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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题- m! o* X% n# Q$ @- x9 g+ W& A" C8 D
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS6 x2 E B2 e* J$ f, r: `* S
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( \; F( s+ X0 ~! c
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
( \ C% Y, \$ h1 Sthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
* d5 i0 w/ x: }. m( Gsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% N: @+ v+ w! s& j"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential/ w2 F8 S! m, t. d+ o. w
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 ` V2 n. y( X" s, Y9 L
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
W5 C: v* S6 f& B+ q. [acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ V' B+ r& ~5 C* O+ X, L) V1 r }
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& q) H3 x& `: p4 _. H7 P6 j. nmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
. q' p4 J- U1 h* g- THe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
$ d j! O; B* @( g Mand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp( d* e) _2 F1 n+ B b
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# H$ A) c: Z; M/ }/ zfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
5 B" g$ t- J+ R, L; tnot stop her runaway Lexus./ ]: e+ g' m0 {2 K" r7 W$ {. ?
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,3 c% z: ^1 w2 e& F: Y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second# i- p) J* {/ s8 G7 K: e9 _/ h
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators." w9 Y) Y# W4 m7 ~1 y$ S
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( R4 W+ d2 P, W! i- ^% o2 g
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said: B% q9 [% Z# M8 w
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
8 D. J2 ]$ \( M, e; Wdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway! i" Q3 u, W+ k
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's3 b+ {# y9 ~7 L, i2 F( o
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
3 R$ V; D/ {* ^' PLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" _5 i3 }/ C. b$ K. X
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
- y" a3 N" a0 k2 Nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 X' v8 K2 z8 j, ?malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 r4 H4 `4 G% p2 a7 Usaid.2 M" ^% U- D2 r. ?$ f
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
, u8 y) V/ v! X3 r; u; Vhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
0 F% L; v+ I w7 W1 babout driving our products," Lentz said.4 ? ?2 @/ V7 C" z7 f8 P4 o
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 g: G$ f! {9 B+ ^* t G
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
2 t1 A$ o% r1 Orecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
( }, \( t( L; C+ ?" l& v2 L9 W. @5 w$ dmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
, Y$ l5 B# M# z5 ?, ]5 L Z6 I( ?* Tunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking! J( ]2 E6 D" I- h2 L5 [
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering/ M: ?' q T' z
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of \$ N) c. e3 [' E8 S4 k- g- Q
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow$ `6 A" T' s! f
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has8 B' ~4 k$ Y* L \0 F8 ~/ D
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration3 I, |# b0 W9 o0 E: {
of Toyota vehicles since 2000." Z, M- `& |3 ]- _5 v
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own6 I$ O4 [" O3 O9 d' @
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ n- E+ W ^( p0 Y- V7 O) X G6 ?
understood the pain.0 |" Y9 D! c# b" w- a
"I know what those families go through," he said.* K q, H+ Q6 u7 x6 t# j
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* A* S! C! i1 k7 D. t" gfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
0 Y- D0 }0 f! P$ ]4 O7 Q, uBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
: U, x% T, q) M( d4 z jHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
. ]- [ K. L4 w2 N0 W( Iin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,8 k* z% T) K( |% }! R
Lentz replied: "Not totally."& q- |# t. _% I+ s( ]* l; e
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were# q: \5 @4 U( I/ d
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. ]$ u) J2 t2 Q9 i5 }Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
( Q/ l7 ~) J- U- ~pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
; S; G" Q# }" C8 } gvehicles already on the road.
8 R' h" Q, a; n. hMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify( S& [; [2 d, j: _5 z0 S2 R0 p
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 M1 u- q2 I: W+ V' Fresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
7 Z) x. T7 V4 C8 F4 d5 Eoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
W' @5 ?- N! f+ h% v3 bkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems." W$ E6 l2 j1 M, H
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
2 i) C' [/ t9 S$ atragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
W, k7 U1 d5 U7 |for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ Z7 B! o; s5 Y7 d, \1 C, O- KCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal! I' e0 P( B) W2 |; W0 I% O
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to. p( ~ b H1 p
restore the trust of our customers."
7 X3 P) O! M" ~Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from9 N5 H4 o7 n, p3 S4 \$ ^9 ^
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' _8 R6 |0 G, @
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ N% `# G4 R9 j: Kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) ?( z( O& R( D+ O; v5 I
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough$ |' F7 M" O2 |3 h# `
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. d' Z7 I3 a3 s: ^2 \turn off the engine.! ~; q1 |# r5 J8 |4 c
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( ~5 W( E, v# {) u) Q* COctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
( V) |5 e4 H+ f1 M0 _: _" h+ g! K2 p"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 |+ ~( d: }1 Q) tsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond# ~- i1 \( j# @
to her complaints.
( p8 r2 `, `& \! q/ `2 s3 {8 lIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
9 o7 k E# S! e; F# Greturned again and again to the question of whether electronic, `. g$ }# }5 T4 E7 ~
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
, V" m3 B( J6 g3 |"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
2 O7 i5 a8 E2 w) w! [( A! T) M; G# C! Lthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" u3 Y" g9 a3 M$ x7 T& Z6 ~
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 g9 O1 m1 f3 e- ^5 r+ ?3 ~off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."( ^$ b" t. `3 d2 Q% |, y( P
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
; A# x& S+ g; r, W/ lprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ M8 ^, u2 E" }
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
' i$ q; C, m. s$ D: Pwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
& _+ k8 o4 [ D5 T: \: ?every question."# n& ?; P P! H6 T7 F1 E
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether# }% `) N' z) k$ l6 z
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
7 c1 P/ [! Y9 d$ i9 Dfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 Z4 p6 v1 j% Qcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small% N j( [& f+ |
number of vehicles
% f% f4 y* z) S' f# K% ~4 jTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
5 r; }3 N* _$ Q/ J! M- Rdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
% Z" r! I0 k4 u: ~4 J. |/ rmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one q) v6 t$ {) N) k
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.* D& X" O" g D* N/ n8 E3 f
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
7 \6 k6 J, M! t) }. h3 u) ?where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
$ | Z$ e# J' X& N( I% X, ptrace at all.
) C7 Z# e* _ i9 g4 X' j+ `5 a! D9 lHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call! n0 I# L7 H1 X2 j1 ]6 `
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden; U$ |1 C% t' a$ D* M% a, M
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the* W4 v* [" ^+ o3 q9 O. V, \. I
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals., w: T4 K3 w: A& `
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,* j- G6 w8 n: K
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
* J. O; S3 E" K, O2 a0 {( W6 s! nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 \1 ~8 d; N5 c/ p1 }9 Z8 Belectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
! ?! t2 d+ D) Z8 m f2 ~+ acause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only9 g' V8 i6 W$ {9 {
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained. Q% R) U- i/ }3 T* u0 a2 p- U. o
by Toyota's lawyers."0 e6 |2 k. w. B7 a8 [
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of8 u, e- `1 r. C
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our' u, V: Q8 X* d9 j* U: f
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
& S- |$ B. [& o9 M$ _* w0 nsaid.
) P) N4 ]8 n6 \1 y8 y6 y) \4 m; d"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 T# o& y1 l3 j& l9 p; }# C/ `a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our( V: ]1 o* t6 b7 z
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
9 j/ k! k: e* Zofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 @( y% f, s! c4 u% t7 W7 f
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
0 j2 H& ?, ^5 E" b8 Z: |) R; Vmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' g1 L0 j/ N3 j4 S
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
5 f; }- \: T8 ~' [. v, @& Tautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
, C S+ h5 w) A# uinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 ]4 K) g8 Q) o% X7 z: _% S4 p2 s
Chrysler.* G: x8 Y# @% U! V6 Y8 w: l
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax+ }) r8 a3 |2 e4 A4 x7 B5 |
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a3 o @' `/ ]: F1 C& E2 c& A5 b5 X
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" J+ g% s* A3 T p9 ]: m5 v
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete6 T) B4 i- o( [9 R7 c4 H, n/ D2 a
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
/ N5 a0 ~( B3 }- ?$ Rtough."* t, Q3 i$ W3 l7 C
---
# R0 ^, m1 u1 Z. WAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
, _, u2 T7 x; Z& c6 o' \Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to* |7 a) q2 ~" o
this story.
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9 n6 M( S1 m: N- N& y1 ]-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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