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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题# p! M `4 W" k# H7 Z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS$ {6 U2 ?6 p" f0 q7 C, L4 N
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 Z, q! H/ r" ~
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
" q F; y& y' g/ H7 }, @the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"/ U' e6 Z0 o2 f
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.$ {6 |) T ]3 p
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential" X8 {6 l: B2 \/ T j! q
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
/ \2 R! I8 o0 z5 `) j6 FHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 I" O# t# {+ U5 tacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 E: O) `( g# ^; p* j" ?trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 \4 L& v" K- l7 h( q( V+ i& a; }8 Nmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 }; U1 Z9 C2 z% F* f; ?He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
3 d: T# T$ Y. F zand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp4 H& p' L; i. |$ Z7 J" X- n
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be5 H2 m; X+ P" m
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( H+ ^* q" h$ Z2 S& h2 R2 U
not stop her runaway Lexus.
$ W n! E) S1 x/ W# X# b$ L"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
l _' N7 p9 d8 G; t9 HTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
Q! t/ q; |4 K l' k"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.0 [- V# {$ o( X0 }5 ~
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues8 T9 g* _" T& S) _) k8 [/ O5 p
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said, o4 G: |( n3 z H) |4 w6 E
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
# R' T j& u) v2 I) Z [. ^- m2 w: x6 Adone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway. ^: ^) T6 \4 |4 u- ^- b" a
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's/ l: j+ F) S3 E$ B& I2 i j
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."! D+ I O9 a6 ?+ U9 V- l5 M a
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
$ t8 |# f6 a- [- N' y B' t( y+ i8 melectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of+ w* p2 Z' I7 P/ w8 v# Y O
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a- J) ?* \% `& W" b
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
- g: [ d9 {4 C) A( M2 D. I0 [said.! b* V8 D+ L' ^5 r; f- M
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
+ l7 b1 ^1 t+ [& h' h4 _+ phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" Y0 y4 B% P$ c. R& Z5 t, r" _about driving our products," Lentz said." g+ Z( {8 a: H: f% Y: m
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's0 a- H( {* A+ g! u! f$ D6 o
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
% I, `" y) A3 n; ]% M1 O u% srecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
) {1 `' |8 D( u6 j; M1 X- A( jmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
+ P" r0 { h2 o- T/ |unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking% `+ c" l' d# K: s
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: [4 K( `* r) ^7 i" I' l% Sconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' l! L+ u9 n mtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow& o8 h) V: ?( s, L2 y) A* h j
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
- Y; d) P. {3 @received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
- W$ j) Z3 Z* K, oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 o, c, A1 s" q: x
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
8 b( q) I: ?. m7 h/ r. gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
v, T7 q6 W, x) R% F6 h. vunderstood the pain.
3 {; D% b; E) ~; b+ T"I know what those families go through," he said.
1 [+ D# x( \4 B, R* U! lLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
+ S) h# r! e4 X: {: W; H; Hfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ O; t8 v1 p S7 J V3 o$ P2 O, d
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
' ]3 W% x0 `0 M, U S1 _- @Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put q/ k; V1 M7 p% c$ _; c" N- v
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
; f5 d' H" O0 h* i) F8 }( i7 `9 HLentz replied: "Not totally."
; i. _4 B( g3 k$ J$ V( GStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were7 F P2 L/ v0 e- e/ e+ Q$ u7 j& F! j
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
c- E# v6 i! x- h! bToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% _& }4 @. `/ S, w7 z! J0 f
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its7 y9 J/ |0 Q: s& v3 J( f
vehicles already on the road.
) l2 i. P4 n7 t6 BMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
( }5 r9 I; Z4 }% a" W9 w( ~9 A$ lbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
. Z0 f9 E# [0 ~" Tresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and7 S8 Z/ _! {4 _# y" D
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
" j7 U( y6 J# D3 |' g. \) E7 b* T1 Zkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.( O& \! Z4 d; _* n6 @1 P
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
0 `/ D u- t W# O: j0 ytragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- a" M- b8 Y: l0 Z! q) jfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
3 Z1 k! M& |2 j! M$ NCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 e0 \+ y" |9 N! \' dcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' w, D- P; g. {6 |% ]& k9 U4 h+ Prestore the trust of our customers."
( f/ R/ C( _! D5 yLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
1 y$ H) b, N3 iSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
; K! J: K2 u& [9 Y T/ H! vzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
" D3 e, ?8 q2 m* t* r, ashifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
! A8 y5 ^* }9 m0 B' rhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough0 s( L" [: h- o* M
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
/ T; @$ z- e8 A' K7 w$ V9 ^turn off the engine.
Y7 i0 S& e; w: J" g. bFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of" u" ? o( z" N2 T2 t; J
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
4 M6 H& P% k- W2 g"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
, Y' \4 W' ^9 c; i: e, @said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& S' H+ E- x8 [8 d+ j' V4 P; M9 c$ W
to her complaints.
- ?1 l! Y/ ~! y) C; T0 h0 b4 B. `In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 ~, d) G d5 @& H/ a
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic0 Y$ X2 \4 n1 J- u$ s, L, G
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.: y4 F: o+ }( Y* [/ P9 V; L( W/ }/ [
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
* \+ {, G; Z2 |5 K* |throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
+ `* u% r- ^7 I: }) b" J"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
6 N' b* C* g6 _4 F% k1 L; hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."' e- u: E- L: X4 f" G$ g5 r' j
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in2 ~3 _9 A1 @: J+ K& A' ?" T
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
: w# \: X: l3 B+ Y% r" J7 S: Dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
; G/ v2 o) W( ]$ |7 Wwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
, W# O8 ~& V+ _) fevery question.", ~1 [8 r, J) q5 I% C
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ N+ [6 E& Y% K( t1 J* Q/ ~electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 `9 d; s3 k' ~' b6 {firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 n. z5 [; x' J2 G9 bcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small2 p& c; J \5 q. m. x% W' Y, I, d
number of vehicles
2 g0 w! s! F7 }& M( q8 i2 R/ PTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
0 T# x2 T5 O4 L6 y0 Hdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a: V( z5 L2 Y+ j' i: e; j3 n- ?
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
7 E0 R) w) B" D$ T6 Ksource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.- |% W4 I! V( R' [+ I
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' U X0 {8 f, j' m0 l5 A. r
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no" _* A+ T1 \3 n' ]
trace at all.7 q$ ]8 s+ Q, ^0 H+ l' K# A# e
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call8 w6 [' I/ _/ P7 F4 o) u
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, O: R4 S; I0 w B
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 x0 Y9 G+ L, ~+ ^
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.0 B4 v- \* x4 P
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
0 {7 B1 w1 D0 ~2 w/ rsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 Z9 X# e& R0 O2 B5 @% c! Z
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
7 V' h' e9 f5 J; H' aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
: n' x) J* l& p* Ncause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only9 a3 Z9 q9 l! A% r
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 y6 H5 O) G1 a( ]7 ]
by Toyota's lawyers."9 d, m' r- u$ I3 F* d+ J+ \
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( e! _& q* m( R: }! A) t/ k) dproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# r& b4 q+ K6 z7 ?, D; ]customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he4 k3 ], i7 Q A8 N1 ~: `
said.# V5 ]$ C& a7 O8 i9 T' c( _- Q5 G8 _
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 c8 l9 |$ B6 P% K0 Y" W
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# x1 C/ H' H2 e. |' } E0 w
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
. ]/ P1 W2 G% z/ _6 D8 yofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 ? p( D6 w( Q9 g. u0 M$ O7 x8 I
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
, x, O$ [" b3 ?4 j. Gmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
2 j! n! k5 C; v) m0 Trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 t( N+ ~# G, v) }/ Aautomaker, at least in part because of the government's" }$ ~# x+ c3 S' z& h7 t- D0 O
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
; i4 ~) S& k% | D( hChrysler.
S" B2 }+ h( o, S6 I* L1 I% x1 i; Y"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
" D( t. e0 ~! \% G3 ^dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, w* `! c3 e+ _7 l$ I: u
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
7 F7 T) l5 {9 u) [0 a+ u$ bserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete2 G1 T2 N9 ]+ S: H q1 P+ ]
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty" l5 @/ p' S1 Y+ v
tough."
2 p5 K/ W; H) f& X! n- N---
* o9 q) T8 L2 b# B, a9 @Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ J9 t8 f `" i7 }- V8 sRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
. s' V2 K8 ~% i8 Hthis story.% g6 u& X3 N: s- ]/ n: I; o
6 E, A5 M7 K7 T) P9 F-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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