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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题# Y. m+ X8 d/ f! Z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( N; r' M7 t* kWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 x; L D& n2 f- q
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that3 s$ \% e+ W/ l
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 X) y: l/ j2 {; n7 ~
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.+ G/ c6 d6 Z9 i5 M
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential) R5 F" q: M9 g
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.$ Y2 |& z! ^0 f2 G: Z0 k
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 q5 m& R0 R p: D
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
5 r$ r! ]* e2 a: k, Utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; c4 _& C; _+ m: Q5 H
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.' y2 |+ `+ b& n1 i
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal# h8 g4 U" S( F* Y) D( m! B
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp$ ]! D2 n$ D0 A' ^6 m# U
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be3 H; S$ E- \3 D7 A: a& M( o
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 m: T& X( @0 B- y2 g9 q# _not stop her runaway Lexus.
S: R9 s( s3 C- K' Z2 ^# F"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 [/ P+ S H" M- C: \Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
* h$ G! H, H$ C, u"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.' m) [9 O/ F4 d$ v
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues1 K) M4 S. J0 \( C4 A3 G
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said7 U1 n" ]% ~6 t9 _* Z7 A8 N& e
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
1 Z8 P3 S6 }2 W, }done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
3 H4 J) f. j9 r# Othrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's& s+ K/ w- z6 c6 @: H2 X7 q. z" y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
# L# E5 @3 B+ W6 n& FLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 T9 t; ]2 N( U; J& c8 R$ t9 @' u
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 \3 j2 ]. V. F1 J- `4 y& i6 J
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
6 E) U+ H& `% [5 X! S, h! ^malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. C% \7 {4 ~, J9 }5 |" O
said.
/ ~, P3 r; H& j' sAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what% [. F* N# X7 \9 a, B3 R
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
/ o0 G: o; z$ K: T6 jabout driving our products," Lentz said.
. l! c8 p3 T& UThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
( x4 |6 f; T) M/ a# }/ jproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
- _- o$ T% J1 N) yrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' ?9 Q& j: P1 y6 ~million in the United States -- since last fall because of
, c+ q. V4 |' v; Qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
/ C3 d( `) d/ q' ~ e! W/ K: @, uissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
W8 Q8 c, |5 w7 B2 \concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
Q8 T6 B3 _: G) l$ ^+ {/ Atheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. s: w; q: g. H B4 Q
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ r3 C4 y- K( @ g6 a' c- ?received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
7 a7 \- @3 R3 O; m* M$ a& V1 f0 Pof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
4 N% D- s8 T7 F, xLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ F" S3 ~* e7 Y$ Nbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, W, k; P* V! \0 x
understood the pain.9 u! z: Z) Z1 w1 n1 I4 a3 N, M4 z
"I know what those families go through," he said.& K* K8 Y5 r6 @' g- {) [, O: k
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
+ g' O. i; ?- o( j0 G8 N5 Cfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.. Y- P; W E G- N5 r7 H ?1 I
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman- G K' V. q$ w: _6 ^
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put2 n8 A3 J4 a2 k( ?# v
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ N$ ?$ S8 \5 f& c2 ?! _
Lentz replied: "Not totally."- X0 V2 q5 ]+ h' N
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were" r4 {9 h+ P, L9 D
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
+ w* B( n/ ?/ J& V9 _- zToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas* S ?* O7 o% S- b n& O3 |
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
) [6 I3 {' A7 qvehicles already on the road.
' U2 a# r( K& Z# S- m Z1 ?Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
; e- e( w: ^9 l% sbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
% o: o i& n% c6 s5 r5 lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
u: x$ O$ V1 I' yoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were+ N& o$ g/ M+ a8 c3 B; R
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.' `* S, b& b d2 w$ B2 W
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
F/ v2 J. I+ ktragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) P1 b# ?6 t3 R f. o! d% w
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight) Q' G; J3 w- H* n+ Y8 J) N {* |
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, j5 e# ?: G" U d' Scommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: o6 s7 V4 o8 i! X! A% c4 Arestore the trust of our customers."
) ~% L- e* H9 T4 U" ZLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
+ d0 O% a' x. d' x" N. _ T0 B$ VSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 M9 F3 ], X, R* \
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
4 m( H# \2 }0 fshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% M9 W/ e6 U( Hhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; p; s6 e! ?* j- u6 Hthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and% z) X! L4 z% j/ E T* j5 }% h) n$ ]
turn off the engine. M7 Q( @! |, K3 A
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of! ^5 {0 A3 p, H, \/ B* |- o f
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."$ @" V+ B' ^8 X% K; a) n
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 R- s! V& A5 q; Asaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
6 X& n& r# N2 L4 @% b+ o% uto her complaints.
$ E/ W, `, D0 {% Y; }In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
& O0 S. A- K- Mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
4 k0 J) f. m/ R3 I* o( mmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 \. p9 K& g( x5 C"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric5 P! M y8 u n- h
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( B; d# a: J5 \) l! P& l"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
& I& C. m6 `; h" y2 Foff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! p' V% ^1 H% d
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in7 H6 k/ e) b% w c6 `+ O
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were1 d- K) a5 u- m( f
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
! }* D$ }2 g& z1 J! q- O+ Vwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 n& z! Q4 f# C1 P3 ~
every question."4 A) i. t, a8 e1 |. M
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether3 ~- x9 C0 l0 K' m2 H# P5 ^
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ a, C1 A$ t& }/ p+ x- W. a8 h1 wfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
}7 T' e) O+ H. a% L0 y( ncommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& g% n6 N! n$ N" ]& W3 rnumber of vehicles
0 J/ R5 X/ i: u* A9 `4 B5 TTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; a# I7 }9 v6 Hdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
; S* V' ~8 v' c9 y* b9 \mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
1 U# v5 W3 G. G8 P3 Osource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 X; J- v) o# @6 {Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,, M3 m: c: w" L8 N% |9 Q8 T) e% X3 x5 z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no0 o2 w# r) S" l
trace at all.
0 q: A2 d- \8 NHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ p d; [+ P3 W# ~5 e# ]5 R# F+ A) xdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ D1 N; k X W: Q* f, O" _
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 Z: K9 R9 q3 @! g; i
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! l/ z( D! D3 s# q7 l
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,, G3 F3 P; ?2 N3 [. r
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 B/ z$ }+ [2 o: V: ^% }) X
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
: F4 }' f: K( N# D _electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
% _: S" }! F% \0 L1 {cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
6 E" A* R6 f$ V9 `6 e5 Msuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 L6 P. A0 [9 B5 x7 ]/ x4 Iby Toyota's lawyers."
6 c0 q( Y- |( h& g- mLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of5 \7 l8 {- m* `6 b2 t0 D
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
/ m8 C' M+ [/ n" h" jcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, b9 S8 {/ J4 @; C7 W+ O6 O
said.$ f* j8 w9 z( H# M
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ P- Z* R2 F+ i4 c! wa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; N6 |+ s. S: E7 \' C& ^* z
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
: e: R6 c" {4 O) |( b% fofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
9 F# R& H; O# ?& zSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying( X$ V0 v0 y1 D5 R; U8 u0 ]
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread+ S l* w" `/ x0 U8 g7 p! ^3 Y0 S
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the. s B5 s W0 k4 a! w
automaker, at least in part because of the government's- [; M+ n: C0 w* W. t
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% i$ p W0 \& \3 _
Chrysler.
& V. j% L2 W# ]4 n; i' m; I2 P"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
8 Z$ V% I0 V9 ldollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( ^" @) i* e! Q
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
t8 J8 b/ i8 P) w zserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
. @0 F- _3 @+ C7 mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 y8 C) u5 D' g! p. s9 e$ o5 i+ ]* k+ g
tough."
. x) x+ C+ Q& @/ m8 f% E* B---
: V8 K/ `! G- e5 W" g" F! dAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* X- H. z# [- M" l4 b% IRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
S% k+ x$ {/ k4 `this story.* K+ f3 k3 L d6 h* ]) M
# I# Z: ^: v+ R1 q0 G5 p-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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