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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题; ? f/ `2 U3 h+ }, V
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 ?% G8 p9 w2 C. R# GWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
2 l* @9 X6 V$ O: T# Y3 h7 c3 Roperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that; h3 X0 w5 q/ I! W @% Z7 L
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
" m3 n8 r0 \6 a- W3 Wsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) Q0 n( @* j s; G- G1 U"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- S. P. ]4 z* A" Ocauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" z6 ~5 ]0 H% E) rHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 f* Y/ {+ W* k
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and8 y- U; C. i9 c! Q
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
* p: {+ l1 B, _4 ^$ o3 @/ c0 e3 c/ n) bmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
9 q5 D ?! [7 [+ l# _7 O/ Z- IHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal. M3 Z+ [9 S4 h- H. C, x: E
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& }0 K" \3 N: e5 C6 z" r kcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
) K6 a5 Z6 ^; _* t7 \+ \4 hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could" _4 M& ?+ Z V5 {
not stop her runaway Lexus.6 F, v- X( c' e6 |. W( M
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* K. z" |9 i9 q5 |/ e- B6 j1 gTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second# E3 i; k7 N: H& S7 D! U' z
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
* @2 q$ O! {7 }* |Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' I/ ~( P; D: ?. y# W
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said! K/ A1 V& s- ? Z R) N S
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
- _# q3 I) h6 E" v9 Z+ M! d* b; Odone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway+ w- m) N3 t- L. b( T5 y3 Y
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's h4 x9 b+ F9 q. v8 v' {
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."" X+ F5 G2 D; h# U' x6 e
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
& g- B4 x: P' }$ q( N; Uelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: w& J7 O0 C& L. Z2 _8 e2 s. x+ rthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
; c+ Y) G0 G f0 D ?8 tmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he5 x! g# c1 X9 ]% V& W
said., ]# N, _" ]0 }5 `; G
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what$ K: R. p' F: R) o) Q1 N- M7 ^
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 K0 s- K: Q1 j1 `& T, k2 H3 M7 H4 ^3 r
about driving our products," Lentz said.
: {; I+ R7 a& x* `Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's9 K1 ?/ \& Q4 Z9 a* h
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 @+ Y9 z, i# g) I" orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 64 u, @$ ^$ `* n, ~* A) A/ F1 }
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 S! X1 B+ ?( s4 e" `: }$ {unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking9 F0 Q1 X# x. X! h; E
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering) c$ f6 K' v1 s) W: L/ H B
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of) A3 g5 ^. f- y" ^9 I
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
4 p4 O6 U0 d4 M$ i( z' fdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, x5 D! E, ]$ o M& @, Preceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration( N$ i7 n# k d1 l4 }
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.. E5 ^7 k3 w$ B7 z. s8 a1 N4 n
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own9 ?# y; l/ m+ h F! a" a
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
4 p3 K" r: c+ h: hunderstood the pain.& t1 \% r! }/ l6 Q. g( k
"I know what those families go through," he said.' A" B8 }* a+ n G' Z
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
. V* I F+ x8 Q3 b6 Ofixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ M( c% n8 ?) M! v8 P; Y+ c$ g# qBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
7 B9 S' e- t6 }Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put @! u3 F" W6 v, c
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
$ R; R7 t- g6 kLentz replied: "Not totally."' q' W5 u/ L6 w) i1 ]& @$ l8 ^
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 n7 @6 i! e$ W' E9 U) E, X"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
7 i4 [: e# V: |# VToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 n0 P( `& y' W% A
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its7 w0 q0 g, u& O l' R
vehicles already on the road.5 j6 Q' ~; g! ]# Q& L! n4 h0 b9 A, L% e
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
+ [/ Y% L( M/ N& zbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full( T/ a" \( A$ d1 _+ w" d8 F
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
% T5 |! X% I2 |( ?* ~; P! g8 x9 k3 uoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 M: p( E W9 T3 ~killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
% S0 H* \6 D M& ~2 I+ f( `5 Q1 M"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 Z0 }$ [) U* Ltragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" N* [/ g' B0 s6 `+ B G: [
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
7 b; @: x% p7 O8 E+ |Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' P: b8 p$ J8 U1 n8 ]# \& n
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 |5 g, u" w8 F9 T( D# H* Lrestore the trust of our customers."/ h7 ]0 t0 A. m4 X, N8 _5 l
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from0 T% D! P8 f- v l! F" X
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
{, o, a8 t0 y! |! @zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --0 [6 C- B# Y$ h: e1 M- p7 i
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and8 h" ]: F1 r1 t- `" l( J5 u9 c
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
8 D2 N& Z, O7 |+ gthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
/ S* d: T5 J" Q/ ^, {! I1 U, A7 m3 dturn off the engine.; U& n+ k' V$ l4 S1 J! {
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of k) d$ M4 H: t
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."8 V5 N+ g) { @$ o9 E/ c) H5 `* z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she9 y5 U* R, t* F
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
. V0 K k9 J \- x! I1 H! I; tto her complaints./ A9 ^* G" |; \% A5 b4 a' L
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
|+ N- x& U1 J. Z& U0 ~! H6 Z" Yreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
/ j0 x7 e, ^5 B* r: z" b& Nmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
9 v4 Z7 z4 I7 d( z" C. |+ Q' W"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric( ^5 A- n% e t2 q$ ^& o7 j1 [
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
% ~' g( p4 d4 w' ~"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut( E# o8 R3 W) i7 `* o* a5 e* q- |
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
# {/ y2 X4 ?1 ~/ T+ A& i) aTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 ~2 }4 O; [ I( a% }3 `1 v
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were4 V6 t- n! B, w! Y4 i
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; y9 \6 s; {- q9 Y4 r. Z
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer" F, L- r$ B) a
every question."
; J& X$ t3 _8 R2 [3 t6 F5 I+ rToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether& G" k' q0 P: Q( I+ Y, e$ P6 [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The6 O( f4 D+ y& Q, L! U. C
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 U) j5 X! x% k$ e Ycommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) s2 F9 [/ U* m( l# Snumber of vehicles
, ?8 B* X. @7 |# |3 RTracking down an electrical problem can be far more X6 \! h7 k) D: Y
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a6 S# f/ N( |- f `1 ^
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
$ n1 A1 d; t T V2 Osource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
: h* c/ v+ E, [9 ~* yMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) |$ C$ @) \2 C2 D8 Y; I5 ~8 Q- R9 awhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
1 I# C8 v4 v+ h- v8 w) L( ^trace at all.
2 @* R8 ?) @+ BHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
- W8 E/ `6 r( I' v; Cdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
* r6 x) z. {' U5 @/ o9 e8 Wacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
( t0 S) D; }) i8 i w; A- Xrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# e7 ~1 X% z; A7 |. q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,( h; M5 I0 Z! L0 ]1 v
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and5 ^' _' K- @( t/ q
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the" Y3 o* Z$ ^! n- \. Z# g( ]
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible& H4 U! C% W. ? ?
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only I( R1 b: C5 z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained0 Y5 ~6 z7 A" a$ h" }4 l7 t
by Toyota's lawyers."( x0 Q: E( g0 F1 D5 X- T
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* @; O. } [! v
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ V* L2 [8 W4 C, f% Z2 ^7 W" n+ ucustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ N4 M& }2 A. b8 l0 I9 U7 hsaid.2 D2 V( t A7 G% a
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
, H& X( ^5 M$ v2 Ha rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 A/ o4 |* W- r+ P( p. x8 H' s# L
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 t4 g' |# W0 i& q' W) Tofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
8 ?: D7 ]8 ]( s- KSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying( M4 F J4 \ Z0 x
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread7 o9 D0 w; ]* b. |
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
Q3 c* q% {7 W4 `' m/ ^automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" V0 m8 P( D% J0 I; ~5 q) T8 \$ Q: Winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
7 c6 i) A, J# i1 V9 a) u DChrysler.
" t; O$ b! f/ t"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& v* ?) p+ ~$ s8 M7 c- ^dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
' p1 R$ _2 C, h" C% b$ Q2 K, XHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
4 b2 r7 w! U* X3 kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: U8 L+ A# S' D- X8 _8 `with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; Q) }* _+ I# r. K: G9 u7 i! J
tough."* K0 ~! m2 P9 m8 A1 q+ \
---$ w. V9 L) P% _0 R) @9 W
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
3 \5 t( R2 t+ P7 E r) l& k5 uRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
4 q, i h1 Q5 s0 N% ~; fthis story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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