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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题; a$ w7 h0 A3 M$ ?
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
- R; V3 s! T3 G; m1 m& uWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# e# h! [; Y) x6 ^, g+ s/ L
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 U# V2 I& P# l2 d2 V( H2 kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) K0 Q+ I) w, d" @+ bsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.( k0 n! F Q6 x: z t" Z1 G
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
% P) h: k9 W! zcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.4 D/ F6 ~+ T2 [4 D$ _( l& z' q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; A& k& _, Z6 p3 d3 ~" }- D2 vacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
9 p6 d$ a9 W c( E. Ntrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
0 A& X1 m6 y% ^- Y" ^ {mats and sticking accelerator pedals.3 h% j/ D6 c' d
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal3 B" K- Y) V7 M! F' g% }
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; x, s) `* }" S! c+ ucriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be- L6 U9 ~! y2 \* ^+ S& a9 e
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could) c' A5 j5 o. g7 D5 V1 i) I' `
not stop her runaway Lexus.' h: E& m- X1 Q# {# H8 r' a% f
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,7 V( j2 |# A+ L: F: d
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
9 M$ d3 Y4 _5 R" s"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ ?/ d( W! x0 v+ t0 i
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
, c- \* }' n+ i* ~1 D6 n2 pearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
( ` u! O2 o5 t1 H"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has- k8 r$ ^8 {, l/ d4 i) l& G
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway4 a( P, |4 M2 a% p+ x& n
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's+ A& t' v8 H4 Y+ E$ S
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
; @ w6 V. R+ @' a0 ?Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an$ f5 \# F. D5 x* H7 \
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) F q, I3 D, Bthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# s) @5 M, @1 w5 |9 K! j8 z3 F' omalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! d. i% c2 v) Wsaid.' P+ E. k6 L- b+ E3 O c
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
% J2 f6 K, I; u' ghappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe* \' [* Z& a; N" [
about driving our products," Lentz said.0 F5 ~" d. [ X% V
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
6 O+ \/ O* ]/ t7 `# eproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" q+ m; x0 D: U4 ~) nrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
" j9 y' X. u6 \; X, U2 Bmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
" D V5 X+ x. tunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking8 u" {9 K1 u0 H4 J9 x3 }
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
0 o# p! }& G2 s! Q$ mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 {3 e% Z( O$ C' {! w% B. w- Q3 Ctheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow6 G5 x1 x7 \+ l q& [- h
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
& O& @0 J: f2 i- [+ n) ^7 a( m# Freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) G3 c0 ]! U# O6 kof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
# ]1 H% q3 v, ?7 t+ bLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
; Q% N# H1 |, t& f% ?brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( Y; ]7 Y8 |' m$ v! B1 X! zunderstood the pain.
. B; [0 S3 g* ^' t7 W1 q2 O% Z. d"I know what those families go through," he said.; G, t: i! f& [
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
7 u+ a2 }/ C+ O" U" A0 Tfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.6 `# \- j4 f+ H9 T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
B/ m* R2 D) n0 rHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 V: r, r: B- B. M/ Z3 Iin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, L3 C6 J S# \
Lentz replied: "Not totally."/ e5 V; Z/ n8 h
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
. p1 E" r% l. F8 p: M"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said- V6 T/ P6 U8 Z$ e5 z- @( v# U
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
| [0 H o" N: ~8 v4 J: X |& ^pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! s3 \* y% D4 M7 e( d
vehicles already on the road.. b' Q! o/ c- z2 a
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
8 y8 g6 f( l: O8 ^before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 F- W7 {# f7 U9 U
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ t- c- g3 {$ z
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
; b: E2 j w: _ Z" M" lkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.4 |) X* J+ j6 d" p
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
/ m- H: J7 g' xtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" n6 Y3 P, N1 }# ]
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight! _! _" C9 E/ K% ~6 u+ Z
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( q; Q H1 J4 q n, `commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 y8 m& R% a- H) L$ q$ Frestore the trust of our customers."
: V3 z2 e3 A& R. WLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from w9 S- b% g9 P
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
$ q o# @; ` W& j7 _. m! Rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
+ ?, Q% B: }+ ~8 k" Mshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and+ f! d6 z3 H1 V) Y$ d, y) ^# K
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
. q) {3 A7 S7 T1 _% Sthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and1 C6 ^. w: o+ v
turn off the engine.
8 s& O2 m7 _0 _/ IFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( H. _+ W, \/ x {. `* QOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience.". b5 y p' d8 f7 O4 f
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# q$ q9 W8 s h
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
: [- X5 f8 d, j" i# @; Q# Dto her complaints.
# z: L0 R1 a& k; WIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" L3 w. Q7 k" V5 I3 J$ h
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; ?# l8 Y) |8 h: o' t$ ? Pmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& o5 ?' t; B& ]9 }! R$ v
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 F" S1 p9 u9 D- T- k- J! [, `throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 y: D) ?3 v! P& t& V7 a( d
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
$ T0 v& d9 l2 K& j0 u$ soff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
& q2 q" A3 M* \5 u' }/ ATransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& u+ M/ K e4 {6 R' R
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
' f# X4 m" t f E5 wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
" E$ A2 x/ R: Z8 D( \6 Lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
( [ E% z. i8 eevery question."1 M) L: a# n! s, T
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ K0 S; Q: E* Helectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
! R6 K9 h4 W) M$ T% Hfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
, J- K& D/ l" D# T Icommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small+ q, n& J# @2 h6 M
number of vehicles
, j( `+ m: p% N8 g* h ]3 nTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 c3 n0 { e+ k; Y& J/ [- |difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
: u* ?1 C/ e* B. Nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" ^0 ]! f2 D5 l7 D- b/ ]* dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.. r) y) q1 T3 n5 E6 G& A t0 d4 ]& ^
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ k( u: t) H7 a* b$ iwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 K1 p ?7 h9 [) {2 ^4 ftrace at all.
' z; y$ B! t9 l1 f: nHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call; s& U. e1 ]5 }' `! y" L- }/ ~
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden9 h5 p, _2 m: t- A/ A% s% ]
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ P) I: D3 s* D+ R: i* R& W& d: a
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( G. \' l2 L [; e+ h
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,+ T) H- V/ K( `7 f+ G! c+ K {1 [
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and5 B- r# f8 ^+ U* {6 o+ E
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
- \1 U1 Z. \, I7 F) b; x8 Celectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible2 g; H M* p! J1 c+ R
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only! q# R: j' q' W( L% ~4 ^' |
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" K0 j, M G6 {( N7 f& uby Toyota's lawyers."; A) U; D. r$ h7 x# F
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of+ [# e" M4 ^. c$ P! b- i: r
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 j4 J R! K6 G; \* o/ k! H% ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* N- X1 L8 H/ F& Y* A3 J0 `
said., [' ~( ~! Z* d* M' b5 f- l
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with9 i0 [1 h+ A1 ?
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
! |, s8 y! G5 m' S; jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
3 X4 C0 d* w! M' H6 ^/ v, Z* @officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.- P; x$ T" r9 `. C6 K* B: R
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
# u8 \, b6 ?3 g" _, a4 A9 Imembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
, P. u5 k3 f0 ^rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the J# f/ h8 P$ X; O7 Q, }2 L
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
( j! N8 d3 Q+ S4 Finvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& }7 T. `, c! J- [8 w) `Chrysler.9 x3 Z& B" w/ x# i" K" I! d
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax; Y' E6 @& O1 w
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
; ]# M( ~6 l+ tHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
9 y8 w0 q: e: G- W) C; f' aserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
$ a( ]8 u, h5 R! o q) `with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
T5 N9 F9 \. ]% f8 stough."
! T) y$ c- I- j7 D" j H$ X---0 J6 ]3 |; ?% | ?8 j: d- c. R$ _
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
! \0 }6 ?/ s( W4 O- o* {' w* ORaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& H+ T5 A% e( Q2 @
this story.
8 H3 E* L% G7 ?4 U) _& \! L; I, E) E1 r3 k
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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