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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题, v* N% B0 w8 m: B/ d# Z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS6 v5 g1 ]! q" a& f$ a4 F7 ~/ N7 i
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 F7 k, @# ]) A8 b
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 t j( ?4 m2 {% \% G' r- Cthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 I1 y( q+ D4 y# _. i* F3 v; Y
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
5 s0 _9 L* u; ^: `# g2 g"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
" G1 Q( ` m Q( m& l* p, [causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.& R/ S! H' i( y* t- O2 \1 y& Q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
/ {4 Z/ ~6 I2 `) Sacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' b6 ~' \/ G {# R4 x+ }trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
3 P( P, O: w, ]2 g% ]mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" M% K2 k% g$ q% s- mHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
( D1 a d+ @) \! A: s$ qand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 G! |* `, g* o0 n4 Hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
% y" B3 p# w3 n0 sfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
4 ]% i6 b4 E2 d: rnot stop her runaway Lexus./ M) l! p+ x. ~* Y/ J: y+ q
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' l& `4 L$ h$ [8 \$ d2 `, @Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
2 D; b3 q/ g1 a"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( F6 Q" n( Y3 L3 D9 t
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
# }; M2 K; H& ]: r8 _% R2 z9 Hearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said. u3 S/ @& `9 P4 {' D
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
7 _& @) h: v2 O) N$ Ydone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
W* f" [9 j. t; n2 Tthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's) D8 c7 t, d8 O- j% Z+ v% t" o) d
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."8 d+ S8 p0 h" K4 v2 y O# O$ x
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: |/ r0 r- ~4 I4 s9 velectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! v+ k+ ~9 d9 E; e
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! |8 [) F' r2 W2 H
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he c& W6 _3 A0 Q; q
said.) i* w0 `7 r3 d! @ v7 T" @5 u
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
8 O! h+ Q }' r& {8 q: f# Uhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe5 g) g: H6 n2 W) z6 \5 h
about driving our products," Lentz said.
+ X9 Y7 Q0 f5 J0 ^" W& J0 M. i7 AThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
- K) _) h# c! T$ p7 Sproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has6 \5 p/ `0 I- K: N; C
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6% O; C5 d" |, z
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 ]; F8 L0 P1 n! o/ O# Bunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
* s+ M! ~4 I1 ?- Kissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ k& |9 N1 t9 X) p
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 T/ @$ L4 U+ J& [their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow5 p% Z( e+ j7 ~) [
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has+ ]- \) {, z8 I3 ~
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
8 a: Z: E3 [( W3 P0 _& \of Toyota vehicles since 2000.! M# B( ?5 Z: I0 ]& `4 ^) @
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own3 Q) R& _! t2 E7 S; y! _
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he8 P. ^) c. e( l, ?) }$ ~ e5 o
understood the pain.
$ ~3 v% W: |# f9 C"I know what those families go through," he said.
9 _% m4 [) A* N( X' ?: ?* a/ oLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's- F2 W2 }) J1 i$ A( ^
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
3 X5 ?- l# Q9 i( ?) X2 @' sBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
6 g1 k% Y8 u3 F3 S6 T7 ZHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 p& Z: Q3 c: E* f0 [in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
; N3 z4 O* M( E" c i8 aLentz replied: "Not totally."! F' P7 F8 @6 p8 N
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were8 ~9 e" I- M) Y5 D. ]: t% O- {
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
" c. P2 Z0 l, oToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
3 G+ A7 I5 ]2 ^4 v9 D# qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
0 r3 a3 [' z8 N" C ~vehicles already on the road.
8 c* `' ` t) n0 d1 qMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify3 H4 }( T; M' {5 _' y7 W
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full) l; d! V+ ]8 p7 d
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and! P3 k/ J4 J/ }* i7 `) ~
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 n+ H: R) `# Bkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
~8 @6 q8 b" g"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
0 n+ ]# P+ Y- ]* P8 Ztragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- T0 r/ D2 y! V; t' F
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
) w% r. L# h; ?6 zCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal! l$ M- M6 F/ U% u# b# C3 j
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
& X* F7 j9 G, l7 S9 lrestore the trust of our customers."& A# B& h6 ^1 D; \5 H- q- ]$ a! V3 l
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from o/ R. D$ Z* |
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly# Y1 K% \. c! v7 O- F
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --! H! i- h" V4 d7 ^1 o2 X5 n1 F3 e
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and! T$ c' b) T( [% r: M% C% D
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, F- K" h& l1 \4 M6 _( Y3 F3 c
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and$ E2 \& A' s9 n( R% D% p
turn off the engine.) |3 J8 h8 N3 C( _ a
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- `; V+ J$ Q, ^
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience." G! _; {$ c! X. d
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she* Z& p2 _, F$ i+ K% S. g+ T
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond7 x6 N( ^/ ~! q; L
to her complaints.2 s; W) Q/ \ h! o4 ^" Y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( I0 q2 X+ b3 p8 h/ y- Areturned again and again to the question of whether electronic/ [/ ^, e" `! w% g1 S* e
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.4 a0 f8 P0 X: `+ \* i. n' V' c4 R- e
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 [+ p4 l8 y' i1 x6 D
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 N. J8 [* i* B; U+ J- w"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 f; {2 w' T! b& @& d! roff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& [) J9 {, B7 O. i O% PTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 M9 a/ J" ]% J I: A: s; j
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
& n- B. U; i" Q9 |being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
3 W/ x1 h) K2 b* G& u: W2 D8 Lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
, y* v1 S5 D5 @every question."( q* @. V' o" Z9 f/ d
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
1 J! \2 \6 B& uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The" H5 L" z5 K- @* V/ r& l% i
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But) T9 A4 Q1 K5 M* Q3 T) X
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, q @" J6 Y4 J- y# Y; y$ V+ S' unumber of vehicles
' I" I/ H! w; u! U9 ]3 }Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" Q2 ~6 w/ } [# x* j/ ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 ?! c( J3 ]+ E4 A$ H( bmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
8 s' E1 T9 a6 E5 ~7 X; ^source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
) g" {) E+ f( T! \7 PMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) K! X1 B. w' l0 ?* `where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* X7 [8 F4 `3 Htrace at all.
2 Y2 C/ E& a( X n( ]House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
" V0 o4 D/ @2 g2 P" s2 idatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) _& C) B2 V! c2 {8 c6 r
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& h T3 G+ f/ \8 M6 Y6 I4 G# j" o4 yrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& o5 Z6 d! g' j3 b. rRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 D; C/ p, v- i* k: w% f6 e( Y
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
; _9 V! L8 N: w) A! Rother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the1 e4 p2 a5 `5 ^) @ g U2 \1 y
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible' ^* g) T1 e# y# X, Q& u
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 a0 R8 O2 Y, N& l- O; M
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained1 @3 O7 `& P% h/ f. g# i
by Toyota's lawyers."
* ?. K, [! L& W3 Y! jLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
A/ }) Z9 `% Iproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our3 Y4 [; c% A/ G( z8 h" `. s/ l. `
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he" L# i' y4 M' \2 j; P
said.
# \( e( E- M/ j. L- a9 E! J" k"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
, d) C) S7 ^) N7 |) a$ Oa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
5 E: E' [: F, S7 C: B7 Qgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating$ M& t8 F; D4 |
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( F' I o' R. n! a% h! ?
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
5 ^3 x8 ^/ G% ~5 w# O% P. Imembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
2 ^" G" r8 z* b4 p8 brancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
( F) X8 g: W5 i5 G, s$ @automaker, at least in part because of the government's
' ~6 b, r0 b( |& Kinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
( J9 E+ _% @6 E8 \) g; E) aChrysler.
6 m# ]: X7 j0 A& [( Y5 o. T. V: L"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
- ?5 g* p& f: h e, _! T" ?# kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ c. ^0 y0 |+ h% t9 G: o# x
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
- Q: q" X% h/ s, mserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
8 d% A1 T2 D l5 k' ewith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty4 ]; |7 B4 Q; j) c& o
tough."9 E J3 j' g2 p% U( s4 @
---1 R/ |* ?: T2 d' z: A0 ]
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( l; x# k; w, [) i
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 K. Z+ D8 u* K7 A/ ?) h( Uthis story.9 \- b- j) g9 K3 s' Q
/ x0 e; e$ x+ Z/ b-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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