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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题4 V% n2 t* L) [ z1 P) M
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
3 @0 q' w2 @4 ]4 W: Y9 p+ o" h+ RWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 B' U$ N3 G6 a
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that8 g- w( O9 ~5 ^. [8 X3 M6 b6 m* Y
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"3 S3 |! N% E# r; ~' U( I
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
1 s: X; |' F) ?6 ^* L' g# D"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
) S& C. d2 T% V+ x) E+ R, K; Fcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
7 r8 q" c7 K) N- LHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected+ l( z- |& T5 G4 s
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and' d. h$ Y" Z, h7 [- n& r6 o: g4 \+ ]
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
' K, G8 F% @4 Q! H6 S3 ~mats and sticking accelerator pedals.( e1 z% Z# u2 |3 H
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal: L% j* F- z3 M; m s$ \1 J7 p7 Z, E/ _
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
, \9 k* F9 h. B& Q: f& ucriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
/ L% S. }2 W& v' V# Ifurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 _: I% ?! q$ R4 M1 Knot stop her runaway Lexus.7 [9 {- T4 V: B/ A8 @5 |
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 f; t' o1 M$ U( e: g. y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second7 I; R5 r0 B+ k; x+ A
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
1 B5 X4 B" D' q& |$ }% gTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( f9 E- U0 ?8 O# q
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! N. R! o# x1 A7 O: X4 k"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 T" D& z8 @1 ]- z6 d+ R" D
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 i, _% ?; d6 r* q' I: |through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's6 ]' }* h+ e2 P& q( q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."& f# |! x1 L+ t# z9 A
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
5 }' ^6 H* |3 R. P p. _# Kelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 M2 q" u8 P" ~$ a8 z6 l$ @( ~& nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a& ]9 u7 C" w1 L5 B) ]. u
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ Y8 v$ g+ |2 {1 u+ m0 T9 Hsaid.
9 p' V5 _5 N! ?* [As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
1 ^! D: a/ z8 B7 Rhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe [2 B o9 R5 K" }8 a4 v# {7 T2 B
about driving our products," Lentz said.
: N$ N3 y+ k V l# VThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 t! I$ [- o6 I Q3 ~
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* |" J$ t5 L" r0 u* w" N( |recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 60 r, V' w1 U! U1 q* w1 Z
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
- a* h1 N- ?, h6 Uunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
% ?9 _+ V3 W. s1 ]* Uissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
+ i$ r8 ?# l; s/ O: D0 d% ^: B0 [concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of& d6 \! K6 \' @8 A& N/ U# T2 A
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
3 ]" q3 Y7 k$ w/ R0 L7 h: Cdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has* \- w) v; a; _0 Y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
* O0 M' M2 g q/ V- }8 dof Toyota vehicles since 2000., M/ q' U: i6 ?+ G& Z
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
9 f( u% L: b9 X8 k. ~: H4 R1 Bbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he7 ], C. V& ?5 ]4 }( |- @
understood the pain.
# W8 |% w+ b/ m7 X. ^3 o) g, I# @/ V"I know what those families go through," he said.3 V1 u3 W9 ^+ C4 K# w7 j1 y/ z H0 Q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 F- o, u$ t- |8 d
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ [7 w" D @% C0 |, |6 w2 GBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
/ O& y& G/ g. }+ p0 mHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
' F# K/ G u+ o# z+ L8 c; g5 M7 ain place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,/ O- k4 ^( m7 Z+ |6 Q2 n
Lentz replied: "Not totally."9 T; S; I7 v0 W7 X
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were* n' N+ {9 A, G- r3 d% y
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
) P7 i3 G3 `3 u8 m% A0 a4 Q# I. R6 xToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* `; f! s- c: z2 K% qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
- W! F& F! L; _' avehicles already on the road. V Y% _" s' }4 L
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify# F v8 D2 I* l/ j+ _ v% }
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 t. @3 [% g+ t* Xresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
R7 O/ x% I0 D1 B' @$ l, I: Doffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% l- A& J6 W1 j! \2 g! Ckilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
9 M* g' U d* Q% U1 Y8 A"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a" G0 l. f/ p1 h# t% i
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony' @, }) X' S+ w7 i) Q* K( x
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight# Z6 K1 ]# _2 N- Z/ N% B Y
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
% ^# |/ e; W9 H* T d* ?commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to1 ~& a+ e7 y. M, m. O" P" @6 [! V
restore the trust of our customers."
& B. [6 T+ W; T* }3 L8 |* {Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
$ N- ~( _9 ~3 ~ V4 ySmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 N9 r. Y \! @" A# h
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --0 @# \7 {& i, c2 L' t
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and* T- B$ h+ U- n' {4 P9 q
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough9 m8 P" ]; k) |" b8 C
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and/ a' ]& d/ W- ^' S* [! w# R6 W+ I
turn off the engine.) a( ^, _$ O# M" p3 d# V& L
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
% }4 g* D4 k/ L3 p2 m/ R$ u! jOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
# |9 R# {8 W8 k- }# |! b1 h"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she" C; e8 j3 u# R/ f. j- U( q& v! ]
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 ?+ ?! G( e3 L: X* K* {to her complaints.# ]! b1 y2 f- | d0 D2 m# S) b& S% Y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
' I- U' O4 F% f* q# C2 j+ ]% ~4 J' b8 j. |returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
' T& P+ n8 ~ {8 V7 ^malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.% j" \* P% S9 B
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric+ h6 A% y4 P* D2 Y' @- g0 J2 m
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited! r0 t: \. o' _$ q; [
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ n1 c/ ?* g( [# x9 |8 n
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
; c- V. T$ E% j/ ?Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in! U( j1 S# X; ~3 Y }8 C. H2 D! h
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were3 ^! o; f, ]0 c+ s4 n
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 {) f. C) n: x: t7 Y; E2 W1 b! O
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer7 F$ H9 H0 S+ z8 X! P
every question."# b) K* i) u$ ?+ P
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- ?& l1 z, y/ e. ?7 g; lelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The' q% L% L/ }& S/ _& m8 o0 H
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; v7 B) F; _3 w6 I) scommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small8 [: }, F6 E* _
number of vehicles
, ?" s' F3 K2 N+ STracking down an electrical problem can be far more
6 L1 m9 K. b7 p4 t9 \difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
# j! e0 l/ N1 V# G. C3 Imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
$ g5 k. j/ _. N, Psource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
( W% E$ u0 E4 {$ i8 IMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
& U- [0 V$ F3 T3 w( f' ]where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 y) K' J+ m# c: \ |- l/ j5 ?trace at all.9 V7 w) S* y& b; ~- K% ?
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
0 v' t3 u9 ?& M& w! h4 Hdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
. n; u y+ }* }6 z! Z0 oacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the; L1 Z- q) W8 p
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 u# A- V% {: _3 u+ Z) N" b" z7 Z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' v. Q+ n5 l, B6 a4 Y
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 Z2 ?, O( I2 R, ]( e( |8 w0 W! d
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 y+ T+ B" c$ s ?. A0 f$ ~9 Ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible4 X' M/ b- `( E" m5 E0 w. D
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) P% G! ]9 n: J& y' Y$ p8 r
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
5 B# v I* G( K9 B/ e; z( Vby Toyota's lawyers."
8 @( ]- J; R* C) _+ TLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of m! s' ]2 ~* T$ ~
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our% K& m( X2 F/ H& D/ P
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ Y# z- U7 y |) b/ nsaid.
% t, [% E; W7 j3 x$ V; Q9 ^"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with' I& D1 d7 ^" ^$ }' }! p/ j. ?
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our) U2 A! ?& S* i6 v9 }* w% e
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& @1 C% F! b0 j2 j) A; V0 c% k t2 r
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.( f- l0 X3 o! J& E0 [3 F `! j
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying' q" x. d/ f1 q9 M/ g3 g
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 y' l- ?6 U: {9 v5 krancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the" \/ ?: Y# \% L8 T
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" W- V3 ~5 T& f! J" Dinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and( A, s+ Q) @6 S2 S$ a8 ?
Chrysler.* n) a {$ C2 Z" J9 }
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax) n/ U* \$ B/ ?0 `* @) q
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a8 k4 w* K3 S3 c) L/ S' h+ E0 r" o1 R
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
* p+ B+ \. c# U! C4 E cserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
, v) K, b6 k* ~; p8 R4 nwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
Y3 a% `2 H9 x/ y# Etough."+ S: C$ @6 m {
---. D! o2 I* W2 R! \: o7 Y* h1 g
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom+ j3 Q& o/ g: y: ~* u7 l
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 i5 v# _) @) X2 B/ _8 x7 G# B
this story.
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8 y* y: C6 j d8 G1 ^-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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