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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题. S) k) Y3 e+ R5 I' y! W
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( J6 Y6 E w; H D, `Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
8 C$ y2 I2 D9 o( c7 F% a( B) ooperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that' C2 ?% L* u' S5 K
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"" }+ V3 Z5 |4 C3 Q3 W" G3 `7 `# u% z- e
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
# r9 Q( k% u: K"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- v T5 ~( R2 p$ A+ k' rcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
# w t' G2 r1 U5 ? S& ^6 DHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
+ T" h P) ?/ v5 pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
% s3 s( S8 T' k; q/ A( B' k. V+ y, Ytrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
; e- V( y% e/ M/ U1 y7 W5 [mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
?' u# n( A# x3 K- `9 tHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal+ t5 U+ c6 Z# ]7 {7 c$ n# ~+ m! p8 E
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 U0 t7 z/ G- j. [$ Bcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
* d$ z# v% w, \2 u1 Qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 O8 F4 I D/ I p5 V! |not stop her runaway Lexus.
6 H: | f* C! \1 J$ U"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
T, {4 F1 a; g. o+ x4 eTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 o$ |5 Y* Y- _3 b# U"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ j& A9 \& N' n# I5 u# w; I8 `
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues/ _1 {; g1 H5 V7 o n+ Y
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said1 B& @8 d7 E& \7 g
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has. u2 ?/ b2 U5 v! I0 T6 E" C4 V7 s
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
b1 s5 I' N8 I% {$ U3 }through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
6 ^" W: p' f/ P# s+ v; Yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; f- v. F; S8 f& W
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
3 W* r S- e' M7 S+ s1 nelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ H) \# _, R" r2 |* H; @5 F* [- X
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
( D( S) F/ _" C2 T- r+ n4 Smalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# z* r/ _" G2 t: S3 wsaid.
5 [5 C, C% w( Q# [" |$ ?- b" eAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what4 Y9 R% G/ W# H; q* D
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
- \. u& H7 R+ z' q9 z* Qabout driving our products," Lentz said.
* ]$ Q6 M) }+ L) h! mThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 _) r v, a8 g) N1 ~! K$ ~" ~problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has3 |$ | D. d; p0 f6 _
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 S, q5 J) V z. e3 Y! `" s
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
% f! k5 U p# K) M$ B( Y4 punintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking6 k) v5 j0 s2 Y
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
% ~9 T) t/ n q% [! S7 oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 l6 y: `3 j4 W
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow( ~/ S) ~9 v2 k+ `- j" s. N" K; Y) N, p
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
; l8 _+ i! R* z1 M8 L: u/ N* ]received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration# ? k* S# u/ R+ u* i y% F F' l
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
! B! @* [, x- YLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own7 j3 f7 W, ~% u n1 C! ~
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" n$ k9 x/ L! `- l* C7 t
understood the pain.; S: r. a5 b0 t8 s1 U
"I know what those families go through," he said.
$ I6 O8 b" x8 @) |7 xLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
3 Z- s: q, x* f7 x* L0 {* O& D7 `fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., @3 _+ V& v+ H/ N7 [% m/ s
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman6 u( f$ T3 I+ @& r) k) M, X7 t8 |7 P
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
: U, A/ p0 p0 w+ Uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
7 @5 V8 x' U" e( E/ q4 _9 N& i$ vLentz replied: "Not totally."
/ L; { R- p& C0 kStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( S% N9 h) A9 R2 ?# p8 W F. H: Z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said; v, e6 {! |9 N9 |! S* n% F
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas" e0 L- l: N$ y' \' ?( [
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
7 k, a8 l5 R+ | e# o: |5 u/ Pvehicles already on the road.: s: F! E* n! f5 y9 `
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
! a3 n% w8 Q5 k7 H J% E5 \. Abefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
: [7 T/ c4 P2 x# J/ presponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
: s; G1 }3 ?& ]; t4 Xoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
D: `7 b! z/ r$ |killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% Z& \% a, Y8 e$ l+ U7 T: F
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a' v; d/ F; h* J/ i; { Y
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony$ n* G3 I8 i1 S$ K& ]
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight) z# I: `& ]7 [9 |/ K
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
% j- F+ M0 j" R, _, ?0 c6 B( A- }8 E8 zcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to6 G/ d9 b5 E( x
restore the trust of our customers."
4 W) T6 P2 K |1 _9 \+ fLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from t5 H$ \5 [! H k, B
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly5 {/ _# _: B! j5 W+ P r
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 c/ k# |" l: ^! [$ q( y8 w
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and4 u2 ^: n1 }: C+ }: O/ h, n( K) ]
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough7 e! m/ ~7 \5 C8 z+ l, H, }: `4 y% l
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
! |4 a& l) x9 b4 V$ @/ P! c5 z! l, ^turn off the engine.
- I' U" D7 q8 h: n$ mFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 W5 X1 K/ o) `8 b. O
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
/ A+ e' \ s' D+ _3 {5 O: E"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she; D" `- [0 e5 V, D( [
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond( J* k! m; G6 k3 ~9 M; o9 \
to her complaints.! l K9 G- U$ `+ l( m% }0 m
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
# q6 A: L* W; i7 i# mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 U# j @( G, T. D' k/ |% ] bmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.' G% ?4 u) [! c! i4 u k8 d
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric. B+ \" E" E! P f
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited5 _+ m+ E" T* p( x9 l7 F
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut1 W3 b# D0 r/ D, I% L- G9 x
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
* c/ f* m5 D8 R( g% ^Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in' [1 R& q+ E" x
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 |2 n5 f" X; I
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
/ A& }: @" ?: mwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 A6 X- G6 X& Q/ _every question.". P+ G# ~6 Y4 c: X% {2 S, T, P+ R
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether+ R; F J0 {+ I Q
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
9 `& h" R$ @- ]0 Y4 Pfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( f9 Z; t) W/ W5 X/ Zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
7 P o# ~: Q( _, v A) |number of vehicles4 y0 c4 N n$ M
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more/ Q3 c! J! l( M
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a* |1 ^' L/ h+ ]2 c' K9 Z" k
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" ?# g, i' c" u' ^8 Tsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
6 T& o5 `5 f, R1 _- oMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
8 n! `; a6 f4 M+ m' Cwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 n; e( _9 ~$ o1 ?; f' ?8 _4 k! {
trace at all.
, X" x/ K7 E5 ]House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call8 x+ ? v4 N2 P1 e% c
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
+ h- p, }4 R* D6 V4 }) p% h) Qacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
q7 T5 E9 O6 {' F) vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! g% Z& U3 Q9 P: `; ^# [
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
! |. o* \! M: Q& _7 N6 z- _said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
+ a0 i5 k9 ?# D3 z: qother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
H4 h6 H4 H5 z& {( l' Nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible8 |/ s7 t. U9 F. ?, h
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only3 W* M: ~5 z8 Y' |. X
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
5 ]0 Y |! g3 B' g0 ?& }by Toyota's lawyers.") ~' w2 f b$ _( l; b
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 S9 j: _- v; [& J0 Dproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
\3 C" q9 i9 y5 t0 ~: ~customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( k* Y& |2 h$ e4 Z" z
said.$ g1 l$ g& U) y% a9 F+ ^* I
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
' e, L0 U) i$ g9 s% h1 Xa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
+ N& h) V9 d1 U5 d6 E: Wgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) n$ n1 |/ m U1 Q2 wofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
2 y4 r) y) g; C& i' n8 N- u- nSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying/ F* s# g& S. e3 j9 B$ q
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread( a& s [; m2 r, w7 a3 q
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. O7 `, `9 S* @& ~automaker, at least in part because of the government's
/ c; N( T, \0 X- Winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; ^, O3 f( x8 R+ `% n% y
Chrysler.
0 s5 O" C$ W! ^. u K$ S1 V"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 { Z. X+ R8 p2 ~: kdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a. k5 S2 ^. r: d* Y5 R! \2 }
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, `3 R+ A' |7 K- X. c. `+ b7 \0 ~9 }
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
! A9 f1 r6 b5 V# U; q# gwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
# W" L* ^& c# k6 x& qtough."
9 u( L% S6 }9 S \---
: \( c+ P2 q7 MAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom/ a3 L2 q2 U' Q& u
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# Z2 H w, k. H! Q4 b& B8 I8 ^# }! Mthis story.4 ?$ j$ h/ [+ b& a2 O: n; f
e% j( j2 t: y. @( \5 ~-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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