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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题3 {9 U+ ]+ k7 i$ t- b
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
" }) ]; p) x% W+ e) wWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 S! |+ k. S' w; V8 D6 noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# d H9 i0 l, T* e- cthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 q3 I# M! e& }: o5 U" @! P( a( gsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
8 ]2 i; f8 _1 K+ }! V( X% P! i1 {' w"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 ?8 |# K7 l5 _6 X0 `) F
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." ?' B1 D# Z# ?: l3 n8 [
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected s/ E' X: j, ~: P1 s
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
4 n2 X* H* p h/ b8 l3 J5 p! Mtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 f+ ~8 d) W2 M& R
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.8 t# _! w5 N0 p+ m6 O' M3 Z; S
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
3 W; }+ b, @/ i( ~: K! g0 k; Gand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp7 O1 O; N7 s1 T5 o! v' O; g
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
z2 S" ]! X& {% n! Wfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could) q# a1 }# }; A: P# X
not stop her runaway Lexus.1 h9 G7 ]* I7 p; c* s
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
0 k- r0 V6 n5 ^% S* O( P- t- KTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
8 t( E. A/ ` S# |1 q, U"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ a- Q8 S6 z- F, T" ATexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues+ r$ @- y. p( T
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said, E0 k# {" k) L. M- E0 {5 ?
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
# H8 f" Q) n* S) ?done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway) }( k! V% ^: [' `
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 N, j$ t1 W) T6 i l9 J( g/ [investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."& H& D% N6 x1 x' K; x r
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an6 s4 g' m3 C) c8 ~
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of0 H% r g8 I0 y% U* h
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a- x9 q4 A+ e+ e* L0 [
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
4 ?' U! n, c# j. }7 y; p* t( z' g+ ssaid.
* i9 H: H8 r! D8 R# G8 d5 RAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 N( n$ N3 a% K, ihappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
6 P [9 |/ e0 z. h7 jabout driving our products," Lentz said.- [$ `: L/ v3 X# s( c
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
& z* m7 Y! f2 e4 Kproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has9 S( f9 A9 j: X6 Z9 Q3 n2 g/ [" Q
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6/ d0 T% e5 q& x
million in the United States -- since last fall because of$ i6 J6 C: P6 v* a: T
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, P) m+ f+ | [3 C2 I. J( B# T
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering, f8 ]6 t; ^! V9 I$ m0 `- I, E
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of* ]1 j' G4 ]" K" `
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
6 {8 Q* T/ F. ^. Z0 Xdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
) G6 C9 I- \! `( mreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
4 j7 o+ x/ `, ?4 r- ~0 Oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.6 W }- H- P9 |/ Y Y3 i7 }' V
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
7 n3 z9 @7 k* X5 {" J) Sbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he0 N* q6 A4 ?& D1 z3 F n" U
understood the pain.
* K: Z# a/ ]- }* v" m/ S"I know what those families go through," he said.
K$ T5 W1 ]$ @' U/ jLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's6 E* Z7 j4 @5 b9 v d+ o6 h
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 P" u. g& A* o( }4 P: {
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
L! t0 y0 t% CHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
, S2 L' Q& Y/ j3 |3 ]in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 ?: r* F; r0 t) D E& ELentz replied: "Not totally."# e. G$ i: c9 ?
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were9 b- x& C! I* I$ i' c/ [1 P
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. S4 |+ U/ Z- C# }Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: b4 C( K5 k) h; Apedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
% ]( O0 x& D$ B3 r3 x1 n; [& Pvehicles already on the road.4 s% y6 ~3 I) }3 w+ M3 o& k9 ~
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify" ~) K) N" [1 B
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full6 u' X+ g/ |- `/ t5 d- o' Q
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( h7 R9 x: [4 r0 @; M- L9 l5 coffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ ?. p! R6 z8 u0 Z" [4 `1 \, \9 ]
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
; u: s! |1 E# O% |: {) D3 ["I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
) l/ u9 J" n7 y* ytragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ G9 Z2 W2 d* G5 n0 o6 v5 S$ w2 Y
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 F% j: c: d8 P, u" X' N! m
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
; r/ Q7 F3 U/ s) j; jcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
; t9 g( @8 G, M$ ?restore the trust of our customers."
/ A+ y3 W' u7 WLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
/ s4 z, x3 a" DSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
# j0 I2 [ l% a6 H- f+ p) V* tzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 O' T J4 y& m6 r- {) k) Y7 w4 {6 Ushifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and( F/ W0 [3 G7 {6 P8 b" K
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough; {# H; r5 C8 Z2 H6 K1 K0 d- s+ ^- T
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( t3 n6 V, ^ hturn off the engine.
, x- ?9 j3 l2 c* r/ ]7 c" ~6 ?" p; FFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ a; b, D9 p# A; y L" w2 JOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
& K8 N/ T- P$ J! U) K"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 V3 G) e E# L
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! U0 l. X8 G6 Z& J
to her complaints.
1 i- ]; u% y( ~1 x' V6 @In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
+ @+ J( z( e1 ?2 Dreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic2 B, |, a5 g- @* @1 D0 ], R3 j
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.; g9 n" S* `. ]7 e7 C- ~
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
# b" e3 H) K% S6 J5 ~% j1 qthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited# c. \4 i5 P/ v
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
- ^7 C" d- x0 g: Yoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."3 _9 ^- A* m. S8 A% X4 s# I
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
* [+ U5 |3 s4 m. c- o. Hprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
; H- Q m2 ?& K. rbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, }+ ` o! C8 W$ H, p6 Q- f
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
& c! |' @& n$ s6 N6 V. severy question."3 Q" w0 c/ k8 I" L! ]0 M: ?
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether9 a, g) t2 C- P* n* v" F
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- z2 P2 @$ {) e) k
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But, I* L& X- D' |& S* O
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small6 W0 f. V; B4 F, n
number of vehicles
! ^1 d3 _2 P! H& T/ PTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
# {' j3 |# J' X. m7 }difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a. X' H p+ C* |
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ c4 m$ y& Y. }$ W4 F
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& T% S; W5 V7 _& w& [, qMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,+ C5 [, L" h% ]) ~
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no- D9 a4 M& W4 ?* q
trace at all.
/ x* Q! `9 y; o7 Q" ]3 x4 OHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
' L' f8 s& g) i0 l' ldatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% Y6 X9 Y: g+ ]+ f
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
) j! c1 V* Q4 ?& Q; e" `# ~recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
# c7 _: K u. R- W3 `) ?Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* q; N5 C, Q7 M" A& Usaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
. Y4 M4 a. K p: yother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
2 u A4 O( |( m! Lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible H% \. S. V1 g6 C$ G/ t
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
. r8 A0 g1 o. e% [7 n5 \such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
# b9 ^$ f, J, P5 x( n6 E1 r& A' A5 |+ `, iby Toyota's lawyers."
4 e4 \4 K& E% p4 D: O" oLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 {# ^. f* S$ k* eproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our# l: h% X$ A" E; y& F$ \
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
, u+ i j1 { _ B, usaid.
% i# y5 _/ F' O2 q6 R+ A' t"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
& C: j& l0 B) o9 Xa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 c4 Y# @' z% C* |* v: _6 z
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating* n* G4 G J, E6 K
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
( P# R2 T& _) d6 D2 }5 K8 jSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ |" ? S# z: _. ]# K, {. V
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" I! S4 r. a/ m; N# G9 xrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the* z M5 W, G2 m7 M- h$ G4 q
automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 d. d3 r/ d0 F( G: C
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
" |2 P# p! z; uChrysler. v8 I2 [) W! m2 m( L
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax, k6 W |0 j' Q4 N: ^3 o: E
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
# X- W4 K$ t, ^# E$ b* I5 s6 xHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also9 O2 U( b+ A6 v9 y
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete, I0 S/ Q. w( H$ d& z
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
9 m2 P5 s! o$ t O* `& Mtough."
8 Z9 x3 w2 W) u! z---3 i4 T% a3 V% \+ }7 x' L. z
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
" V8 w; d5 R* V) _, s) V4 L' MRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
2 D2 D: O1 p' |" X+ ~) H3 Q$ [this story.: ]: k5 d. s) U9 U
6 d: V& _, C1 @9 k' f" e: Z# D-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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