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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题+ S t7 R9 k, G h; `" m6 F
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 ?3 H) q7 z4 J* B h& L+ T
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.+ L! a" X8 W6 i
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that Q- Z% F8 L B& n! b% Q3 r
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
5 |( P# v7 x# v4 a" A4 _, y9 Usolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% _$ W8 o% q5 U+ k7 X, }"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
) M7 Z! C/ F4 |4 y& Pcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& h! Z! ?5 l) A/ _! v! S" EHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected- [1 H8 O2 f X' S: o/ m: W
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' v1 c' p& y- t3 I$ `& t, J# U8 ztrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) j7 N2 C; d" q0 Z/ Mmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 P0 g/ x' N- B3 }0 I) P- T( O5 IHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal O% B6 |$ u, t. j2 F z7 s
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp9 p! d9 e' ~) m) c6 \9 B
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( I4 s% R" X' Q! t' M) T- o) e* gfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
# A# u5 l3 Z, B7 Y( N% `not stop her runaway Lexus.) A- E* O. r% x& I" B3 Z7 N* U
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 h, s( ?! H r, ~' L8 wTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 J, G7 G7 i1 m/ d/ B2 V9 _2 J4 b
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
5 y' E+ I' e8 N7 H9 r8 PTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
; S; m" m; e4 _" I+ @9 f1 \early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
9 L* n3 c9 f1 x0 k$ `"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
' C; A! X4 x i% x) o4 ^) Y1 ~done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 t# q( g. h# {+ q
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's" Y5 a, X* q5 `( B ~: K
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! j5 Y* A- t k7 S: A# @Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
) d" d- V* b# q0 D4 W O0 _5 selectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
; _/ S1 H0 N2 {8 Z& e ythe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a/ L3 S; {7 Y. \' N6 w9 q8 H p) \' P- P
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he5 K6 X4 U9 m4 e4 P+ u, z ?
said.
% C3 t* [+ q! k/ k6 c8 VAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 Q4 b/ P6 \9 U2 `; w3 j' `7 Zhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe1 m$ X+ ^3 ^# Z8 |+ A
about driving our products," Lentz said.: P5 X& C) P! G0 A$ w
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
$ e; Q7 @! P: V) V% V3 {+ g# uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, @/ _2 o9 M5 P3 ]' Mrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6: W% i5 p. j) Q! [3 |: z/ ]( M
million in the United States -- since last fall because of- Y& z( P) e; J+ B% ~5 M! t
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking: k+ I7 k3 b5 C) R/ g% Z; K: Y8 y, m
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ z/ \* s2 u' {. F9 f# C
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
, |7 b: w0 g. e' X% g# H- ktheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow/ B. D( Q# e* X% \/ P$ q% {! p
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ T' g. x- Z, q
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& r9 o4 x; A. M
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
2 Q0 i5 N( ~7 t& h( p" i7 ?3 iLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ c3 k# H; v! w1 Q4 ~: T: |brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
, y- D& x& O0 ]& w6 m' F( b: ^understood the pain.2 ~! W( P% a8 {
"I know what those families go through," he said.
1 [) ^( l- [( P7 a" T: ?5 q' DLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 x" E4 _; w, }& k' K) ~
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 d! l2 |- C/ {! f
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 ^6 K0 Z( N( T, h9 x4 f
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
" d* @7 o0 _: }! b8 M, ~! u# Lin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 W' h9 j2 v+ I% t* g. a
Lentz replied: "Not totally.": @" W, a" [ Z8 _, h2 _+ B5 {
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were3 L( S7 v- z; |8 c5 U. Y
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 M) T; m+ q/ h2 G+ AToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
9 \/ |4 B0 t+ G% O/ Y: gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
. Y, k- M7 _& M# P$ E, Zvehicles already on the road.
$ C; h/ X" ^- z. o7 p* l: P/ }Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
) L& Y! Z1 @/ D2 ^: T4 w/ jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full3 @- E' q9 a7 Q: u( E! z& e8 d" z& T
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
& t0 l: i: f6 n, ioffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& S( Y4 n8 T' }: tkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% u. h* R, E1 C: W D* m
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a& s- A; a8 A7 z4 R; p/ A
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
3 T9 t, x% C+ E- ^for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight& D' J0 F* R6 r. R' }0 _3 J
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
7 I8 J6 v; o! @6 |0 dcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
8 H+ {% X* C3 X( ?8 Q1 Hrestore the trust of our customers."
# T- S3 r' H+ i9 G, oLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
9 g( Y( C/ I2 ?/ xSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' R( |4 L- H" `5 G2 Q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 n/ W* w( a* D1 [, C, V. m/ C+ I* Q
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
* p) r: e, X5 P5 k* z( K6 w+ Z) Dhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
@7 M9 m' C- U- L, Athat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and3 L* J0 |' \/ @3 U2 |# Z4 f
turn off the engine.& c+ n% W" n, |) N, G
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of, J* A) a0 z9 o3 E3 G, N# Z/ X
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."% v8 M, N v- r3 m6 U0 c' J
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
# U/ ]% k9 q ksaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! o: V, k3 P3 u1 l9 K! A/ v* Q
to her complaints.6 [- i5 ^: w1 P2 Y k+ M4 S
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers6 p% f. {6 K. m# H% Z; Q3 S( @
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
) W( m! C- `9 ?malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
. f4 i. b1 A8 R7 \"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric3 j- V9 `9 t/ i6 U! K/ Z
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited# J' U( \/ T; |& o* Z& M# p2 C7 Z
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut6 b! ]9 |+ `6 \ Y8 n! e# i) b
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."$ R3 N/ F8 m8 D% W2 r
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
5 t8 A( o& `* g$ t3 _+ W6 iprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were& U6 w* d3 @. v" P2 `
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 J( C; ]1 u; @' l0 y% q# s9 qwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; O& G) r3 ~% w0 M- _. O$ f+ z. { vevery question."1 S" g8 X( M9 S, M
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether+ u; x/ T6 @7 V
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# x: G R2 ]4 v& ffirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But* X% p+ ]4 d, r/ N$ b; G
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 H- @* Z+ ?* `+ k1 m4 Z
number of vehicles7 K) `' z3 _- d+ f7 R3 `4 S+ r
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 ~6 p1 e5 b/ B5 W7 R! b1 adifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 b. R6 h$ @. B) k9 Nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one8 [; |9 B+ ]9 a4 C5 U& \9 \& C
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.- @) v' D) c# G, `( w7 Y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,) [4 r% W3 i9 R1 Z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& {1 S+ m3 h+ {
trace at all.
4 f( z) p) n SHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
6 @+ K5 i$ l' k1 M. R6 vdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% m5 J, q: e! a p
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. [/ T% P1 E" ]1 H; n$ Yrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
( W) J! ^' i. _7 }7 o( \: _Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, V4 U) P: ]( u9 G
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
& O1 s( c6 q0 Y5 hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
( D& _! A% s* ] q5 `1 p' lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible. p& u* V6 [7 Y+ t5 w
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only& }$ R0 \5 N1 W
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. z* N+ ?2 N; b. E! \+ c( _by Toyota's lawyers.": `4 i/ f4 \( ^3 A- a
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( I3 @+ f% D5 @ oproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
i" _1 J+ c3 f* S/ N* x" mcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 T# J& x" i( Z$ M# Y7 Y7 p; `said.
9 v/ a. g( R6 U/ d% Y, S"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
o) [( M! K+ Y L3 {. r& [a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our9 p; ~0 r, D1 Q! F! x
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 D: l1 g4 X& z5 c6 W$ F6 Jofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
4 P# m3 Y, l* W; ESeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
+ h9 T' `: ^1 k) F8 _8 f. b& e/ umembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread! G6 ]6 ]; h9 o% H/ b2 s# K
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 K6 v9 Y8 Z1 `" _
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
# L+ q& q* i; S+ o4 G9 b8 |investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and0 |9 e9 s; h! w' s. c+ T$ R0 a
Chrysler.
& o) ]; F, R' i$ P r8 }7 y& R"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax; p' E7 ]9 l! J
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 B, R% Z- X$ m: u" F i- h' B
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! j/ s1 |! G8 v2 n% o2 d
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete/ A0 L( e7 R+ G/ ^
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
j2 T) P: J; o5 r: h% ftough."
6 l3 Q$ \, c9 I9 e" W4 N X4 a5 F% p---* P# |2 w* v+ c8 ~" @! w
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom7 U! v/ }" u3 J: S6 x% `+ I0 G
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% l. f8 Z% G; D! h4 c% gthis story.3 h$ n: h5 W. Y1 ~) Q2 y$ F
% J7 n# J- @2 |4 E$ a, h-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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