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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题8 v# A; S3 e {/ R( {; z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
" _, U2 @' z& y& b8 QWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
' f5 n; r* ^6 u: Aoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 N a1 g. K; K A* o0 @the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
9 \4 h, I+ B. y, f& m- J: [solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
* A" l1 t% W1 m* B"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
( l( W- r2 H7 _" e1 r0 W5 v7 A/ Ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
1 Z7 b0 a# \; {7 ~. L) J8 w- ~However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected U' v$ Q6 `) [* g6 B
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and, u. o5 i: G/ N I' I
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor3 Y* h+ f# a( a# T+ u5 t# d1 Q1 u. \
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.3 R3 A7 K! D1 [5 O" S" g1 J8 Y) `2 p: w7 g
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal* y/ C, W9 e2 w* C, T8 [/ [
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp, g$ X2 t; Y. D2 r" w$ P, X
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 D' E( i9 h2 R( hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
5 y& q% ?2 q( y* W; mnot stop her runaway Lexus.7 l& G7 [ t' @9 ^2 E1 L J+ n
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
7 K0 g( {8 J* `/ z6 t2 \Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
; O- w9 o" l! |"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: Z* J+ x, h6 X% Q$ U) }Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues8 |" I# T5 c7 A; ?4 W2 v# r
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said( I! K% g* L4 E8 t" R5 t1 s
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
& u4 v; f; B; @& Adone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
+ o9 ~* S7 Y. O) Q lthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
: q3 q0 L$ \, L1 y2 einvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
( v% ~5 I5 { g0 N. aLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* J+ C* z3 X6 V
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of$ U' D) M O; B {* h
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a5 K# ^. ]$ I% K1 M
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he3 b9 M* r, J& E2 d) H$ J" b0 C
said.2 x o( E: V4 G1 @7 U
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 I% @1 Y) B% e) E- S r' n5 ?. K S
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 M4 N- C+ u5 e& q: Z0 |
about driving our products," Lentz said.6 S- J- ]8 M) H' T
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! X8 n0 I D- S. [# Kproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has x2 F. L/ m& ^" |7 \
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6+ M/ V" i/ \% V! l5 |
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
2 ^+ \8 X8 a; Hunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking1 m6 y3 g- m( _% ^# {% s! J
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering; \) l4 N$ t8 R ], G+ y2 X% X
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of, R4 t/ R; V4 d! _
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow q" `4 F0 Z" M N/ r1 q& x$ n! y, t' z
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 G& r3 z: Z# Y Xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 N G5 k/ U9 G X2 W/ k& D
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.1 L3 A# G- [% n! `7 J
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own# P6 N6 G$ Z* J# s9 q9 n& o7 a1 u
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
+ J& j4 V& c- C- ]3 Iunderstood the pain.
3 u" x4 T7 q% n. T/ ]& x" ^"I know what those families go through," he said.
# F% n" E0 J2 X$ A/ z B/ c0 VLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's# M' }5 T. y% D: @) k0 B
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems. S8 p. X' I& V& @# F7 ^1 b
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman# ~# \2 w3 J. Q7 r5 E
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put {' H( G1 U9 z' I" Z9 h
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 f: x+ e6 V5 e5 \; W
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
3 N$ _4 W o; z' yStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were' ?8 G( t/ {8 g' A7 T/ R
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
/ x/ j: z1 o. q. v& p* YToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 g+ |! w. `* N7 W4 dpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
3 V" u% l/ g+ H9 \2 r) P' bvehicles already on the road.
+ C/ u, U* Y1 S, o1 z& Z7 u x5 lMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify8 p# E! }, A3 |. b5 y) q0 s: L2 E
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
9 i3 v% F' J" C* eresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and( M0 _. M$ }( K9 q; s% J6 S$ V+ u
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were y, D$ R5 N: I' G: {* i
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.5 v8 W% {) Y& p% d# q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 y8 ?0 t) d" e% \tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
, E# o: L4 e* Ufor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 H3 _1 E! k! {! ]Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal/ e9 f8 m* ?! z8 C
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to; H T! X$ Q' l
restore the trust of our customers."3 y! U) D) x2 F2 p6 m
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 z0 C' v* T `" B7 P [
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly2 P. G. k( W: I* ^/ ~
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 H. K$ i6 r5 Nshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 A4 K- J% l! `0 J
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" s- w& {. h3 G& ?/ J3 r0 l
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* K6 `- s, Q3 i r
turn off the engine.
/ }+ |7 G* k4 t q9 D8 rFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of$ ?- M/ x F# z3 A8 ?; x5 a. C% ~
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
! E! x4 r* P2 n+ ~, d- i0 e( ^" l" q; d' i"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she( k' F& h5 ~/ I% R O; q3 l
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
/ p, }% U7 a5 | e8 f# A1 P( `to her complaints.
6 i* I+ E6 R% \2 R( o1 R2 [In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
6 }8 Z f% \* X3 \6 mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
0 v9 t) b5 g. Vmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.9 l: I9 u4 T- i4 d B9 J, |
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 p5 Z- |- Q* M0 b6 c- |4 M* Hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
) s1 B; X& u- i ?5 p" |+ |+ k& V* z/ }"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut1 P& k1 t7 D1 W: D' ~
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! x+ K8 W5 n& P3 v, Z' ?Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
* p. @! \ h8 k; `1 Y# L! U" d6 uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ ~; c3 H2 G+ y" d
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 k( N' y0 s j* C, awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
5 q$ K. l! g G# |every question."
, R$ h! o( E5 a1 XToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 W' u( f' ?1 w' Telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The* |8 v- x v7 a- U
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ o2 o& A9 z, E: X) zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
+ {, s) j9 Q7 H- H* H, P3 ynumber of vehicles
2 G" z# o/ _6 X* A/ n3 t0 `Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ \, q9 C0 \: R0 X- w
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a6 u+ m2 E2 z7 `# G) w. ?2 I. ?
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one! V: F. s7 C5 t
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& W7 t; l$ }4 f: u7 XMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, i6 z |& Q0 n G+ i! {8 @% F
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
7 `" S& h# V' Ptrace at all.
' X5 B) X( h" I: B s2 PHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call1 B/ C* z: {1 o6 j3 K
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden# D5 d4 v' a4 l! U9 N! L9 L
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" R: E; |' W$ L8 R0 O) o
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
$ _. ?: e- h9 @! }) Z1 X# zRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
4 g$ Q9 m w" Z7 q usaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and1 H. d/ Z! o9 ]1 t8 w
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 R% \/ _( M8 ]5 z0 q# z. Y' O
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- g5 O8 K. \0 I' d0 h7 @. A- ^cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
8 C+ t) N2 d( A7 D. @3 hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; V( W- r$ O6 W u4 Iby Toyota's lawyers."
# v" ~2 O- A E6 y- @8 LLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of; S X' I+ v) W; C) t h
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our) I! {3 x" P2 i. f: |& m
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 _* q& G& E' p5 P
said.
! M& H8 `7 g* d+ E5 `, M! H# |"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
( q. }% }* e$ k7 U8 P; c. ca rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
/ w7 h8 k+ N/ F" l qgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
/ V5 g4 I0 O. y. f o" ]officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
$ ]7 u0 M1 ^6 T6 sSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ a+ E% \0 J/ A: K
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ r" w/ \8 y3 f$ o0 @6 e
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the+ q ]7 a, M h* T: s/ m
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
; x& i4 R) Y# z' g) L$ B( f1 k6 D: Winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and1 c5 Y4 l; |' v: X3 u. t
Chrysler.# I" r5 H7 N8 m6 E7 G$ K
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax: X1 c: F' i$ j1 n6 z5 ?) D
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a- V4 n- q; h$ K8 C) v5 j% S
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. G0 z% E, ~) h) Fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete" Q; @ `& b5 |
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty3 X( v2 j3 @8 C6 B9 X, J
tough."
. ^- M& [- Q3 |& G' h/ Q. a---4 _+ k6 i' r4 h6 H; r( F- D
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom! i$ h( Q6 [2 R% O+ O# {
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
( o1 }2 `% I4 U$ Othis story.
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0 D+ v' D, e+ h: o: b-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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