explosive growth may have weakened the automaker's internal controls.

"We pursued growth over the speed at which we were able to develop our people and our organization, and we should sincerely be mindful of that," Toyoda said in his written testimony.

"I regret that this has resulted in the safety issues described in the recalls we face today, and I am deeply sorry for any accidents that Toyota drivers have experienced," he said.

Toyoda testifies today before a panel of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee.

The Congressional hearings on Toyota’s safety crises are critical for the world's largest automaker as it seeks to repair damage over unintended acceleration problems and braking issues that have led to the recall of more than 8.5 million vehicles around the world.

Faced with criminal investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a federal grand jury in New York, Toyoda is vowing to make changes that will ensure Toyota maintains higher standards of quality.

"My name is on every car," he said. "You have my personal commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to restore the trust of our customers."

He also responded to charges the centralization of control by engineers at the automaker's "customer quality engineering" team in Japan contributed to its slow response to the crisis.

Toyoda said the automaker would appoint a new product safety executive in North America and bring in outside experts to ensure that customer complaints were reflected more quickly and fully in safety decisions.