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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题9 _- K, S' h" h# @* |) i
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; q0 a( m6 L! W+ K3 }$ M
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; ?, S: m5 z1 f7 @2 ~+ `operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
+ I. ]: v6 p [the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# i# y1 b8 J- [0 S8 V3 [3 ?solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
' B) F% ~- G+ H! \"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential* u$ A6 [& x& c* i- P5 I/ h% ~
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
! V0 C: t! C5 ?+ q+ PHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
4 u2 Y$ e. [* ~acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and( K5 G( `' r3 a
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor* _5 X) u8 v0 K1 r: m
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.* X3 m3 P: ]! }
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal n* Y7 S) B9 ]& D- P) ?% A
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp% R5 w. C- A+ l9 b
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% F5 I$ E8 D5 Y/ ^1 L+ b4 R
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 c. w0 i }; @: G$ Z% P1 Xnot stop her runaway Lexus.6 A, M! ~) s5 j) h* V
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,8 \" a$ a5 @' g. p0 R
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 ^, Z8 w6 Q" Z* _"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.5 w1 }7 v# u! j4 s* y
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 {: O+ A$ V% }2 s' u1 J: S
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
2 l& w5 K# s Q" h; b"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has+ Y# ?8 v2 R4 j% c4 u7 h
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway$ U$ \. x0 h- y; ]6 D& w2 k) Z; p
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. }" `5 q d# G0 Y) \
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
6 D4 u' d& t4 H5 ^Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
) K' t ~( Y, O. Y( I6 z( [electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 B( G; G# k) K9 H" }
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a& n; ]- g! l- x w0 w9 N
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he, A }/ R( i, T3 Q: H9 C! s. I
said.# c/ r W2 u. j& b# X: J
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what6 ~6 e( J+ B8 L4 Y c& r
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe- h/ [! b. {% u
about driving our products," Lentz said.
+ }5 z1 a/ S$ U8 iThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's N9 [+ n% p% L; n3 U {
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
( _) S# C8 z/ @. brecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 65 l0 n7 R* p$ r8 C' p Z; T
million in the United States -- since last fall because of$ w! t0 W0 v) C/ L0 {0 F
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
5 ^0 F0 |+ i3 ~# ]issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ ]" s0 Z6 k7 L( x" l1 u0 ~8 H
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of, X2 ?+ o: a0 V9 l7 N
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow& k& ]3 O# [* V4 s; w; F) y
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has5 g: D O! o( P( T( e( Y& Y0 Y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration$ X& r- K. Y( H( m) q; ]
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.% A8 U( g% G6 H+ P2 U8 Z
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
7 F+ ^7 Y4 ^, r* p2 w1 \brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
# g; n; x8 ^0 Z9 u: n0 }understood the pain. S7 l: I) i* L. Y* [# ~
"I know what those families go through," he said.! {8 ^& z I7 a6 _9 u
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' M5 j. { b% D3 X4 h bfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 k) w7 O/ }8 s2 v9 R& zBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman6 q& x# { d, w! { o
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
. w" z. R# k' c0 f. Rin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
! W6 z! v' ~4 V" ^, R8 M( Y3 p' V$ TLentz replied: "Not totally."3 g" m% ~ H' S) L
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were [$ r U! `! Q. e' j
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said9 e# ~5 @9 P' O$ O3 b
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas& L/ S9 v, H9 K: M1 u
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- Z& v* q) h9 H+ q. }) M/ m- \vehicles already on the road.# }% W, ]% `# i0 @
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify$ r. y0 v% y% K
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full$ j0 v% ^0 V* q7 m* b- Z5 n8 U
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and9 m9 {$ i! t# w1 ]5 [: H% {$ A
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were0 S' M' U" g; I
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 v; X, ?- }, ^; p9 v"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
" m; k L# B9 K o( ztragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony5 s' e4 m4 { F4 j; ^4 U e9 w
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 ~' `* q; M+ Z. kCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal1 Q0 Z+ P% H: X% T
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to! \# }7 a: Z0 _
restore the trust of our customers."6 Z; `' L1 a! @% P, X
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from- }- L! G9 D k
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly9 C; ~& e8 y0 y$ j4 Q! S" z6 U" {
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- A/ K* N2 R, |4 c( J/ o W
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
+ i0 E% ^( i. H4 u R( l! a% Shitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, [+ V, } q' H. O/ N. u/ lthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* q% m8 g7 M" \' k2 ^; O
turn off the engine.
0 s g+ o; U, GFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 a/ y4 X2 U# U/ M3 z+ h
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
6 Q9 q+ K7 q& k# R6 L: C* ?"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
( X/ W$ P$ n, d/ T, fsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; z D& h! z8 H2 z3 D+ ]
to her complaints.
* l6 P% r- a5 S: p2 l, ]In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers7 H! v( I4 g3 n% B; e! l/ i4 T
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic/ O8 L4 {9 N/ s w
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
T' s+ _' @! _' j"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
c# U& `6 m3 }5 O& dthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited1 r6 T1 l8 e3 r# I) I
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut* h1 K2 C; F P4 w+ z
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
+ ]4 w1 j7 a' X% |2 W+ LTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
4 |4 {. \/ W% t1 vprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" f5 F8 w3 t8 A/ Z$ v- ?being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls4 ]! V* x, {1 r, ~# N7 V
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer+ T% l4 V6 g/ }, u
every question."9 R+ f; l9 P& E! G/ l
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
0 n" ] s7 P4 b+ {! b5 v5 kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
. ]! b% f! M$ M; M! t. Ufirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But) a, L0 c+ v4 a, _ S
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
- Y# f- \/ {/ z- {% N: |3 C- }number of vehicles5 d1 _0 m& @' j# F$ M5 P
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
* H0 R3 p0 r% s) C7 q( ~# N# ]difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 E0 `) E# ^* J3 M m: q+ G% C
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one2 X% A3 n% \( h& G6 z
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ Z% c! }: i' Q7 b9 n( l" w) s
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,, s/ o4 ^( L- x4 T+ L. I
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no7 F; r* T; C% k% ^, w
trace at all.+ ~- T0 U+ u( m9 O
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 a3 m& e& `) y$ F6 Y G C
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 K; ^! g4 \! W4 k& F8 ~* Jacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( D$ U" i |) m' Z
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.9 @' x8 E" i) `: M/ _
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 K9 s; `, Z3 \' @1 |8 O: Q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and) Z! o0 h# p/ O+ F3 D8 V q& F# ]
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the8 n: U: j& o% E
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
/ z1 M2 p9 Q" Fcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! z8 D6 Z* t% |* l i' I& a* L X( Ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained% E. H' @% e0 b" i
by Toyota's lawyers."
8 A* a0 u M' |" N" Y( D# zLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
* D% F$ y. c6 A8 T% Z% q% e9 f* vproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! B2 K3 G' g# _' b6 U- W5 x; Z
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
" ^+ Q, M! Z& M+ tsaid.
5 L @6 P1 V1 \"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
- y% a" a" ^. m. E( Ga rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
e" ]( S" S7 @: lgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& P$ s$ ~6 w, A( w0 H [/ P: z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* [' s7 s( P* B, e- Q! v+ D2 L
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying- \0 J* ~$ W6 c+ J' K. B. n
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
( S$ z0 `/ f- x4 Q0 E3 Crancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
8 {; `( g) Z# f9 A9 y0 l( Bautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
7 t+ [$ r: ?& I. A5 c& m2 dinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 ^6 j n6 H5 C; o* SChrysler.
" Q* m. V: T. Q7 x( G, G"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax, D& x5 C8 \( J B
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
- V0 N$ l5 a, l! @, X" G$ HHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: h5 m) ]+ r/ v2 jserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
* w: u: d, E2 m* Jwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
8 @1 y. Z0 ?: Z7 i1 o+ o9 ~tough."7 E# d- Q! l* { H, _
---
$ z+ i, g: y# H! ]' \Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom* |; K6 K8 O0 y+ l, m, T4 ?& F( H
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to- O2 f; ]* G1 d/ p0 B7 V
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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