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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题5 G9 ?: d* l1 p% l! A
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, U% c/ S- E9 @* ^- ^Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% q5 b: S- [- B! {3 S8 i7 E
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ ]$ {. L& [. x9 G: |1 G: Bthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% m1 ?. L6 X: ?" b6 I) Y) @
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 F0 Q/ F$ V5 ]7 ]: S/ H [4 y"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
+ Z3 v, s% `5 V Q5 rcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, j8 v6 n; c3 h6 SHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected/ Q. Z( n! j E+ o5 o2 e) J' t0 m+ H
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and- N) w& G, `* T( @/ |
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
# w. c/ [4 x; n7 @9 X" ^* pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.! o: h! x( ]' [! _5 i- l' e1 H
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal3 Q% p" o# X. _8 g+ X0 T- @% U
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp0 H8 V0 v. ^3 | W
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be" M8 |2 Y$ F) R
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could) v# d, j3 g/ \6 n5 x
not stop her runaway Lexus.$ }" `, B7 U! n
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
. Z- C8 P: c8 S' z5 S2 A# LTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second! N5 k& {: J9 F5 p& V
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
0 \& O6 S) l2 V3 MTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- j! ?2 ?% R; h: Z# P M4 searly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) n O. [- L3 k R9 g) S- }"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 T, f* L+ Z4 ~; j1 i+ tdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. S" A+ y a( B- U# @/ P% \4 pthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's- g0 t# q7 G9 N$ Z5 n0 Y% D# ~
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."6 \/ E* _! F7 m+ A& J1 x# ^
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. T0 y: d4 x- qelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of( z" U/ C# q9 ^
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
8 Y5 [$ U# d7 zmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he# X7 n" l) _) ~. ?; j
said.
% |8 r ~- e$ F0 L5 \8 { L! ZAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; }2 z6 B0 W& L4 {happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
i" ~! C* n5 Mabout driving our products," Lentz said.
) l' L% |3 b: f7 F6 z5 N, {, j) DThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' z3 a0 a8 s0 ? ^& ?9 f
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has% C, N# r$ O6 m8 V/ ~
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- K% S0 X- p9 N6 O* Y6 m! Tmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
% L1 ~; F; U) `5 t+ `' [unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
/ ?7 [4 J( e4 r+ y; R( Jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
7 k4 v) k# T i' iconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 q/ D r; A9 Q: ~& W- j5 htheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- M9 k7 K7 |, S$ U+ i
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
9 n6 X; c' X! L+ ^1 A' S- Z3 m* K8 Sreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration- X# r" |) G0 c, O+ [) o/ T. l' i N
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.0 a6 r& X6 S* [
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
2 P [& b/ K/ }4 ubrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
+ a1 @+ a. p: d. U7 Hunderstood the pain., y, U: d9 `% C: a+ ]; H1 X
"I know what those families go through," he said.
! a. A t( J9 M# pLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's* K5 M5 p& B8 ^, M
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.0 B, e( K) K% W: V7 {( c3 x
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 I, a/ }4 _* c$ w& t4 QHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
0 M$ A6 _. j9 L& k9 h/ Min place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,! l' Y* ^- b: J Z9 a! R( @( o9 y5 y
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
5 Z8 @' U ], h: W% B# ~Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were$ |2 \* C! ^* h H2 _5 q& x1 }
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said }9 N/ p. Y, s
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 F& U u' p0 L N6 a3 [5 i
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
5 O- E, |7 I9 p D2 ~- Y! Evehicles already on the road.
8 }! |& ^* c& _: u. xMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify( O# ^ u) m( v7 j$ |9 J/ p' O
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full4 t5 b& Y: |7 E& R; r
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
' z+ E: j T# d& G4 D/ u9 d- _offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
3 s4 E& f4 n$ m+ {& A! Dkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
2 U( r: S/ y. r- a"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
4 ~9 c1 y) Y3 B& L9 W$ S+ N/ ^tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
4 h! r' n/ t u, hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
. A% e: }* p+ G" BCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
4 ^6 m8 `3 O* P% ]/ }, G+ R6 Hcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to$ A- ^) \3 V9 ?) Q
restore the trust of our customers."( { z) O5 ~% j: c; O
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from9 Q1 T% F; `' [; I8 X0 n
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
9 C# i) q% S- Dzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' O# h0 y" Q. B5 {! E& l: e7 X( [shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% ~* w7 \& `; G0 Ghitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
+ Y _, [8 n: Jthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: B+ U, l7 M% C T
turn off the engine.+ u5 Z) O/ W. ~) D
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
3 _* S+ ~$ v5 Z1 [! JOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% J# w# u x) E"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 N6 g( @; ?; a; ysaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond8 j5 t, j5 w7 A: [1 A3 M" v
to her complaints.# |$ D0 c, e9 x* E. W0 m
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, M8 `8 L( i0 Vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
( f( ^$ v+ c3 @$ K& g0 s: _malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& j( K# |& Q* j) g$ m) Q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric7 m5 y: Z& g7 F! ^# y
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited1 f+ h, Z: }7 P7 q, R1 Q
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* O( s7 m, W7 k( goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
2 u0 ] |$ J# O5 O: f* vTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
$ b$ ]7 u& L3 Q; a/ }prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 a! U4 g4 m7 o; ]4 d- B
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls* I: X, ^4 K* q+ c! O0 Z4 K. }
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer# ]( C* F! |# z
every question."
$ P: [& [3 l1 e& w$ @Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' b7 D8 z3 Q' Y3 u5 Melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
9 G1 Q+ V& E$ }2 K* Ofirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
9 o9 o: X$ {! q9 G: mcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
1 c: J) H: W1 ?5 f, u3 g9 P* wnumber of vehicles1 ^9 N: s& P/ Y# d2 n! n
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more7 ^$ h2 [ C# Y5 }( d% e- \* W
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a8 P" j6 N( S$ R6 L+ a
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
8 E8 d V: ] A, b4 o" C0 {source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.* e$ B9 v( H( r Q# C, S0 R
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,5 Q8 g) J- a- v. o
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
# o0 s6 P+ I: t( i( h, ptrace at all.) x+ \. r2 \ G+ T% Q! F
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call( `+ h$ v6 f4 d& E4 [
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden7 p6 x& [2 ?3 [. w6 b
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! z1 P) G" [- t5 ^8 Erecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.- h# \3 o6 M3 U# U& J
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
' o( b! z2 ]& b F# F2 wsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
3 \# i4 i8 b6 ]% dother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
]# g- O5 r, W; D& y1 d. aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: p& c; u* a3 d; C, z3 O
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only: U! g) W1 u' K" M; Q: V
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' j6 J$ z3 ~& U! c/ V3 B6 ~( I: J' Yby Toyota's lawyers."
1 P) s7 P: a$ j8 {) RLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
2 R1 Q9 ^0 O" `$ c# _problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
1 }, K4 ~4 Q3 C6 gcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
) X& Z4 w* L$ n: ]% Q' ?8 `7 ^ tsaid.
9 g+ W) _. N/ ^: \" U2 [# L j: z% P"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* e2 ^' H: u9 F2 | w* ?( ]# G
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our+ [# I( |+ W+ k( R
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
7 {: E8 j: e% ~7 c0 n1 t0 Qofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.# o) A. @: X4 K9 m- X( l
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
9 v- L1 T+ F: l9 C5 s. |members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 p$ ~. p, f* C9 T. n9 Drancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the: I r) b* f0 ~4 x; s; X
automaker, at least in part because of the government's5 u2 @+ F. ]* e I8 o0 ]
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 k, W* [ _% F7 B* o* K
Chrysler.: {3 t, r- {& A' {5 l5 [
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
' ?& Y- t- X5 K. ]; Wdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" a4 c0 T7 N5 \Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ X/ _; j7 M& {1 x. k! bserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete3 l4 ]- f% W+ S$ |" L) y. j
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. |; e# d( M- S7 G/ R, Ttough."
# n$ \8 a. S# O4 P. s) |# a0 M) R- |* V---
3 U: \' L9 ]: S4 \' l8 F0 vAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
1 H. l- x+ v9 G, aRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 r( ~1 z$ [ B( ^. h% P- X
this story.% b/ ^, x t6 b
6 T* l b8 M; h! o h# m* r
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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