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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题% D2 |2 h/ l! S# F; f" s8 s
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) T& p# G Z! ^8 @' s0 `* j- kWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; K1 \( g4 f: v7 Koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that0 K# d8 \% U' W& A' A I
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
2 Z* R! a. ~1 P2 Osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( Q8 N3 z9 c3 Z5 _' J# r"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
5 ]* [) G8 o0 G0 r0 d/ c4 l" gcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
! {- j8 L6 ^' D# g3 G8 hHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
1 I& Y0 q% n7 Tacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- c* r% _* U9 Btrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor: N1 \7 m* x# K
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.! k" Y# F5 l k7 a5 s
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
6 H; X+ W/ E$ q& q) Rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" T0 Y# g( N/ d4 V1 O' I ^* Ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 f4 E# |$ E8 D+ P6 cfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could" n- p! V- Q& Z* `3 p6 n( N" I
not stop her runaway Lexus.
7 F" ]4 [, b& L7 C"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
+ Z; B0 C: d$ T) |8 @, X0 e! Y. ~8 pTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 i. j. i/ Q! c" o. E! M"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
8 D5 b5 t, S3 y9 oTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% b& r1 U; w. U3 ?+ W2 \' d+ L- cearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 S i/ Y4 Z$ H0 @
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ D- f5 e7 k/ R7 [done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway& C9 j5 {- e: Y( Q$ A
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's9 [* n5 u8 H! c3 n% @
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 F7 l; @& y' |1 u; x( C; L
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an8 C [2 p |' F
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of( B; X: K+ c- l
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a4 [ K* y! W: S; `0 o5 ], m
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 B+ P2 J+ C8 I6 F
said.
t `( k: P, n0 |As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 k) ]4 A5 c& d6 ^& B4 n6 j; @happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe8 h0 Q Q" R" v
about driving our products," Lentz said.
4 \: E; I1 m/ VThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's+ @$ m0 r0 F. A6 ^0 y
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has3 I. I/ W a, z/ v$ |
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
0 ^% ]* @# M! C* jmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
! C( N+ n7 I' {9 X5 }9 s9 ounintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 H, H. B4 {* w: e: y: `issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% f6 g0 j9 W2 f# E) L5 [5 N9 O
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 R4 U9 N O4 M1 Stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
0 O# e# n. l! e: t9 @. `: y6 z T5 Adown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has7 F& [' J2 C% H
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration) j9 E; a( F/ C
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
% ]! n+ |$ x+ w- N5 }* hLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
( c* c5 _( z) k/ Ebrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
. p% a1 E; d/ Z7 @understood the pain.& d7 N- k: _" y. M* A) I
"I know what those families go through," he said.5 x$ ^2 t+ l5 n4 b
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* f# j4 d6 B( b7 b; r. sfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
( L# W$ `+ J- MBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman s5 w- M0 x; u" Q+ j
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
3 T- I9 k# T2 M! [+ P9 a# c9 l; |in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 [. u2 q& u# A. Y2 q" x3 M6 T' i: X
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
. j& a e$ U* O: JStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were, @# b2 l" ^& v
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
$ c) w1 F/ {: ?8 ?' GToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas6 n9 k9 V% M% Y1 F7 `6 X. ~5 Z: m' l- E
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its$ \8 X" d& f7 `, U
vehicles already on the road.
$ _8 Z' n6 l: U- s0 gMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify/ _1 u) l+ H. U% ~3 l
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full/ f0 I6 ~6 L* k
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
+ L& e1 T# U4 L5 u3 f/ w9 B5 eoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
/ N: l* B* N* H B2 O4 \: tkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
4 Z! b" x! E! N: I"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
5 Y M& }9 p( d" Q6 Ptragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony8 `% a9 H$ p& b
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
7 {$ _0 W# h4 ^" ACommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal! Y# n* q' g3 m5 h
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to8 F, g' s, y' w' U5 o
restore the trust of our customers."
! v3 J0 e O6 n$ c6 v* `# ]0 T9 pLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from6 ` l$ D6 T/ Q, T
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly( K! z9 K0 _% v9 {
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
, U- n1 j* q' ]7 H x! `shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
3 h3 u$ H1 Y- d; Z) Q3 s1 T/ phitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough# g" x4 q# [' ]! ~9 ]
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( W9 V. Y8 y5 P+ w& Q/ L7 I; I9 fturn off the engine.7 ` j8 p7 K# M, X2 d6 A* `
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of6 |+ K& b) M! d" n$ ?& u
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."$ t$ ~! U8 @: \8 W! h1 _
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( s R" P; j8 F& w2 a& N
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond: z) E! Y* b% m
to her complaints.& J3 L3 u3 p0 N, a0 S- g
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
' w1 A8 ~; y& zreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic8 g/ X' B" N) W& |' O# _$ K7 w" ]' Q
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
2 X0 N9 k; K/ D$ @+ f"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
5 [$ F7 [( x: }& lthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited. U0 K9 {/ Y5 W9 s, _! m3 @
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut. Z B" Q' p( N" R6 {" j
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
' H g: f" a& V# O4 K4 NTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in6 K. ]- {/ H4 |$ W) P# i1 |
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
) u% ~ P7 Q- `7 Fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls) a, j: Z8 ~/ K1 Y O
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 o' s! i* a8 v: k' D- x/ R! s+ P! _every question."6 f2 o' U3 N- y# a3 f# O
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether$ g( I5 ?) `8 {, y8 W w
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The; H: ~4 k8 B @- t, F
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' h* `$ f# s3 V% Y1 z
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" d9 b9 g, M3 `3 Wnumber of vehicles2 k+ F! J% R1 ?% p7 {& l; |
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
& ]4 l, S4 J+ s! t y. G5 N+ udifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 ]+ M1 o* K. j4 t0 jmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
& M9 l' P. S' [* O; Dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
/ D- x1 ~$ V9 m+ n% r* ^Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
! j0 X/ c4 C0 C7 k5 q) Ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
8 x. T; v' l E5 O; o% ?" Utrace at all.4 Y! p0 Q; C0 W! r& g* w3 a& P% w
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) {+ g* _$ M. {6 X+ l* @1 { r
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
& X% \ m% R' X/ @9 pacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
, n4 h/ ?7 C. G# _/ _2 Grecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.' g1 z( ~- H, @4 e5 W( q7 I' e- q) }
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ ^/ w3 \6 j& H# }7 W$ |. H6 z4 k
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 X: l/ n' |3 y; d
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 S# E u( j _3 G4 M9 z; Lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible* o8 u+ ^8 r7 x. d3 l
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
( {8 N4 m3 B6 @+ h8 b: {% ?such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
: b' h1 X. M/ G4 ?by Toyota's lawyers."
5 d! w3 G# u4 x! ]& TLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of8 r2 N* k$ E' U
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our, p$ H8 K* G$ x- ]
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
# ?9 c o) R+ ]/ E9 Usaid.
1 j+ M/ y0 ]$ g' |' |"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with; W: k0 j- P& ^; J" G
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
2 [& }1 I2 A' q. b9 M2 e Jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating0 R% a! i/ g" F# u! `
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ n5 N% I( r' ^+ h: _Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying! d; ^ g0 a- @3 V1 a: L- F
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
, w+ E( Z2 \' K2 p, z8 ?' D% Irancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: X( ^& D& ]( M6 tautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
$ d7 ]0 V2 Y# B6 k* m' Ginvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and6 \- ?) F' B2 @! h+ ]' k2 l* t) C; ^
Chrysler.
2 o# p# z. q+ [ d& d5 X"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
* l* f3 Z. p. [2 `dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( Q* E) e/ B& b5 r
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. P* H/ l4 s u$ r8 w1 fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ P1 Z9 q, O% S" ^! R
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty5 @- v$ d( ?) r" i! V+ O9 I' ?
tough."
; b2 f) M4 X/ d; c3 ]& x---& T+ {2 c5 `4 G+ d( Y. p+ w; {) k
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom' F, ]; o. \, P+ d
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to+ c7 \; |$ z. [9 Y
this story.: x* k/ v, k$ H" m0 |
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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