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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题0 Z& w$ r+ }1 m, u3 }4 ^5 f
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
9 }& `/ X( k) O1 M0 ?0 ` ?0 q( k- tWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# d0 \0 c5 s. t3 h4 T, j
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that5 v$ t6 Q2 a/ e: q
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
, k3 C7 e& h8 l2 s" `: Z* osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.7 P1 B7 [# z% H0 ~" b, _0 ]
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential# ?; h% m7 Y/ y' _) [/ C { t* g
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
7 r# m4 Z: k \! }) g+ j' L' xHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected" r2 q4 B. a7 y8 V) ~# }2 F0 O
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
8 N. c: C; m& @4 w/ R7 ]trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor- d Q4 q9 p* C/ _
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
& Z7 s f" @. nHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
$ x3 s) k" S. I7 K! c1 n0 Z7 jand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp. I" U6 Y9 K& h* s$ t
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( x6 s& a! ?& S# `5 V4 a6 e/ R2 A
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# ]" | n$ I/ i) n* l
not stop her runaway Lexus.
) w2 E- y. B5 `6 ]1 k$ z( b"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! N% [4 b2 ]) m9 D+ d0 M
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 d/ @+ Z9 g2 P) X: C# ]: ], ]"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
; Q) H, c4 P! z9 XTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
P2 ~* r, _3 Y' M, tearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' ^* V1 u4 p: Y& o"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
1 c9 t6 e2 V7 Ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
j& @ M. G4 u0 o$ y: O% `0 L7 ?through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's* W7 @6 l2 B& E i
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."- @' \1 w- ?6 \8 M
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- Y& S+ Q: N% ]/ delectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of* ?, L! Z2 j% E
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
8 B" z- O8 m; q5 w0 d9 q! Ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
; g: z, U9 F& N5 Esaid.
h& C6 G. u' g5 ^6 _3 h d5 RAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what, u B- ~3 y2 L# L# z
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe0 A" Q) F6 ~1 ]/ u% u
about driving our products," Lentz said.8 I. X# j, E$ M# ]& [* Z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
. y3 s' K: c+ C, Q; O. I) yproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
- t5 A5 [0 X: i F$ E; Y0 `recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 64 O E1 x f5 N
million in the United States -- since last fall because of. b) Y; ~6 Q/ [* M1 |7 o- G
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking! r: F6 d% _" A1 V
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) H3 S, F3 j# ?+ b. H+ C) g1 Aconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of1 N7 k% u; K* \7 ~4 A+ C/ ?
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
- C* D2 Y d" T/ _# e; k$ Odown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
4 J, }" }! e+ R+ U+ I8 rreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
7 l: `% w' _: B6 w* t% ]5 B! d. ^of Toyota vehicles since 2000.9 W5 S* T4 B o7 f! g
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
; y5 K2 I" h0 E( H3 k% _% Rbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he) E" J V- p; E, j8 T4 C) r9 B
understood the pain.
. R4 e; t5 i3 }. s. ? q"I know what those families go through," he said.
- N/ s* J+ C; r D l6 GLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's6 [/ w2 N3 s+ C
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.! @5 s( f, c+ S, s' x% L
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
3 H! H/ U" V$ p6 `' [Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put) G/ C& _% v0 T$ f4 @" I
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
* e) J4 |0 d. E9 P( c, MLentz replied: "Not totally.". |8 ^ `5 N0 U. T b: Q
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, z% }; p& e( C: w+ U"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( r5 x8 O; F4 |' Y- k
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 T7 _5 ^1 ?$ b- C
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
: y5 ^. T' V' ]3 I3 v0 Mvehicles already on the road.
" ]0 b. i, N0 U u8 N+ ?Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
6 [/ t$ u3 P) F: V2 E2 |before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full) S2 f' q A8 p" z+ D3 r8 D
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and" I% G$ g T2 t
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
. b1 Q7 u* | f! B: pkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
" c H# m: r" z! X"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a" Q' C3 m$ ]1 d* V
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
2 Y8 e$ ^8 T: h) T; B& jfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( O6 F w( s7 h0 U6 \* u
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 b: e8 L& s4 G! O
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
, `. i# x; ` ?# Erestore the trust of our customers."5 v4 l {/ P; f8 _4 G9 M/ C8 Q
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from$ b1 L+ a. D2 k0 s9 S) j3 Y
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
6 ~3 X5 t6 t K, Y1 R5 Tzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --7 ~$ R& z: c* _. H
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
, K$ h6 i T' C9 `- B0 fhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
% E7 q! ^+ c6 N) o8 f% ]: Z" I0 _that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and" o+ U4 i, h5 H' N9 T" u/ i
turn off the engine.
( k. b. A5 G9 I- U6 |Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of7 {$ H4 m6 _, W
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."1 b% J: |, m8 ]
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 n3 j0 z& {- \7 F7 p1 {said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ C3 B0 f+ `+ x( |6 @( C0 D: Ato her complaints.' a4 y# n6 B" h# k( O
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
4 ?5 b, |3 k9 n& U0 j& L {% L5 Creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
& @+ W8 Y8 @3 ~! \malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
7 `+ W$ Q. U6 D: A3 E" U( f"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
& _5 a& ? M% L$ X" l0 Tthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
7 W4 [2 w8 [7 p"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut8 L/ \* z3 g" j0 q
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 L) |2 D+ T" O4 ^/ s' wTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' y( R9 A2 ?% l: z- D3 G9 N; {2 sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were! ~& P" u. X1 s4 j V" ?, S' N# E) k
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 b* e) u# P1 _3 T$ E2 Wwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. I2 |7 N. ~# Q! `7 d bevery question."
2 c' W2 {/ `! c; n- b7 kToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. @7 d. {7 s& selectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
! W* W/ I7 u. p# yfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 q% [( f5 E9 _4 Y6 e
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
/ t' L1 p5 W7 I# I! Q! vnumber of vehicles9 P2 U! M) E; l* o0 j0 W: j
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more( Y8 _+ d; n( M& \
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
/ a3 ]; U4 e2 t2 Hmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ a5 C! Q# R* s1 N# r9 {
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.7 q' T4 P+ N5 x1 v, n3 y% H
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
7 r! h3 w" }+ R- J d( ewhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no+ ^9 W; ]9 V+ C1 k2 S
trace at all.4 k3 ?! J" p1 T% A" ?- B! C
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call @( \( o0 g! n8 e
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden& }6 w- p2 g5 F: T: \ T2 v
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the* G2 I* _3 T1 z# f% F
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.1 v: q' m3 E- E1 H( f# ^& Z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
^3 f3 @8 }: ksaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* s# W9 e3 H8 p, ?0 @3 y
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the, ~4 E' d0 m0 ~+ o' M4 r$ _; {
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible! n: k J! C" I3 O$ h q# ]
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
a" ?8 z6 P* f' x* q, H& Hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained+ m7 V' T+ [0 E/ S
by Toyota's lawyers."
- E! Q6 v1 X t3 V9 R0 uLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of& u2 |7 T2 w3 q( c& Y
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. Q" _* }! A$ }/ ?
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
! t8 ?1 e+ y [' b3 c; T+ e" Msaid.* R0 |, I& n# r( x; x" t
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with3 v6 k. l4 o" P, X
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
% G8 U( I( ?. y" N( a Jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating* A& ^7 @* E$ H" c5 w5 X E
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
2 b' b7 t" ]' _. ]% u* c2 ~Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ V1 h0 f9 K5 t- h7 {members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread# u, g0 _) @) Q3 N1 i
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the2 x3 z7 k3 P. C! j! Q
automaker, at least in part because of the government's; G* E4 l0 H9 N# A3 x; w/ L
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and2 b3 f" O, ^ O) x
Chrysler.
w- W5 K3 a4 d5 x3 P9 A2 {5 y"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax% {2 u. _: a. h9 X0 \
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a- L' `) U9 Q4 O/ O9 h& R8 d4 i
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ }" O% o- |! H y+ q) s& z! B' aserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete- ]/ E) o2 J" d7 P! K3 |
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 ]+ y" ?1 L7 I
tough."+ K, I, d! N1 X6 z. Q$ o* X
---
" ^ D, M& `8 [( ?Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ a- m' ~8 w7 G3 R0 Y* H6 ?5 G9 A$ KRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
/ T. ^. R. u; q s% z _$ f6 O ]" hthis story.
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1 M7 U/ q ~# D" b% G4 m-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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