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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题( q' y E/ c) s8 n8 b
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) ~$ s: Q2 k, C0 z$ wWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
3 g5 ~. w( o- s( ^operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
% [8 ] N" e9 Tthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
q2 { G* h8 n. [% V0 G Csolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
7 K5 h) N, e8 Q! q+ U"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential8 P; x% |. D3 u
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 J( }8 K3 X( Y$ l: X' E! ~9 WHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 O# ? W) B, }$ S2 u3 k
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 _4 v: o; v5 H- ]trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
7 e& g' J7 [( ~& K* W" T) Jmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 T" y: J& \' w. G. t+ a" A2 q8 e$ `He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal3 [' p; g* z* m$ L d+ v, n: N& I
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp8 f/ ]1 m* R, W$ v0 l) O% M6 V
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% ]# C3 g- Y) w# y3 e3 Z
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 L8 _! Y& r6 `. `: p( |7 F0 Bnot stop her runaway Lexus.
4 C! F7 |9 U6 S c: b& k0 ?- \4 ]"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,9 ]- o" u x9 t) }/ _
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
% K9 \0 e# Z- H7 I"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
% u+ V6 _# v# b1 `1 lTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
4 u* k* p1 T, m8 |: z6 c8 H% oearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
9 p _& y3 ]9 \: y& E! v5 W$ M" G"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% l5 j: X! I1 R* ^done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
; Z) C7 B0 u! ]- s- V0 v& ?through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
9 @" \+ R/ ~0 j$ Q! W Dinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."1 M7 ^ U$ Y% Y) D7 a+ V/ m
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an7 [4 o0 b2 m0 j
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
! F6 Z' m' N1 L+ e7 R2 Bthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
8 ?; k8 }3 p6 q# a5 D* omalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he( _- T ]+ a d: U% q) b
said.
- e# N+ b0 `% {- GAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what: U* Z" l0 k j& U k* i
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
/ Q/ [3 V( N/ w$ \( P; Dabout driving our products," Lentz said.
3 k# b4 j2 k2 N% \! XThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
, f$ \" @, l; H6 i) a% K+ Hproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has+ b, g! }2 A+ L
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
0 k* }4 w* b5 w& E Gmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
" x/ M/ p: o! i; ~0 g8 S% H/ `0 Nunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 _- K6 H3 w2 p8 J2 Bissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
$ R* n" j. G! aconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) [) y1 y5 B# ?their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
1 D) X0 N2 ]/ s0 o$ V9 W2 bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# b9 h! `0 B- E! ^
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) T& c" e3 c6 u5 q+ Wof Toyota vehicles since 2000.6 u' E4 J9 e0 L! D3 a
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own# o1 v" u8 _4 x& u/ b5 O
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& t+ N1 c5 \- @9 n! G+ p$ v& r
understood the pain.% l- f1 J5 y( Z4 ?
"I know what those families go through," he said.' D9 C1 h, z! j. R1 c
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
4 M9 x9 d0 m6 u) H" c# Yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
8 Z& N) r* f6 m4 w; YBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
# Z3 ?! D( B" T E0 J: DHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put& V* {; A# E$ {; `
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
8 m& f* ` N4 R4 X5 Z, ~) Y8 ]0 C5 uLentz replied: "Not totally."
( g2 I4 [4 H; H9 d- kStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
; j }( W6 m* W' t- d"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said& a7 P7 A% X+ m( B5 K9 ^
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
' p1 G0 o- q* F8 lpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! K" Z$ H8 _2 b& xvehicles already on the road.
. N1 k* ], U% ^6 b- b% F' ]6 ]Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 @7 G1 _0 x7 |before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
! B0 i. K$ Q% b" u& _0 gresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( j, I$ D: r8 v( T* Q2 z) i* _offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
3 q7 ]+ @3 p$ O+ X9 ]" ~killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems., w7 M& B0 t% w$ [1 B! U; V
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
% h! ?6 G8 {& A; F9 d* L* gtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
% h5 `1 ~' G0 v; p/ ~: Afor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
. Z5 r: ^( a6 l+ hCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
9 K# \! _8 S9 g; d# O" wcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
6 E7 S* \8 n2 }( X5 ]restore the trust of our customers."
! l$ j! U; k) z/ j s/ \Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 O) J3 ` K1 i) p6 B6 D. v
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly9 {: v; k9 w8 c# R0 R: g9 E- Z' ?
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
+ K- w( j# p* ?# E. ^! a8 q2 eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and8 N+ x) ~1 I3 v6 K: @2 c9 o
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 h& P- J5 A( I0 O, f# g4 f& I% j
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* X' b. l; x) q4 j! w) r2 M
turn off the engine.
7 s1 u4 a7 p* G+ H7 x$ T% ^Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( n( A& ?3 s& }6 l
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", w: m3 H7 C- D( Q
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she* w0 d' ~& Y+ @6 H( Q) w8 X8 q0 C
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
% {' W3 x# R0 q% f) zto her complaints.
. _( @ ^. k' m% d# ZIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers- K9 r7 y! {% ~$ x
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 o' h2 Z+ ?4 _2 z1 Z7 Gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars." v8 s: X) l. t5 u
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% s7 P( Q% u0 m4 L* ?throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: G# C& b- h1 B# }0 B9 v# k0 r5 d"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' K* i$ G' R( g. s- Y6 coff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
$ a6 B3 a' F* S' W% u5 I" cTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in1 b( U( B$ o( Z+ F1 B
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were, Z4 s& A/ k% Y
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% w) A7 _. w' M8 N9 zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* @! m& \4 |% {1 y' {every question."# E1 X, ?/ V% |3 C v
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether: {3 [( O+ ~$ f+ {/ D
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ I- ]$ ]0 r5 ?+ B7 \! Y6 r1 f* ofirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
4 I9 S* M' i5 b3 c) ?committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
2 g" @. C4 |% U8 P7 N) z" F( {: ]$ pnumber of vehicles
1 I4 a4 ]& N8 R2 _' tTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
! N; c6 } j5 `$ Ndifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; W+ P) A B( `' }+ X
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one0 k9 N# \, X6 c
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
+ a3 A$ O! p! l8 D. FMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,# _% B7 U; G: C) ` E& ^
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
h4 ^- K: r4 P5 L1 [trace at all.
. d( X8 H. Y1 A6 c% |4 A( GHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call4 ]7 E: \( g ]3 B" V9 h2 B
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden2 }3 P) w! G2 F+ {: G$ n
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the9 r/ v6 L1 G6 |" V
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.% u) V, y( D4 W4 r% `1 E2 z3 D) w4 n
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* T' K8 a& n4 B- w0 j) t7 {said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and" P9 G0 H6 M# _; a' _- @
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
' `" d3 Q& i+ {6 W- g/ aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
; A1 G$ }& `0 h3 z7 U! L" ]cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
2 Q! B& h" W, e6 e. Y: }( z0 fsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained% N1 \* B* t% a$ @
by Toyota's lawyers."6 O) U9 Y6 J6 g/ F: V" U* _
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of# k% H, b- T+ r6 |$ D9 T
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
- H" f& L/ `6 ?customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. n- V/ ?& G- ?3 W3 E& n3 Y: }( i9 X8 M
said.2 {4 ]2 Y8 f9 i' j& X- e
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with% h# y9 a- n2 ~2 B1 @9 _
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our9 i) I! N$ X- n5 ~8 V- U& t
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: o; i r1 f0 F$ ]0 Y0 u0 `
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.6 y* {# i/ ^/ Q+ P3 Z
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: n# q- a) G' S& q) F$ n+ x
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) G) Q# _, l0 V' W T) \/ ]
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
5 P# J+ @1 q- ^7 c& e% O& {* jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's" G: N4 n0 N6 W1 |1 N/ T8 m
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and: j8 O7 A- g! R0 ~
Chrysler. K5 ~, \- h5 \7 N& D2 \# H
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" K) R+ u% N: p
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) L1 g8 V1 z! q5 y
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also* d. ~; b7 @8 L
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete) N8 A) N9 o; o6 ]" m
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 `" n. v+ ^* w {7 j) }
tough."7 h/ G$ q! Z* a% k" {
---8 a; v9 B7 Z. N' O( g2 r; v
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
1 s8 d" @( s# G6 c W* v* S8 ~Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to9 M" v% Y6 O7 o) u
this story.
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2 r9 O8 w4 R4 d) |-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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