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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题5 o/ \& z2 j4 \; r$ W
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS2 d* A4 k3 I+ n/ T+ t
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.- M" l/ S) ?- _' }4 u* H! ^
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that& @5 ?& `. r2 s4 {& N
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 a# H$ H& c+ z7 Wsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.* t& I( j+ c& s3 S x
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 ?5 B5 ~& q) [; ~( J1 X5 V
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.+ w2 v; X% d& ~6 r. T' K; q) ?! u. n L
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
2 {1 C' \9 B5 o7 \: J ~) `( gacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and) B! [! d. \8 b, |6 g l$ M) A: w" N
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor' M' U% Z C8 E" I$ N
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
' \0 P7 `. f3 _8 _% G& pHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal2 S: {4 N2 W- e# F8 Y. b7 Z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 D- [+ [4 n6 p) Tcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be) m4 b( I! ^. @! |2 F8 M, c
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could" P% e( V% O& x1 R! _, F7 |) S
not stop her runaway Lexus.+ p1 [3 r3 W D* B q3 G
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
) Z, Y }) N1 C4 sTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ ^ E1 D5 o/ s( v0 ]. x"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* [! {3 \7 e0 m2 H. e
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
4 A8 F6 N2 z/ O- J6 E2 d9 mearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said# c0 K1 ^; E# T. \
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ `& D' l- v6 M/ ]' _3 h
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
+ V/ T }5 I3 k* {# `" a- R* qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's3 C) r2 f/ V/ D
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."& @/ Y( I+ b6 w$ O3 m9 E2 x
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an$ r6 L2 X$ w \* y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of5 U# M1 K; @, h2 M: @
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. M4 V( p8 L( C) P" l# G3 _9 p
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he* F5 D. M0 S6 j e% l
said.
+ P8 W0 n4 T" Y6 Y3 tAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
7 D6 Y1 M5 Z# j |( V. `happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
# D$ ^0 K7 ~5 Sabout driving our products," Lentz said.
' Y) d% K9 M4 }4 ]: m6 MThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's5 E3 E3 S$ ^* i
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has2 D. G% m8 O: J) K) k
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6% E. S5 s6 j+ J; e% ^& z' K
million in the United States -- since last fall because of7 K5 I- }# n' B% ^( n
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking/ G/ Z% p' S# U4 a* w
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' c# } c0 o! z3 F( q5 Oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
8 t$ [8 {/ }9 m! h, X6 {0 P. ~2 u: ]their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow' _, @* @" A( j- n' @
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 X( G# M7 ?- t+ t& |% b% {: q1 ~; s; Treceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
& U) }; W, K) |* x& W( nof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ |% A3 B) F2 z8 zLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
, B N3 R9 r9 p# Obrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he7 d2 E) x. m% N7 Q' f) b2 M
understood the pain./ q0 y1 j# ]7 I$ T9 @
"I know what those families go through," he said.- t/ v' R* f+ h/ K: k
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; N7 E1 b, z- Y0 H; J3 G3 V
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) b2 ?( _& c! a) ?% u% b
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
8 ~. ^; ]( G. H) h, f0 R& aHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: g- {+ C2 b+ y$ d3 z8 S
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 F3 J: \/ l9 Q g
Lentz replied: "Not totally.") l+ Q R' y7 b& x; P( L X
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were( f1 I) s1 x, j
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 w, |# G! I. p% |. G
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 a! \/ [, H" [6 {: Q: T( ~ v. _9 l# k
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) ^" T& G, a+ }4 U
vehicles already on the road.
9 d5 {! o, p+ o" ^; m, LMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify1 |, K( j" E2 ^; D
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full. I7 U3 t) d. A5 J
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
" Z: }7 X$ F! z# m# g' p4 r8 Toffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& ~ z" c4 y. e7 G8 fkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
* w8 Z! R+ t* U5 ?"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; H4 f$ A" ^1 k3 Atragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony2 J( i* w( @+ s; l
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ _' `" S: n/ Z$ yCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
6 I# ^ Y& ]3 Hcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% D* n1 K0 f; j7 T1 k, U( arestore the trust of our customers."
2 Z# f$ f& b: X' HLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
, p9 Q9 \$ i5 y! }: v0 ySmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly, D0 o/ H$ A# ]- ]2 _% X
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
2 l7 }5 s3 N2 W) |shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
( h8 G$ C* B/ Q4 H/ Ehitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; n# k4 x1 {! [; v5 sthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. v) z5 l$ [+ K ]) h# aturn off the engine.% u, S' K' c3 h" | V
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
2 Z" g7 ~* i( B* K- rOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& q) R0 A5 j, M! ^
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she& u: ?# h* X" S X
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond8 G& h' M% C7 M+ M O
to her complaints.: L& U: N# M2 m4 d- e, i
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers- {" o# D9 }, b; T I
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 | I! F+ ]4 r* Bmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.' C2 v5 B8 Y7 m/ l
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! t" I! M2 v: q; ]2 vthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
+ V& F" K; \2 g8 G! ~"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) J A" X1 t* n/ f1 a) p
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
* g b' ~4 d% g) y+ r: `0 d5 NTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in$ i$ t9 c2 n A( @# d& V
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! |6 Z7 t7 ?; x: n: r# lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% [# G# Q8 D5 @" pwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
% G9 K' F8 r* e( `# d, `2 Revery question."
+ ]/ P( a- F7 t2 MToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ q' ?2 P: x) k. I. j. X( A+ yelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' S5 Q/ N- i& D3 _ V
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; O7 {5 t* ~" z4 H. Ncommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small8 c7 d* I% |) ^, n! Z
number of vehicles
3 F9 e) U7 c* HTracking down an electrical problem can be far more1 c, R( P5 Y3 H
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 ?, V3 ^$ R& Dmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one1 k: y5 V- Z c8 c& q* I3 @+ f
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ O+ d2 a* v# m! n+ ~6 c# D3 |3 jMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
" X* A% M! ?% t, I, ]& f' wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; U. A- i9 g$ m8 V( W# x
trace at all.8 G) V: |$ ~! O7 [
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
: q. b; |" k1 `; x/ e8 ydatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! h/ s8 k# _* F* {5 ?. m. Y1 Q- \
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the8 R3 I& \& K6 P1 {- Y% J
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
+ ~; D! |/ J: G5 j5 u& ?) @Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
, Z, Y" m+ Y6 Q0 s5 ]: Ysaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
$ s0 g- x1 N8 u7 fother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
) u# `3 _( F3 aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
5 a6 S: h& P& d# s! a E; lcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
' H& @# ~( x8 G; [such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained& ]* J- i4 g' }! a9 p
by Toyota's lawyers."
2 t+ K! O1 q/ D6 O- FLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
E% J4 g" k4 [/ {1 H. F% m' b( M! Xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 W4 }2 b# \9 w; {. @customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; R6 a9 d I. A: N2 lsaid.
% [2 Z! y: Z7 \6 N$ T"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with2 u( r3 a& f% c
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 L( t; S( T; ^. M" ]1 ^7 T
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 @! ?/ n# a J$ ]
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.- C" o4 w \3 [1 j1 x$ N6 t. a* }
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying( s9 v+ B+ I f* z! J
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
4 {/ D3 G( }+ Q& f$ q) @rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the! ^2 T: j) k6 t H2 z" ]5 q% R
automaker, at least in part because of the government's% z1 C% H, H: v" r2 @+ b5 }, w' A
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
! U/ K) t6 t; P" FChrysler.
3 F) N8 X9 P$ U; a( X1 j1 s, i7 C5 y' ["That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
7 k0 l- P& E6 M c0 [3 ^dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ Q7 G j" o1 Y) q: w$ t
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
# k# ]1 L& f, ~! X1 dserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( ` {; m3 u/ U7 x7 x1 ~: M) vwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
" B- k8 E/ F: g2 f+ Gtough."
8 a% P, Y. N/ b% X" U. ^4 M9 `" w0 `---
; D% c! S" j5 F, I2 V: dAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" z2 l2 Q1 T& n8 G) b8 g
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
8 G7 @4 g* s- t t! Sthis story.
9 e2 r/ j0 s' j1 B4 f9 p/ e% Q8 w6 \
5 L& q l5 f" p' `-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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