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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题# _5 x, F9 |$ D3 T1 }8 d
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 k3 @( F$ H C4 h# q }. OWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 x8 G& I7 w! m! V& `' F+ m7 C b4 a
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
+ L- u, j& K0 N% fthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
( F3 L( G5 _- g# J& T6 |solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.% a6 W6 _! `5 j
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- B" O# B' N% | d7 _causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.4 t3 m9 r9 z% W; Z+ E2 a) p5 n
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: |* u5 D S+ \9 Yacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and4 o9 s! Q- e) N
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor3 e' W1 z& | S; M: B K
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.8 Z& z, y( }. e5 _
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
& F* V1 q% W! T0 K9 E- f2 oand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& _8 A6 H0 f* f' Scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" ]; n4 y1 ?# ]3 r. Q- C5 hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could! Q7 a( k' o- Z$ s/ I1 O9 G* Y
not stop her runaway Lexus.0 W8 D0 D7 M2 f. I: q# R$ T: i
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* x6 F; s/ @4 s( lTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, W; c( ~* ]) W! Z5 L. K5 X3 d"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
. L8 o7 n- O& ATexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues5 a( B2 G9 G' S
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- ]- P$ Z2 H, d3 }
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 z& H5 b: ]$ d; {% A* r
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway+ q- M1 \" p, V
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ x$ {0 S3 X& S+ F
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
$ R6 i- v2 J# }% M, p9 r6 E8 P9 nLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. o0 ?/ r4 Y$ C8 c9 W; melectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of$ M" Z8 U% I# |
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% J _8 a" B' l) J
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
. b- L* L# d3 J7 `& f" {. U+ R' psaid.# A) I' z3 q- K( m$ K
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what/ O& K V1 P* d2 f
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
- J2 z; ]' F% }. jabout driving our products," Lentz said.
; l4 i! r- L( H$ H; K8 t# l% B/ r5 CThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's6 O, c& C$ T% Y( Q. B
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has2 s0 Q# l: ?6 G9 [+ O7 r# z
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 I3 E% B a# \# Z, j; G7 J" j6 d9 rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
( y. k3 k) O* E, N0 v ounintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 F5 y( _8 }$ tissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering' q+ A: l) H, f1 c9 y: p
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% ?) d8 X' \' s! U* n; p1 g% gtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
! d8 M; C6 I( s4 ~1 Idown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has% e0 b. o+ {. l1 ~" @
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ B2 K e( k# aof Toyota vehicles since 2000.% ?- F1 T1 s& L0 i
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* x. [2 y) q( Sbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, _# q) M& d+ V t* s n" F
understood the pain.
4 @8 ^; [5 I+ ]# c2 f& ]"I know what those families go through," he said.
- l$ e, t8 I2 I: \: H k# @9 ]+ dLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& R# n' k5 |. y" d; P" s$ ~5 q
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.4 J3 i% N; h. c# S% _& |, V
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
2 f- } e, \' K7 c- m% K1 _Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
0 u& F+ F9 d) q- M9 D6 P; vin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
- b$ p; Q6 ]" \+ o" D! eLentz replied: "Not totally."5 ^7 ]) j, x9 b1 p. ^
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) m, Q- ]' i7 g2 M8 j# J"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! S7 u9 h# e3 q: a" ]Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
/ ^# t( z. i, [/ ^9 e" Q3 ]pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
. A9 }( `# X, ~" ~4 rvehicles already on the road.
5 }: ?; X4 A9 W9 @7 qMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify5 W1 {) `6 i9 G4 F7 r1 v
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full6 w+ b. \1 t. m/ E, p2 s6 b1 B1 }
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ T: O( {' t5 woffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were$ M h6 b' w. k0 z
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 m$ P% N0 z; U% b8 W"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 m2 D- ?" Y6 \* \4 \" [* j9 h5 ^tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
) T# |5 o& k, _' o q e3 Nfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
$ u, y) Z, v5 R3 M$ w; C4 |5 JCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal+ a2 M& b* f' J W
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 c6 t' S8 T/ K: g5 m7 L
restore the trust of our customers."# f" h9 K( @( P" k
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
. r& ]5 ^) E' O( {7 d. ^& ~0 rSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly! t2 i/ k; I8 F3 K3 g+ `
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
3 e1 a( f' y8 L% Z5 W5 eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 r3 p1 \- R% R- l' ~5 M" [
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough8 K$ @' j9 _2 c, Y7 r
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
$ K. \8 v( I5 ^% e: `turn off the engine.
( k B* ` N' N" B% j! iFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of t: _6 `1 ^, X+ S! z+ s& W+ E6 t
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 A4 S$ p( |( [' f/ P
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she/ V h, I+ y' L- _0 @0 b G
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
/ L% N6 a" ?2 u) ]- Tto her complaints.
* l# A A/ G/ L/ w0 NIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers6 V/ z. L! i9 l3 s
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 _" W# ^, h& ]0 G6 z8 C8 Wmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
! |5 j) A. W4 X( T% \"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( g0 F* G" G) y- ]( N! ^6 dthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
; P5 L- s+ i9 I3 l"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut8 k: b: g# Z: H+ A! m: B1 ]
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 b( L* V3 L8 u) z, n
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
# U' q9 Q1 Z5 ^) g$ X7 qprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ f* b; @- ]& X1 U/ R. ?$ g8 _4 D: l5 ?being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
) ]) I+ s6 {; x2 E; S8 F1 F# K4 owere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
/ N' S: `9 L# R. T" T8 L4 G4 F8 Bevery question."
# j' K5 | c2 @! N" j9 _' pToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 v0 W, v! ]& I9 ^' y+ Relectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The& }. \' Y/ i7 l# w8 s) m% m" e
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
4 k7 h& j, i6 G2 N0 Acommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" c5 p; Q4 B; Z4 rnumber of vehicles2 }6 d9 P3 R7 d$ K E2 `" c& R
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more |' w) v- u8 ?4 T% ?
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
" x: K+ Q& g# H [mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 d- c& z+ c$ ~ rsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.$ x* P' C" U& Y9 U) g \
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,4 H, J0 P6 u" V; o& D! m4 B
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 E7 v7 C1 ?0 t) e2 u: _# h1 S. F2 [
trace at all.+ k% p/ F5 N" u1 P) `1 D2 M, d
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
) _0 n" ?0 J$ K F: `& d; C. ldatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ t4 \* j+ V. r( a
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
+ u" M3 U" \/ _% vrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.& Y; I' q# f# j, ?
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
$ @- U4 H0 |% Fsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
) t; G0 \1 ]+ f0 u/ I% S9 Oother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
) q* {! S& `' W: c; G+ ^electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
4 ` I( _2 |8 u2 Z9 M# n) n! jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
; K, x) ?4 F y" ^such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained: I% A& } x. N2 B+ k
by Toyota's lawyers."
' K" Y0 U. ]8 A$ J. RLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of3 M1 e. H: J4 c# p7 o# B
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. X$ B" _( W8 O! h
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
* {5 H \1 y0 o' Isaid.
$ J7 e" Z7 p1 B+ K2 E: w"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with- ?: s1 V3 d% W5 L5 r& j
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
" k# V; e; B$ r3 w5 v) V8 d0 Jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating" L$ m1 ~/ ]/ P3 f! A0 F7 D. N
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% |( ?4 }/ w+ P. a/ oSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: u1 W! @! |$ s- d; _7 L, kmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" Y6 S& e( k: \( Q; Srancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the2 I+ M& Z( t3 y6 a- t
automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 Q6 Z; E R& [7 a2 b* v6 t# t
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and* R2 c5 L+ F$ E- r
Chrysler.3 L g0 l6 }' R0 O, H, y
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' ]5 B$ O# R' R# r
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a* Y* Q+ R6 b% ]! i$ v
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
# ^/ K. N3 ^9 c2 b5 D/ |* zserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete2 k/ c( B2 X/ {/ {! f" _; c
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 Y ]3 f; G( X0 U* ]! E; i7 H
tough."" e+ S. l) l0 S/ L8 ?4 `9 Y# S! |, Z
---
9 G" |2 y% ?1 kAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) w# o/ i) y, R& u& `9 }- b @
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; B4 Y; } k) ^7 ]4 lthis story.
2 m- U- ^( ]( G4 t% @2 k
K2 r0 w5 e( G5 x-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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