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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题. w4 N) i4 J, N, h- ?2 c: R; e3 R
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. K h! p* s* y! {Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
+ b% Z4 O9 \' ]9 o$ I( @operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that, |2 V& s4 E! i0 l! g& r/ h6 o
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"( a4 [& q8 E- m
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.: }- j7 G4 q+ y2 J5 n" q, b6 l
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- F% Q$ t$ S, e. Q& G. J4 z8 E9 T- W& `$ Ocauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, S) `5 w" D3 m. y9 jHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
j6 i7 {8 j. v2 ?9 E" p( tacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
# i1 O8 W; S1 p- Vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
; P% M1 S3 T3 S7 R4 {; N0 _mats and sticking accelerator pedals.% z7 i) l+ @9 K1 |1 D
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal9 r \' [8 C' _! Z3 i. c
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp# F U4 ~$ d _' O) |, D) B
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be5 k$ s' M' L; t* J7 j
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
2 b# c& G4 T& J8 p: Onot stop her runaway Lexus.
2 w8 _0 Z' m7 A2 f, i"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
# f4 b7 F7 m& v) o9 XTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
8 n/ x( i" I0 Z7 ]& L"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
% c+ m" [5 Z, ^6 V `9 M6 y5 ~Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
V4 [* w/ T+ A9 I& ^early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; F. u& _2 p8 O8 y
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has R- ~& x0 }% n* ~0 v3 b
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
) M5 J9 D/ A/ r Tthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
& y" T7 K; N: n( H8 b8 oinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."5 A5 s' w+ F" _. E+ o# i* F
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
* D) |: Y$ C+ [5 Xelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% Z7 \5 }7 `, wthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
7 e/ ], |+ x- H$ y p3 ]: {5 Vmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
) v- E# T9 c: z# j& h3 isaid.
6 ?7 ^( N2 l% Q2 N- Z0 J' n" Q5 T" ~As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
4 w% k+ G3 I9 M# `+ h3 Z2 @) Ohappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe! h, T0 U6 l! p- f- B8 E2 j
about driving our products," Lentz said.
) m# N4 l; c! ?7 J; Q& v* H, c% eThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
: h9 u4 C$ K4 ?2 P5 Pproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
& |4 a$ Z" F. g6 ]. ?' Z( Rrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
: P3 |+ } |0 h+ D. emillion in the United States -- since last fall because of3 t( X$ w0 I5 K& p
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking ]8 Q" M# C& z7 @( K
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 w3 z( j2 e3 { k* X! yconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% X, ?, V' ?# l* N1 q wtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
! b9 T2 t# w6 V# ]6 Tdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has5 C; j) L) U* O. ~) U; Q
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration# s, n+ N' D$ J# V0 o. v
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( ]" O" c& ]. \0 y: V3 y. s; oLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* v4 c/ q* I+ V4 n$ @6 Hbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he; X/ d7 R) `; ?
understood the pain.0 V1 C/ y% q% T+ Y4 }
"I know what those families go through," he said. T- L3 ] p1 a$ c7 A4 z% x
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's. u# C& V) a! t
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% Z) @& R7 h+ F# w8 j; E
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman2 |- V- l1 t8 h/ }# l
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
& e0 c* A* g, v+ V9 P1 Nin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,) I/ ]2 J/ @( Q7 T" f: |
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
7 ]4 o( W# I. O3 p3 i" PStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were7 n) r! b- y) a
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 ]2 p q- t8 S6 A/ x
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
# d5 J* t/ f. T. K* U& }pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its$ J0 ~8 Z' z5 r
vehicles already on the road.
. f" v9 n# y& B) e1 RMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
" O5 X- y3 H' d0 ^before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
; r" {/ N! H0 j T3 ?+ Aresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
1 J1 g- H' Z0 c4 s" aoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% n8 a! w& ]1 A. tkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.' h k q# u1 y, c
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
# `( t/ S. k' I- {tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# E; [3 l& [ a# hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ p- c1 M7 e; V7 CCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal$ {2 {! b4 v& P5 M# f9 f) B/ H
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to2 A. r. ]* b& U
restore the trust of our customers."
7 C2 M" B$ ]2 v. HLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
+ E8 C3 a/ X6 |$ BSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 ] C( y) ?, R$ T9 l1 U
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
U' A, p7 ^3 I% j/ W7 xshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
W8 k. ?% V8 z$ @% Lhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough# X7 R: p8 k# @7 R1 x& u- V
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
0 ?; M! S4 {4 V* Y' l& r' Wturn off the engine.% C4 E7 T# S0 A7 N( e( G
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of9 p0 n8 f2 |7 T* ?' S
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 B! r8 n+ @. ^
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' `& B. v9 F- Z9 Y2 \- }
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( e; y1 ~4 A; N gto her complaints./ d' x1 z' B1 x% y: v! s2 a
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: z$ q: y/ ]6 Q o* n
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
! X6 e. k, J. i9 V0 ~malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
3 e* Z T! b3 H6 a; T4 {"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric8 g' _) D. v# X8 W% v
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited+ E" V3 y5 q* {' Z
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) n9 |1 x' m% `, ]( J$ K Y6 V1 @6 m
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) |2 x6 g* c$ Z/ T: y$ s, M9 mTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 t7 B0 G k' }& f( Q6 k# H
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
7 G( I3 L8 ]. ~! J' }% w. Wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
6 _* |2 N' V) \4 m. l+ T8 Wwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer9 o1 C0 p! ` I+ E4 L
every question."# D7 D6 w3 m- I! {# M6 d
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
0 m: r q. z6 nelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 {; {& _& w ~1 i
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
- Y2 {: y9 a2 l+ _; Q, kcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 M9 |/ T8 J3 {4 o
number of vehicles2 o8 [$ `: N) _1 M; ]/ u& ~
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
, U, ^! R" v6 C& e4 u" G' P$ cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ F7 l4 c0 S5 K% I. T8 n) J8 t9 O
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one; w, S$ P4 ?& e! \4 Z/ W
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& c5 d; {1 O2 W! z4 mMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
2 M, J# U" m: j- g; A; Kwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
: x5 A9 Y3 D* k$ _# ^) Q' ntrace at all.
6 F) w$ x2 Y, c. N& }House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! K- O, Y- d/ E4 h* G3 @+ w+ T2 Rdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden8 s' y. I8 J. @) ]# q$ Q
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the5 b$ N. G S, O# Z' t
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 H, o- a; d! C! G% }+ }& {! }0 U
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,5 s; t o/ F9 C" F9 ~8 \
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and% y& _* _) h9 K1 I, z( h$ A8 P. K
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the1 f, ?. S. ?: z' C) s0 ?
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible3 ?: m, _9 ^$ {% H) R
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- h. n9 {7 J+ i/ |such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 \0 u ^& e8 m" Aby Toyota's lawyers."
9 Y* c) ]* t/ q" w! MLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# N2 L' k/ R( i+ C: p/ tproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
: ^4 M% `7 k2 u) [+ `customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* I' L! ~! x- u8 |2 h
said.
- B& H3 K8 u) w6 \' Q& s: d' ^. k"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 o+ }3 E G4 [) l* Ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
* B7 h% l4 M6 r ogood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& F( G. S6 Q% H/ \! P. Pofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, l% J6 b& f4 E: Z% q8 mSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ B6 u0 L% r6 _4 U1 I# o, z9 qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread F5 c' u7 J* [0 X
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
# p8 j7 r$ Q+ V8 {automaker, at least in part because of the government's/ ~" O2 b! N, H% ^# \
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
8 s- w' h7 O! {" Y6 e; CChrysler.
# |7 j# _; ~5 z( q" T"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 E- g1 z1 G5 u0 B. P
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 E( o. v0 C B* K [! W9 [6 k
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also) r/ d9 a8 g( T. b
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete6 f/ X$ O; g+ E( i$ c! _
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; V7 X- {7 {4 E8 E$ {9 Mtough."" Z; C+ }# @, O% |% H, T O# e q
---$ C" `- r2 ?9 z: |2 G, \4 Z4 J
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
! I' q; O6 T8 R- N; [$ T' {) k6 ?) I8 YRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
. [; y7 v4 \# U1 p. b3 p7 ^8 \this story.0 t/ d4 p+ R" Q1 G& N8 F. T
0 ?, a, F# W) x2 b# ~-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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