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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题6 H3 T6 _. [) ] i* r4 u2 y- G) W
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, A; J! O; q. Y. ?3 H* j
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.: D0 B$ {& ~' E5 C: z5 Y* r
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* G1 D5 U; d6 p* |+ s% Z [/ Cthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
% {6 L6 N8 f* u X0 gsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.% K# U' w/ A7 g( J
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential2 X* ]1 x1 Z r
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
0 ~! ?0 B. q9 J% l* W$ U( T$ IHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* i0 ?$ \" a8 E! l: ?1 r* |$ K [
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
1 k* S; n: t3 `trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 }) ~6 B( G& T$ I. t/ `4 L) t: nmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
6 z$ @7 q: W9 `He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal9 t2 S; b3 Y* i# ~, c
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp: s! Q' j6 C/ w( e; Y; R
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
3 Y8 ^* g$ o( f" K: hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* N+ V( y2 O! e# Q# h1 B$ R( Jnot stop her runaway Lexus.4 ]7 m. F S8 u5 q. L
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,8 c m4 _& N, f7 Y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 h% E) Q# s& i# X"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ e$ Q" @4 r; e; A9 W$ N0 p3 |
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues, p" b2 S0 J$ ~( e4 K- Q- }$ w
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
3 o& h7 p* N8 i O. X1 A"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has* A+ F0 u& x' M1 W A* g9 z
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! R" L* @& M0 Othrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's6 Q. i4 |1 r5 ~! L5 s
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
# B/ d+ o4 [# o$ PLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
, ?% p6 |- `. ~2 ]electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of6 u7 r7 u3 W/ E' j
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
0 L0 I" n9 K. \malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he9 O; C1 J' {8 M
said.
7 G' A; X) |# Z7 L1 \( |7 NAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: V1 R1 o: O/ l: ?9 S0 whappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe1 \/ a1 l9 @* \; S
about driving our products," Lentz said.
s2 |5 E/ o9 |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' X! J! e) K* a. [9 C, s! A
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# L- {) d: h* Y
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 U o& m- B- h% f& }million in the United States -- since last fall because of5 m3 Y% E+ ~: I9 u& c u: ~
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking# d6 x9 Y T: \
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ j& q" L; B) B1 [( E2 O1 ]8 {- Bconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 m9 Z. Y: e( c L
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: z5 @% m6 }$ Y- p m+ Gdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has4 n2 D3 Z' D, m# i+ b$ a0 i* X
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ E M) T4 H9 Q1 a C3 {
of Toyota vehicles since 2000. U* a L `: P. d4 x8 z
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 T7 a2 d& M2 |
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
7 O, c7 M. B1 M0 l5 x% ~' h# ?! qunderstood the pain.* j. K% L- b; A& N2 T
"I know what those families go through," he said.# t4 ? }3 i5 ~& W- d
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's }5 L0 L' Z6 ~4 K, V( M; B
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.4 P; y0 G- X! K6 V3 J4 d$ `, e
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( h! F# z7 r7 Y2 P" d* U! GHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 _5 e, q/ z/ |5 O8 C( k: V7 xin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 }3 c/ V8 D$ ^, o" y9 Q( K; ~- s5 _
Lentz replied: "Not totally."6 a5 A1 [0 \8 z K3 n
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
3 o6 f% ]+ w* m"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said9 M$ I$ D! ?$ P. ~
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
+ P& K, J$ B9 Y7 Mpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ K* v/ _# Z/ ^% Z. e: `( o
vehicles already on the road.
; F7 |. W7 c' \9 X" d" r; NMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 ^0 ]' z, p% k2 l3 f v |7 B2 w3 Nbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 `* M" L7 r, h% Z( M' f( o9 G! c
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# W7 V: h3 }. q
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were( m O, O# A" b' d6 }. r
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
; o1 ~, l& L7 C# O' g"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 Q- L6 D n8 t4 i
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony0 ] }% j4 K% G6 j3 B
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight) p3 U( V5 r9 S2 u, _0 W+ y+ p+ g
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal+ {+ o0 K! w7 _. \% w
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to5 n2 y D1 f9 x. m
restore the trust of our customers.") }/ n9 U; X" g m. N3 E( q/ t& n: T
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
+ a/ G- W0 i* y5 l! XSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly- _' T9 {1 H4 [/ P. z) q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' N/ ?' R: d4 @& Gshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
4 R0 T2 \& ?% s" k1 I3 W$ hhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough3 U+ `6 a7 g; L+ r
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and' M. U! g) h7 p8 e% m
turn off the engine.
* L1 Q, e4 h# T- w, K C6 }3 C4 dFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
* X* {: R+ B' E$ x; J( FOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
* N6 U* H4 U! D1 T/ u% W"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' ~ W3 c L" j ^
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond- G" W! f3 u* n( r! W! ]: M; e1 l( D+ E
to her complaints.+ Y/ a9 Z3 H4 [0 Q7 f& X3 Q2 ~
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers I0 M7 t9 V( l
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
. }6 L: g3 h: Amalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
; }0 `/ P% [7 M6 U5 E! [. T8 M"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( g2 S/ d L7 a: ?throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 x9 F' o. W# h4 R" {; |' P4 B' U+ b"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
2 m: Y& r# s3 i5 `/ i! U1 Noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
# a( ^: q+ s" o/ YTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in+ |* v' |$ G) B) z6 r
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were5 ^5 A: g8 e) |$ t! l
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls% I$ S. m5 e; G2 ~- d5 a
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer' _( {# o: g+ I! j
every question."4 m3 I/ z- x, k1 |1 V
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( V6 ^4 J" `( V. d: @' k
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, J; p% i7 ?. V( S, g
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ u! N3 o# ]* Z% P6 P" `& Pcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. T- X! x, L+ N! \% Y' Wnumber of vehicles' M1 S8 k2 }% Q" p; F' {+ l% T
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more/ ?5 m8 T6 J/ o
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 G' o8 i" m( N: r" \$ t3 zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one8 b8 [- k2 Q. F; B/ k4 f8 c
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ C2 v. `4 J! P9 [
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
9 X5 R* U' R5 _3 X1 owhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no. W; R( l! r$ ]: @
trace at all.) \: p# d8 j& k+ Z& |, e* T3 m% T$ s/ W$ P
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call, ]' D) I4 c. ?# h0 D j2 d! ]" H- k6 [
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ t, o- O3 U- D8 B# E) n6 n
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
, N# N9 k) j3 L4 \recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.- v. ^3 A4 z1 C
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,* n7 S6 u( P' n, H
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
& o4 ]* R# _" i4 dother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the) S- U9 ?* a1 h( _3 m
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- M% q# u+ R- U3 `1 G% W& C0 vcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only+ S- W9 A# G6 s# p, Q; T& ^
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
* Y; P7 d+ N! U) V+ F! Oby Toyota's lawyers."
. x1 c* q6 \8 @1 |6 SLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
- B( I- w" K; I/ W0 x% bproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! k' @. P, E+ D: }3 y' X3 ]
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
1 ^% Q4 H# g5 Ysaid.; g$ Y! E: O' E* j# c7 e8 l% Z0 H
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 f- N4 S; Q; t9 t' G; y' @: ~7 _a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our) J b8 S+ P! y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! [) @$ p% ~( Z, L: g& ^
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
8 `6 P$ R3 W# N! `9 n1 MSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying2 T. L9 h. l; S
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread& f% v% O+ W/ q, V% J
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the7 q. b- K7 g6 d% X) X( w
automaker, at least in part because of the government's+ \4 Y. ~( k0 c1 I
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
8 l; Y/ m: T5 m. A$ cChrysler.' f* Y1 e2 A7 q0 X8 O9 @
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 }* r- y" {) l. T7 zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a- M- w' P) q9 }# |& Q
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 h, z2 Z: T- \$ u& p% P+ O* aserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete& x3 n3 ~6 K# H+ k+ L' n9 f
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
5 s P% x5 H2 m+ c/ C; Ztough."
( R5 `& N2 W- P" b6 e---. {2 Z2 A* @7 Q
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ a6 l3 D7 j% L2 t: {- H& PRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to4 Z& U3 l' {0 g3 H$ E2 Z& o R0 S
this story.2 K( D5 n6 ]2 d8 H6 h
& _7 V! F) k+ u9 q-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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