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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题2 |+ ]3 o) G4 M% D2 q0 H% O
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# _# f0 f; R# ` j& E7 }Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
+ |4 }, c( y0 J O* C( @7 V: V! w' Ooperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. l- x9 S: ?: _0 j- A. Tthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
' k& c7 q4 O; o8 K4 p2 Csolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration./ I" R. u& M; V+ T0 i* B$ h
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential9 C# D8 ^" D! r2 T
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
7 o+ I' K6 O6 A6 BHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
2 G6 U0 _( A2 Zacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
R0 P8 ~& k9 }) O1 h5 Y! | ctrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor0 F5 |: v$ Y B3 C; F
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 W$ M# I4 C( y' vHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
0 z4 z( _7 G/ B1 F$ m) y1 Xand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 j0 M; m1 ]; k/ \, R2 X" Scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
+ p$ |9 Z4 k; Dfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could: d) J5 ]8 w; u; ?6 f; Y3 o
not stop her runaway Lexus.
# j' Q2 i9 A% X- C, Z' T"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ m! F! j2 H* r2 K3 iTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ ?& {! C* N$ j"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& _) `! r4 a! wTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ r6 T8 A3 n- s, z
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
$ z; }1 B2 Z2 x! G1 Y% P' s3 y8 J8 N. Z"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
7 S! C! }7 D& \" n# s7 U8 jdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway k# P; X0 P& R0 r
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's' ~6 e0 p" E/ O; t% d+ A; }- w
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
9 e& c9 G* r# r3 `* [Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an+ O5 w1 [( ^# O( S
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 x1 ]/ O6 r: y6 l4 P" ^. I, Q
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. [4 i7 K2 u, a# A+ }
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 t3 U" B. ^% y0 v9 C, P hsaid.
; S/ U0 r0 }) Z/ @2 UAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
) B9 b5 g y9 n* ~% F( b5 Jhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
2 }0 Z2 e# a% x, N( r/ oabout driving our products," Lentz said.% | M" W3 n2 q" t9 \- n# u
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's4 M6 } `, X. g# t+ [* E
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has3 s6 {2 ^5 E$ |3 V" X
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# }+ y- }* ]% S: D5 p- z& wmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
0 g- r: J; F! i& [) Funintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
- [/ g- z* [3 X- Gissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
7 z6 l. P. i$ xconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
" u/ K. S S3 Z1 Mtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow/ D( g1 a' T# i5 e$ m0 [0 m
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has8 d' ?5 W) W8 o9 [$ ]8 P0 @" c
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 v! B, _/ R! U$ m B/ i6 e
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
# ]/ P! g! ^- G* ~- c6 W' ELentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
6 R+ a2 G0 Y- wbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ P5 G6 w8 C" _ O0 q0 s* p7 F
understood the pain.( A5 W3 h/ u# S; f& R1 N3 i( c
"I know what those families go through," he said.: y6 j2 m" _6 G
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* y% T8 o0 z# c, i$ vfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.8 I( Q! R+ v0 H$ T* m
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
" ` C1 O1 {, W2 M; _* r: hHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* e" b7 ]' p3 Jin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,% u) D, q. v8 o$ P. S7 k! \
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
: I2 q" j; _3 _Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
' `5 ~; {8 U9 Y C"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said0 q8 {9 t; H# A* G! {
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas* S/ V! R: L, |& H& t6 u
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
: f* p9 `, `8 R+ V! t4 k2 ivehicles already on the road.5 O# P# l" R% @1 i
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) c: B b3 e0 m" S% B+ H+ [$ p# _, _
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, J+ Y9 |( f% ~/ Z' h) ]responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and, c3 P- v! e) B h. x7 l4 F; u; x$ W
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
2 k e) m/ \% P# Nkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! r+ C+ Y& [1 Y: t+ f8 Q& f+ l"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
8 z. g J" _. c- _7 ktragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony+ H, o) \ j* D, \- M. Z/ V; T
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight2 Q' i, q8 `8 c5 V3 T
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
1 o9 ~1 y7 g( P+ Xcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
8 i0 v" T" t7 M- K5 V6 _# Grestore the trust of our customers."
$ Y- A X" T) ~; v% }. J7 L6 t% sLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
9 x) B- E7 J( i7 C, GSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
9 Q2 W% {/ R U2 T4 H$ czoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
" T3 O5 O' a& V. \1 ]+ z8 j% jshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
' x* x( _4 V/ D/ y7 y5 z" ^) m# t, h4 \' Qhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
$ {! N- j. L% r1 N' zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and4 @. `9 l' [( l* Y
turn off the engine.
5 i1 R( W6 N5 ?7 h; o6 p3 ?Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: o0 \8 d6 P/ n rOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."3 x3 e4 ]$ B, u1 m* u/ l
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ U) j2 S2 h. V4 D" asaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
9 y& S% W1 k8 I( Cto her complaints.
' O9 W. L" h2 x( K" D/ b1 U* LIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers, ~& |4 Z3 A4 ~1 C# ^
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic# d4 ?% T* Z# A0 t2 ?: c5 \
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
& u( W5 w! R( u B% _. Z2 B* \ r2 Y- ], u"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric- W! U& _* _+ }% w i0 N0 ~
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
, `% t& G; V: R( |"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut$ E0 h0 r3 D5 U7 E4 J
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."* y1 N. B, B) E; L. ?
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 U; K3 G; K# Z' }
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
v- |. j" {# g( Y% U& E7 |+ `& Ubeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
+ \3 V4 O3 r: u7 ?were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer! _9 U1 x8 c" W4 g7 _0 ?
every question." @1 `4 e$ c0 z# G
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- ]0 i4 c5 T) ]0 a0 xelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ x# @9 _% e8 F) S" R1 V" g7 Nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
s, F+ y% e: qcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
7 t$ e5 r/ E( ]( ?. S% }: Dnumber of vehicles' w% V& c1 \, J l9 C" C
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more+ G( o$ F8 v$ U% m
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
1 F' H. K# D+ i8 C% i) X# q) cmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one8 H2 ~* Q! ^# ]4 \
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. `* V: d2 S- ^+ g% q8 EMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ u; H) u* e2 p* z5 \0 k% Q. r
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
- ^7 |, S; x! A: n5 W* M5 }trace at all.
3 B& ]$ W( V$ W9 ]2 ?" t; y9 G5 eHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call: {' x! |% ?- W* k! p% ]" w
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% ^* s3 j: |7 V! J! t5 J
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 @" k+ L) |5 t2 U8 o6 F% L
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
$ D( m0 m" M3 \, ^5 E# e4 n5 z/ c SRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
6 T" [9 T! w8 m. ~' i. isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and. {( @- X1 T7 ]' J
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 d# Y9 q; s' _# o; v
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
$ W4 S2 M/ y1 a5 scause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. K2 u7 T. ]1 O
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ H) N% x( T0 \$ g4 o% Bby Toyota's lawyers."' \, V8 W6 q$ e) k
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of$ s! V) B( x4 Y( x
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
9 E2 O1 j, q0 R: m2 ~customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. L0 g9 k1 P r! o8 Y R
said.9 N6 F0 v9 l- q- `4 b. a
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
( _! j. K% { [( d+ t% xa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our: I: C6 Y D- h4 V3 b2 l
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating3 B9 u+ ?2 g5 \! @4 x
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
# P4 A+ i/ e& |% |Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying. P( U' G3 }9 E: Z' x* s
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! f& L# y* C! y+ h! Z
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
' _; j! O/ k$ w5 F) nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
8 S) r& w* i1 e7 b' S1 {6 K, Xinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; @ O2 O* X. v, s- R. V
Chrysler./ e( A/ H' g. }8 }- \; a$ S$ V; D6 P
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax J. N* p# k' Z. _: _% x
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a- N; l4 c2 w% e$ g/ ~/ { X
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also+ d# W1 y6 T) n" O/ O. S
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete4 F6 P2 n& \: M. v L( C' e( u
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty* K5 e4 m% j/ L- s3 C
tough."
9 F" c' {3 Y& [. I, S" |7 k---! p& I4 e0 w8 a0 S2 W. h
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. \' {# p# v! J5 J
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
$ L2 F, Y! s/ W- `' w0 qthis story. _3 @8 _8 s) C; c& y7 c
2 D/ m2 Q! X! c
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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