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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题3 `2 x+ O0 f, u. Q' h
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
* C( a5 {+ b& i6 o9 S* ]1 uWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
8 A. x3 T/ u2 \ c1 V0 ^operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that+ J- p% a0 ^" I# V; q
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"4 g5 m/ \. k5 G& ?3 q$ Q$ p4 E- N! U
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.% E/ h& a- o7 W1 F% S0 z
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 M+ J% z. R' W! ^1 _1 W1 Xcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, P& I2 O4 {8 L$ |& }However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected! {% r3 |) k2 s( S
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
$ b0 w. I* `' _( V0 y: n6 Utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; C4 W9 E+ ], F0 H' t
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
* ?, Q0 k* t! mHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal1 [+ X' H& j, m6 T, P, l
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp; T7 q( ^8 m" }+ D6 T/ q2 B# V
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be0 b- P' Z# z( m6 L' K! U
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could0 N4 K0 f, q, g) i9 D0 q1 B
not stop her runaway Lexus.( Y |6 Q' S& p3 j# H
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 q S& K/ o! ^4 |1 v6 ?
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second% x' o b6 {$ d9 e& p) x4 G6 s+ P
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
1 U6 d, b7 d8 k& }6 aTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues9 ?, t5 n# P, _' a- x5 w6 t8 S
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ \/ u- e9 x, g( @6 u"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 L( _& E+ L; M4 j
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' ?: F% o8 u0 x; L2 t: I% W% {through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's1 U' F: I& t9 {. k' A( A
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
% o/ y& S+ o2 z' MLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an7 f, |7 ]8 q2 j- H' @ c- Z
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of3 @% D: L' P4 _
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# }1 c4 A# P+ E7 F& g5 y3 Qmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
. j w4 @6 I/ ]6 z, f8 L$ [: bsaid.3 \) Y, M% q3 _9 F4 \. h9 {9 t* D6 }
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 O; j; R$ Z+ M* \# U$ Q8 E x# ^
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe3 \6 n8 Y. l; a) a3 e7 ]+ F
about driving our products," Lentz said.
+ m" |3 | [( D/ @/ gThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's/ J4 h# V' q8 W& U$ e1 S- }
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has5 P1 z7 x* f s, r- `
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 V: H* X# ]' X! K1 e0 q9 Bmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of: _$ D" p8 A$ u
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking: n: }3 d' M3 X+ X& ^% D
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ b- m9 X# r% b9 v& [$ r4 b
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of. f: Q8 d+ m! u3 t+ b# j1 j) Z8 D$ m/ j
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
) K( P$ X! l9 I2 c& o, l: i3 @down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
6 l' A$ y4 Z3 j8 T5 w$ \received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration0 u# e# c# l" {9 U+ W
of Toyota vehicles since 2000." y1 @, R8 h O
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own6 M/ l1 g# }1 o$ }3 v- s
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
* ?6 t) M1 T' u' vunderstood the pain.
/ b) {) V0 ~& e) z1 h/ \: Y; Q"I know what those families go through," he said.6 G- g: `: J5 `7 T/ @" Q& i, q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
5 M" K3 E7 L8 [fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.5 l7 P$ r5 J) `) b2 ^* }
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
; O, W# N8 B( Z4 u, c: @9 R5 F6 zHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
2 c( [; y3 d6 o; X6 N; xin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
5 r$ Z! A5 O* U. L3 ELentz replied: "Not totally."
% [2 z" t1 p2 x2 V/ Y5 p5 FStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& h& L- n+ v0 A( L
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 @3 N/ ^3 m8 e0 k4 w" s; VToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
" ~/ j" m( a& Z8 bpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its v, }. F+ J) O }: u$ ~
vehicles already on the road.* ~" f- ~; q1 Q8 b/ s: ^9 r
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify, k9 e0 r" K+ ?1 l/ _
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full' N6 B% e' ]7 l {4 Z& N
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and( w: M- j q3 [% @' r
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
* O4 z* Q/ D7 i2 [8 G( W( |( vkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
; c7 U& x2 {6 z. j3 K) {6 ?0 _"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a, r1 N* R) c5 ?1 R+ o
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. X4 s5 q+ F+ u, t
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
8 H6 G! b5 `- Q+ z7 N3 @- ACommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
+ q3 |+ D6 g# j, tcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to( V; e+ B& J& Y; q; k; h
restore the trust of our customers."
' _2 k4 }, z, m9 BLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
5 p8 t% o8 e. h. ZSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
0 h+ h' x" |% f" W5 j2 e% }' tzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ M0 |* |; _4 U+ d2 zshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# H: W. a% x5 h% Chitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, m# M+ r) y! n1 r' h5 Z. r2 ]that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! V' F0 x' s" o: `, _7 [! a
turn off the engine.
3 Z7 j8 T+ A6 {* ^* f; MFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
; A/ j; S4 c* o' EOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."- ?( ]9 y8 v9 R
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 O& w. |' K* ?( ~' |- ysaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; T/ v$ ^5 g3 P9 h7 t3 K' g! y
to her complaints.
; \$ `! ~; L# K4 _6 K+ ]; yIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
; e% V) r/ Y5 ~* Q: p6 Breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
# \) b8 z* I* f# Xmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.3 ~; i. ^0 H7 Q& C& a/ }4 C
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric5 j8 J9 }8 K1 t/ f
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
/ G* e* G: p7 M* @"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut2 p& W% {' o- i, l
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
" H5 }3 v1 |1 [; n7 fTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in: T5 h2 v0 n6 d+ U! r. n# P; d
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were: S" M: K& x4 y: G9 j
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
3 ^% K+ F, a8 C* j. K1 iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ P% Y; z3 G1 O- \" R0 m. z
every question."
- v8 ]) N. x% V) d2 T6 Y) XToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
& M- w: I* A: V& H ~4 M3 |electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The8 b3 B, o9 W: v
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But. \! H V7 t# m6 I$ d8 o) x2 _" N3 b, L
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
% l; B. z( m; J/ p! ]number of vehicles
9 _! M, b: W$ lTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
, L* O: T: L# v" b9 J; i7 Sdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a, O" ~( B! o! Y5 y
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one4 s9 T3 t/ }2 B, G
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.; R, y- l0 @: q/ Q
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,+ L) a! e, v. F3 s' Z% {9 {
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
# `7 \3 p5 i: d( R& P1 W* Itrace at all.
: b3 r; l& g. T: n" \/ G* oHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
4 L% z- @6 `) ?6 {- j5 f# Sdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! e3 q2 J/ j7 K8 _
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
' v3 u @. e9 d) x: rrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
! L& q" \5 H* E" R1 dRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, k- L* @' J8 H* d
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and3 [& ^5 w) x. Y% U7 p% l; O
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the- b* D* p p: ~% N
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible. ]' z) b: A1 L! t4 |" A, _1 L) L, E
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 R' |6 s: Z+ V7 v* Vsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained5 U1 K5 y2 M* F) Z
by Toyota's lawyers."
, H R3 E- a8 a+ fLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of& `5 q [* r1 B; V2 Q a- z2 d
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
8 S, N, `6 `7 G9 Q8 F8 a$ k2 fcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
2 |7 V. a9 K- h0 `0 Asaid.
% K( `- s& ]! @1 f8 I: W"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
- J- ^0 ]& c+ a+ aa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our5 }! H- t! V3 W% I( t
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& m/ K, }4 X& N1 S: V
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.+ `* C: {2 |4 n7 V
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying8 S' c0 n3 u" U
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" ^: c3 A& U' |1 R( }rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* f4 K/ X# Y, Z8 O5 qautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
' k) j% h0 i9 Q. Zinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- R+ f4 b( ?' W( QChrysler.
8 o1 ~$ }1 L1 ~"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ g, q4 F$ O$ j3 j& h* Y
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
* d) D, n. X+ q# ~( D# THouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
% G* k+ S2 \7 R! L. @, n3 f* d# Qserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
7 J! j. y' q, S5 g/ z; c- vwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty3 y) k- ?$ {+ u" R) ?% d- x3 d1 G
tough."
3 e" k, X. Y/ ^3 o z. B---
; V1 V! C9 ^! L/ P1 ~2 EAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
) w( _9 D# a$ N. T# p& w* Y2 HRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
" C- i) G& t! [) x+ O: p: V# Jthis story.! f' ^; `* v2 E
' n4 a) \: e# }6 R; p2 Y-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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