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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题, }) ?3 H$ }7 I$ h. n4 Y! I, l
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS# z, J3 O+ g$ P+ [; U
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
" O* j$ }3 W+ P0 M6 }/ U) O3 Moperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that, ^0 O' f* K2 J- m. y) F& A! ]
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ m2 x r9 M! K* C% T7 Z9 N" L: H
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.0 @% ~1 a5 Q' b% ]) _
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
7 h7 q* |; S8 I2 m: A' p' p1 Xcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% A: p# r1 a9 B& AHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
# _) Q) o. `3 t, n5 j4 V W5 @acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
. U* H8 U9 |0 n" rtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
7 s l" B, P% U, i4 ^mats and sticking accelerator pedals.5 n# {, G0 [9 v
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
K5 `; Y& W1 P. iand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp7 O( p% `" M0 K ?5 d- @
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# ]- g- Y8 q; Q8 X, ?7 ^further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" x1 r6 t q. pnot stop her runaway Lexus." M* ?) @" U3 T( x" h
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 y0 X( ~3 g$ c2 rTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
& C2 l- M* K1 Z" C"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators., T5 B- Z& W$ d
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" k; E: }9 n" W+ L0 ?& |1 }+ h
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ a5 u* Y0 H" q! G, v
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
9 j- |) m3 }& o5 Q3 sdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway; E: V# Q( j. H$ J
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's5 _: |) B6 |0 z$ I3 v
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
+ R$ D9 h" V& p M" r- yLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an9 ~6 I$ J4 e& z
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
W9 r1 p& X# t3 J! O* [) A% Gthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
% Y& M% |5 Y ]+ imalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he" I9 C4 Q9 ]: \5 H5 X$ I7 I
said.6 b' H+ h( \/ B
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
1 o; U% U" S1 Jhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
: h/ v% t) J1 w. B( e1 r4 Xabout driving our products," Lentz said.# D) [, K' W0 m% U8 Q5 o' L
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 {, r# d& {" s# Lproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 k7 q; t: J1 C; x# o( l7 r
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
" _3 q3 v( \, d+ ?$ }6 X# b# pmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
4 O/ x8 Z9 a0 \& N# ]: bunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
- r. p9 A v5 L5 a8 J% ^issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering" `4 m- N6 B. D# t3 c. B$ j
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
9 J4 v" g0 m& K) c @/ d/ ltheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 o, N- B2 L. ~; @ G
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
2 v, H) }! h# l1 d% ]" Qreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# y* N' E+ I( V. v- P; Tof Toyota vehicles since 2000.# T _# A6 C- q. y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own/ ` j2 J0 [( y+ R
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& F9 @& S( j. e% @- ]# D
understood the pain.
3 b7 s+ _& V/ ?: g4 S* m/ w"I know what those families go through," he said.3 d6 o6 r7 d6 g: P8 q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* o- P/ a, P) b$ zfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems./ Y' |) p9 C( }' z4 m) u
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
$ r8 d& l& p; _( ^$ O. V! GHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put% V1 \1 i$ K' c( H! h: T
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# m; S9 @6 ~. u# |5 K4 a0 o# e
Lentz replied: "Not totally."; j4 J$ s6 V' r4 F- S( Y
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 ^" g% R, x4 x- ], O# J8 r"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, g8 B1 }; ^: L: [9 V9 YToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas" x1 F% L( a& g! R3 B k9 k
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its2 y" V5 N# z# L8 D
vehicles already on the road.
6 A; a% Q- v6 _( S; `, [Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify! @6 c9 V1 h; m& `( p' h2 _
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
3 g, S5 a# m: ^; X7 e8 xresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 n2 s/ P! i9 p* A' w
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were5 O" n6 J N2 k. X/ D3 F
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
: m/ Y+ l- d" H"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a* X9 U8 t, k- _0 X
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- ^' g7 y% a- d: k; e% @5 o' lfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight l6 n$ A' Q( S- \
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal0 q2 i( u7 e% \$ [# K+ r7 Z; X( z* W7 Z
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' b% R; |$ k& x' drestore the trust of our customers.". I1 s+ A+ e( x, q3 C% A2 ]6 v- l
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 S+ u, F4 X( v1 ]3 mSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
" T" b p8 W0 o: ?0 n xzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. z1 t. x# E2 |, a4 e# F' {shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
9 e/ g, R5 }: E# O) Thitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' R. l4 T# Z' j+ dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and# b1 Z) j4 F" E; P
turn off the engine.8 p7 T/ k& h0 i5 Z9 i1 D/ Q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of" r% P2 S( |# p) x5 \0 i) g
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 E$ D+ L) j: V. P, {6 p
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
, `9 G O/ o4 [0 }; \0 Osaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond, u9 i' v! h- u
to her complaints.# h0 k8 l6 C5 @5 Y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers! h/ H5 C0 _# J2 t4 v2 y2 s9 H
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic; T$ \1 D9 t. f/ a7 z
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
" i0 [3 z |: ^2 ]0 _8 f"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
" A0 \1 T, l- I5 _% h# Ethrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ j/ ]- x/ n1 Q: w) B% t! w
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ k0 [6 w% G& hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 M f9 E, a1 U+ ITransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ ~; P5 s1 c3 S eprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were; l6 {1 f; T/ W" c; v
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 K4 q2 ^% K* Q) @1 T9 f5 e
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer3 c0 v; W# ^$ O4 @+ S
every question."
3 w2 G2 V% i. q+ H1 v4 O/ UToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 E2 k4 _0 ^) p* J. ielectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
5 ?' _5 D4 }+ Q: m& @3 M/ v4 Lfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
# C# e! B9 L. k) s v# Q8 ^committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) `/ S& J" g+ L7 z( {# h1 Hnumber of vehicles
+ F6 T6 Z0 A; i- ^Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
( j% F" T; F+ \( B0 e5 tdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a& O, d, r) t' J% f
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# t" o. C/ f% Z4 j. m
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.3 r' z7 l+ o$ z7 q" s b" t
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,$ Q' g' r+ g x8 L1 m& [9 d
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
2 Q2 C% f' H K; i% X) g' Otrace at all.
; k' `8 |9 O8 \) p tHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call. G* O. D' c* o, Q/ A2 H
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
6 j) ?( j7 u, p) ~" ^# o6 {acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the% N& M1 [6 O2 G1 T( D6 S' {
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.2 t! K6 O4 v/ y( K
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
, X1 F2 y$ A. d* e3 Csaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
, G% y6 N) N7 m* j% A: }other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
5 L# q9 \+ j8 y' ?- i: c6 H( xelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
3 h* p) {% X% u: icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only4 U! i! ^% U" |; d1 r3 A
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
$ k3 t0 O; _ A( Z" e0 j# Iby Toyota's lawyers.": t: `& Y# M8 q0 K8 x) r: \
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of( _; Q% a! q9 H
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our5 [" {. l2 F& q6 s; i2 n
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he- D9 E3 M$ K( A; S5 m0 ^
said.1 M2 w8 y# F8 h% S# E2 v1 K
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: y* N M6 B* h$ P+ `
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
, `) v% f6 _+ c2 d, i6 e. Z7 \good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% J+ S" C# e0 Wofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.7 d( E3 U( K3 C. p
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
; Z9 K2 X: C+ u8 Zmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread1 S" o' o0 E- [3 `* {8 o# t3 A: E
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the+ B, H$ e- J: Z5 I
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
( r: @8 m, T2 [investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
% W! ]/ _( L) O( F7 p6 C5 NChrysler.; F% z* l! f; \8 ?8 ~
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
7 x! U% K" f* K& H- w. k* J7 c+ ]dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, j& z0 k j0 P' L8 v: i
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
$ B0 t1 |) h! s0 C) lserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
% ~2 ?8 N# T7 b+ z* vwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& j8 M% N, r* `; e* l- ?% i
tough."% ~' P) S2 {% N2 n- N! l
---
/ X% ?2 m) R- q4 ^. ?9 P% _7 FAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
. Q$ _" b! j. e. N# ~* iRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
& f& G6 u2 J! p6 n2 qthis story.) K& f. m. Z l4 R2 { \. a
@2 ~! e+ ~! X& B4 X-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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