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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题# x1 C7 f1 w9 n6 M' `
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS/ w" k( k0 J& ~/ F& }0 T
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
' e! p0 R0 `( M1 f% b) s. X2 `operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
' M2 P$ M8 [5 p# sthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"8 D. g* ^3 b# ~# [5 g+ U5 X
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ F5 z# O& U* A) i2 ~' E"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
T6 v4 d8 K$ }& K3 g/ H. ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
+ N c9 }& c, Z. K4 hHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, G! A2 t* I x5 ]. t/ m
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
, s ?8 w! i7 \2 e% ^$ P- Atrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor' ~/ Y) C- X" x/ H
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
0 g% x1 o- e& b3 j7 jHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal) D4 b/ c. L! W8 ^- W
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 q; \, e- v' D; [4 t$ h- zcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 V8 s4 @3 k/ c J$ y3 c& h
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
. v7 i" _% B8 |$ f& d7 {not stop her runaway Lexus.! V& x( W5 m' ]5 Q& l' Q& Y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,# ^1 H2 v! @" ^+ b* y( w
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second& x% Y* h" u' Y9 v0 X- p
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
% @3 B& v+ a7 PTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
. H& l+ }; x% C7 oearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
" [$ ]0 p4 e- v% F, X3 H"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has, l# V, ?- \8 t0 d
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 s; t$ N6 p0 Uthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
; g8 Z2 |& t4 [( winvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' U" V- d' F6 h7 ALentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
; J! g" j* f' O2 w! ]$ Y3 felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 i" ]/ o& D# u1 D" X: R9 M0 qthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
( ], ]5 e6 H7 \& ^malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he3 v- U" A6 ?6 _# s; C8 j
said.1 c, O0 W, X4 |* n6 n
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
0 G) G' a. Z( o& U# F, l+ W C: Hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 i- T$ G/ D7 r& e' b ^! G: _
about driving our products," Lentz said.' m3 x& c# n1 o
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
D+ T6 v9 |, d4 y0 T) s/ {; jproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
. v* [ p9 |( J7 `" T& Srecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 60 j' p# |6 M7 @$ q2 x
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
% j$ j; U. h q0 @5 F; ]unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking7 T4 @) p" K% S/ H1 S0 Z
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
$ v/ e. H0 Q$ ?# r- Wconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 D, M- |" ~3 L+ X& H
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
5 N" Z2 F7 C5 \# }- p, j8 z6 Edown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
1 V! O3 A- M$ z: y& E% g U: {received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration/ a( L0 S# ]" @! W
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& M+ k3 p6 d, W: J7 p+ YLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
5 Z& A1 [: p/ c: K# Cbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
" |9 H+ a3 Y `5 Y# Wunderstood the pain.3 n" U0 G7 t) {4 A3 U
"I know what those families go through," he said.1 m" O4 N4 {! W4 ?0 x/ Q w( A
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's4 K7 h% ?' j( @: C
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.6 s, Z: [3 [/ T$ n9 j
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
$ B; n: I7 g/ b9 `% a a0 T4 Q5 k- _Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
& o" P q' H' y# gin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
" y" y. @7 B: Y! KLentz replied: "Not totally."
; B& p% F+ Q; @, e' GStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 F) g% e! {* _"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said$ ?5 L* P$ f0 t; Z9 c6 ~* Y% T1 J
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% F% C; ~0 c8 p5 z$ _6 V M
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its- q" [ O! A2 ? v) J
vehicles already on the road.
0 H" X0 u! s6 K) K* A8 ~# ZMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
. d5 R# W4 m+ U }8 z# J1 dbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" j+ \2 R6 q3 |0 G8 sresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- X" H3 G+ m( f4 Z; r1 L5 j+ y
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were7 n. x4 g5 m) w1 U( Y
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.4 ~' u& d- E, }0 J% U1 f$ @" I( ^; }& P
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) h: p" K% J7 R& V: L i9 f% x4 K
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
% Y6 E" a8 `) dfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight. F' R" x3 D5 @# J3 ~' |1 V$ J) h
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal( J' v/ p4 c$ q- R5 X
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
6 T6 n& F" R/ d! [! Yrestore the trust of our customers."% @4 P2 A) S) A( [
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
: G% ^- [7 w* x, @4 qSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 C. m5 z3 ]$ t% B. P3 g; M+ Jzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
& y/ H4 T' q' ?shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
! J. n0 w/ m3 d9 t. k5 y5 Uhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 m: x) R% n" u, ]
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( l3 X. h! T/ _turn off the engine.
! |9 C4 s$ @2 o7 FFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of _, l, H6 a0 p4 K% W5 u! @
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 _/ U# |, \. H4 p& W$ _: G0 Q& I"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
; P' \6 c4 Z5 c0 z0 a9 x' X) x. dsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; j# j8 K5 F; e0 q7 E: G
to her complaints.
' _3 y2 ^+ Y. k+ n$ o5 pIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers8 E' w& v6 G' L- f6 m7 |
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic. K7 |3 |& M0 _) s/ F% ^
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.0 H) h2 z& ^# h4 e! N& F
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric5 h0 D$ y$ e5 U, S5 d" `/ m% s& c7 L$ a
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 V; M) x: E! |, Z$ ?+ R
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut! T1 m, Y$ a' d) K: w4 ^
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
; f7 W# V4 F7 ATransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
2 p" X+ K4 U+ P6 m! a! lprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ n* G3 y; m# U- t! @0 D5 W) p4 T) g1 R ^
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 t, G- g9 y8 Q5 ~, ]" W
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
2 D/ O& [0 C6 [7 T6 \4 w. nevery question."2 {7 T6 o$ R2 Q+ w8 t7 M% Z+ x; s
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether, |; T5 c" O2 t" n* g$ N/ X2 U
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
2 ^, \- K$ E* Pfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' h* j8 M9 H E! ?8 B9 B! Q( r3 Gcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 }' T! G: J( L) }) c% bnumber of vehicles
* E9 G* m) f0 w! Z, UTracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 e, c4 W) D) m% O% ~7 |5 ]8 |# G
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
+ z6 Q4 r: R2 k7 M7 T" Bmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one5 a' h/ a' z% i: K) f k# p
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.! J# F8 Z# s) {' j; A5 r
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,& S# g- N% y$ h R3 a2 E' G- h
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no, c2 I( _: t6 U' P
trace at all.
5 s9 b& T' T) j# s) M7 q) _( THouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
2 w$ T: ]; m e3 |6 d2 vdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
0 m E- D/ H" H/ R2 l- aacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the* J9 ?; @8 L; @* C! t& \
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.$ G1 p, g9 b3 a, v
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, B* O& A1 k5 C, L
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* `0 F) d2 `8 c( l3 z
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
! e/ T4 L' t L8 E4 d& Qelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
8 h, F- o+ c4 Jcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only B2 x8 ?6 @( X. ~# t1 ?
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
! ^, A. H) s+ P# A, t% U' ]$ kby Toyota's lawyers."
' ?1 C: t8 g7 r6 Y8 s8 r# \' kLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
; ~ Y. Y( D- Pproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
, {" U$ @2 u6 D1 |/ M& o* fcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! u( f7 X0 P P! \
said.' I0 @9 C! b+ I3 ~
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
; j" C$ b0 w4 M" l( ?: da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our$ |0 y' m: B1 X% j
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& S" [6 |1 P" |+ S4 R, C
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 ^4 Y# r: T0 S( W
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
0 |4 `% O( P( @4 y( E4 Ymembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' j4 X/ n! \. _3 w" p
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the( u; e J' m8 P) _) q& E. J: v7 D
automaker, at least in part because of the government's! z, u. t3 X$ A, z
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and0 G. D. w; t2 a+ P) t* K- u. Y2 _% h
Chrysler.
- g0 g5 J) W8 Q; ?! y; N {"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 o1 q2 @3 o+ J! _7 M% d' I+ @
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a V; o* n5 k" Z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also7 L. N E$ ?. Q# @
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# _. b. f, s! G4 K
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty$ k0 A# n8 K( G' N
tough."8 V* x. k6 Z$ [1 f x. g: z( S2 a; @
---
6 e' k9 Y5 x( b6 R1 mAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 ~1 X/ f" B* ?Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) B7 r0 B' i2 e) {$ }this story.
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' P6 D; @" D4 p6 U2 G2 Y-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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