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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题7 T+ L3 c9 y0 ]- G4 q% C
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
* C, n; s n; B! W- o2 y( MWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.* L6 C7 }8 T* @8 B3 X
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that6 _6 p# S+ g2 S3 L
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
V! W7 V0 c6 E7 F4 _, G" M" _solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.2 g" \* L) r* @# p0 E
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* |0 u( E0 x) F2 D) M* n9 Mcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 c3 {( r/ I9 E% L" A( THowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected( i" f; D9 p6 i( {) `
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
3 t, ]4 O9 m# K( X* u; [trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ @( n1 I' P* G$ U/ g
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.& D' k0 ]! e5 d7 P
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal( V1 v# \# q- t7 a
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
( i5 r5 Q; X/ Q5 H8 z- gcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
% E0 X& S* W. a# efurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could: s4 r! J+ q4 u7 p( q
not stop her runaway Lexus.
8 V3 L( h! L3 R3 |* O% @"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' V3 \, N3 A: YTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
9 q+ X; v+ |7 @# a1 m"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.5 W: y- o8 H+ a7 a7 [
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
/ g+ v1 i! l' Eearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
* @+ Q# l9 W; i"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has: H% b& o4 s$ Z2 ` G* {
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway! X; k7 O, A( p) Z( i7 {
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
* v7 }/ {: \7 }/ ?investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham." y4 [; U# r# p: H f w) S. R
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an9 ^# m, v7 Y0 o, o0 p( g! R
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of. N, i2 T8 x+ I* c5 U. d
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
2 g" k* G ]2 z2 M/ k8 n/ k% I( emalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
G* ` \" t" e7 F% esaid.) q" B, N3 F/ V3 E) \. n. h$ h
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
, ^. \2 G/ }' d9 e, V/ B5 t8 c, thappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe+ A: r2 @& W" m9 i1 Z
about driving our products," Lentz said.
* b( P9 K8 i b, O* ?- jThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's9 {/ z% o1 b1 C) H: |
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 [7 j1 O* [3 C* E) L) W. c
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- i; w, H) k: p. rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of I, W) r; W) T# E7 d# e( P
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: V ~8 K/ S% uissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# Y) ] ~9 a; V' v- y# ^ e6 {concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of1 y9 L* U& a6 i
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
$ ~9 {0 p% }9 W' Bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
" _) M% D' L* H$ Y7 Xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration( Z; S/ l+ E! u+ e C g
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 J% T+ }+ w1 ]/ s
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
. ]9 E" Z0 Q* r! gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ F1 c0 c- M4 w$ ~9 D
understood the pain./ `. O; r7 d& T+ s
"I know what those families go through," he said.! @( m/ `1 C9 ^. o* f2 |2 D4 j
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's8 ^1 D/ G/ ?- ~# W0 T* A
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
: z# `* d' ]" N DBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman& q! a- R6 L* i2 F1 d* g, P: |
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put8 ^+ ~6 ]% {$ d/ i
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,% e- z# ^2 Q1 z9 W+ P9 n! Q
Lentz replied: "Not totally.": N9 y8 ]9 \& y! F2 Z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
. R& S; u: c. o3 }: B2 b$ @( R"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
6 [- d% k6 S/ r" oToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
0 z+ d! R6 g5 V% {5 L3 fpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ k, k* b) A% H D! ]vehicles already on the road.
$ [; V& u$ u, ~Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) r# J ~! ]0 q7 z" u
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 A: S: K" `1 O" Z9 uresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- r& w% p& c9 d1 r1 V: b& H. H, Noffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
; j- [7 ^$ g T8 ^% b0 {killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
. C. v0 n6 o2 P2 p$ n0 ]1 Q"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a, T" U# \: y9 o; p2 Y
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. M0 H; u; {2 J, D6 O$ W- _* F3 _
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight' d9 q* j% A) s' K
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
' M2 M/ i& Q7 B% p+ ~4 T+ d9 D- lcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
5 }4 Z7 q( y) G( T C% Rrestore the trust of our customers."
; R/ N! m' R7 j; c" PLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from- {+ x$ {& [6 Q$ a; Z3 y2 f
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
* U5 r+ R- Y4 d( a( ?zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --8 H5 C- W; ^& o
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and2 p0 W4 p! Q+ {& Y+ N7 k8 O
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
* ^0 \) I! U- j: b1 ?' Tthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
0 k# d" U9 e, a; E1 e; }) v' ^0 @1 rturn off the engine.9 i; j8 ?+ x3 R+ T
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
4 f/ a6 V% x0 e* @3 ?October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
+ |3 j9 S' `( I0 w$ s: K# g"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
% C$ J0 l5 y9 E. bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
/ ]# ]4 W4 \) T3 D8 gto her complaints.1 n D( {: t6 X: R" I& t$ ~
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
G7 i* _" e' M, hreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
4 X! d; \4 M, Q# H/ K0 D' _" ?malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
T- I8 [$ Q7 q5 ]"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
4 Z+ u- n/ U$ f# d( l" tthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
8 [5 R+ W5 G7 m( Q' s) d4 G. y% v"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut0 k, d$ u w9 `6 ^2 t2 E6 H
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: s# c5 ]6 s+ x' ] \( X$ mTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" e0 O2 U& }" a3 H) Y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 T( f' {/ T; w' c+ B8 c
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; L' `8 d3 R3 E
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ @* T6 D+ d8 T, Q0 U
every question."( S. `* q7 [% y/ g
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether. j2 Z, v& i% L: ?- G9 Z
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
L/ W' C, @5 j8 n: @firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
2 y# W0 k! s+ X$ s0 `0 {committee investigators said the testing studied only a small% S9 q- W$ w0 a3 ?7 C+ k
number of vehicles
" f9 c4 \0 s2 i, ?Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
7 y- C" \& {- u; Y% b, l: Ydifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a$ V- l3 L7 V2 {9 x: F
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one( X/ K3 L) @( U, v$ d+ Q2 C
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
8 m6 v: F# S, R/ L& B+ ~# fMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
$ H2 x3 H- i- m! ]" a) bwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 ?% V3 W/ T4 \+ X9 t- D- k* P
trace at all.9 x. Y3 B% ]. H" D R
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 g/ n y% }- kdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
+ f$ b% w, C# W+ M& |acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& h, ^/ U6 O7 I" }8 V" Qrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 ^" Q P5 g+ z; V7 U
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
7 M3 U" v) R! F1 S: wsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
) p/ J' l, a+ z9 l4 p5 M0 Qother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the& H3 g% |( [2 x7 n! n/ n
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; \5 k# j/ Y ^7 h) Z' P
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
) U5 m7 |2 L+ Q% ]- T, }7 I! x ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained) B/ B% K5 R7 n t
by Toyota's lawyers."2 w1 G7 l j: c
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
7 S0 E- _% w' Sproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
6 `" v" d4 w8 X% I6 y( `, |customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he9 R# O# {0 p0 G. x+ A5 `5 O
said.
# u+ v7 x' `0 U8 Q* Z8 u"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
: P; y+ a* K, z* M/ A6 @- c" Aa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our W: m4 U# T' _' S* \
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating- C8 m6 s; L6 [
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.- _1 ?& h0 W4 B2 V) N4 k# W
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
8 @% P) Y1 E$ h$ {# ?members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
2 L$ b# Z6 E5 ?; ~6 jrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the+ [ P8 e+ H2 }! P5 v+ m
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
$ ~! A, A0 ^, T# H. ^* w" w# ainvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
: h8 z; y1 F8 `Chrysler.
; U( B5 a( s8 ]+ X& s"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
; v+ Q }+ ^2 X2 ^. Ldollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a3 R1 I$ T) }0 j8 n
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
2 S# q) n3 b, _& x) Sserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# ~% y: @, k: O& a# o3 W# r
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty2 A' n% o9 b) S6 e9 ]
tough."
) B) K% a% z9 v6 ` z( k---+ J7 Q1 i4 ]( M6 D% i
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom$ b6 h! \1 t0 E: U
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
& u7 a4 q+ ^3 a# _/ }! h: sthis story.& Z% F; E- a9 W, X- J
) g( k% ?& R5 E$ y. M
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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