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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题0 r. q |0 [. y1 w
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS1 b/ @9 y1 n/ ?1 g8 c
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.& W/ w8 Z$ d$ H; c$ |4 ]* E
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that" K5 J: o/ @; D1 g7 L9 S0 [
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"2 Y/ f+ J% d0 j% G! m" e
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; `" b, O! u2 I
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& Q; X, w. I1 Z5 m
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
4 a4 P$ g& X" A8 R+ DHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 A- p2 |+ K6 n0 d D! f+ P' zacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 @2 L5 ^/ Z0 k8 f" @
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
- x3 V7 n- ^. V4 Zmats and sticking accelerator pedals.# M4 H+ H8 T: o( e+ u- L
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 J Q, y0 ^- X0 a" A4 \8 F% q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" r" e2 C" t0 s( C7 @3 W3 o: g3 Ecriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be* M, h5 z- y0 p
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ h' V( G9 k" |$ y8 j% B0 y" W0 m
not stop her runaway Lexus., E; {" k+ p) N9 [
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,' v- K7 c2 q9 m4 l- C; ^% c6 s3 t3 `
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 C* r% }: Y0 i
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.7 E) U- L2 L9 O2 \
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues4 m. L; z, ~6 R/ i
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
# e" e& l2 l$ S"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
: z+ ~1 `# D& K' [4 r4 ^. |; vdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( z; E" I9 p2 E Fthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's0 E( [, ?3 i) S9 K/ `2 N' U4 h8 O
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
2 q- T+ U9 h. b- }Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an0 @, M g/ U4 j, U
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ Y+ p! y5 S# `5 U8 x* ]the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
7 `) W: y, ]" ^- ~4 J8 |4 k' _malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 T0 W7 i* h& I0 U/ V8 q% Jsaid.8 l3 J. o* y; X# @7 i7 o0 z
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 ^) }5 b6 e, h, N5 R6 Ehappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe5 I" Z6 d6 w5 e
about driving our products," Lentz said.2 y4 o4 }8 B# \1 J6 M+ W
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 i; v, f C/ ~problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 B+ V: w& b2 ]( ^2 U, rrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
; ~5 L! [; p, \ q$ D4 Bmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of5 s3 c) Q# y6 q- s0 F
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking& m" a* x- G) Y5 ^/ o7 O- a
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
g5 {6 U+ a! Mconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of: x5 Y O6 `* `; j' }' B
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow; t W3 ^8 y7 X/ `$ `
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
: a% R% r( ?1 B! Oreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration7 d0 T$ ?; I0 Q: c, d
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.$ B- n% B% x$ y8 R ?1 U
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. g; M9 v: O. X/ ]9 ]6 {
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he; o" q8 ?$ e1 B! i: T# G7 i
understood the pain." V: R5 v3 M2 ~0 `
"I know what those families go through," he said.& k3 l W% B" g% _. c5 A# O, p* X
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# }) p' F: q0 W4 T5 c' c! ^fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
% z0 R/ A: ^- _, ~But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( ?/ i. E- v) a4 Q/ xHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
+ j- z; g8 { C( ?2 F3 h0 Rin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
+ j& _; b; @/ K' h5 KLentz replied: "Not totally."/ |! |2 i. p; X* Y; A7 Z$ I) h3 n
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! z e$ C9 c. W- ?9 K
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said, j9 g3 l5 Q+ k9 l ^8 W" e. P' E
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas* M s2 h7 | ^5 \) r
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) j9 r" [+ B( s; H; }
vehicles already on the road.2 n# r) v( Z( k/ J
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify/ w4 m# Q4 b% D
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full. ~8 D+ ]; [ y6 W' I: G& R; m
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and3 K& o0 A% x+ m+ x8 ` G/ o
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% N0 [& ~0 a9 _7 T5 r' Y6 Qkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
$ q3 B+ X) \$ w* Q4 H9 ~9 m. z"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
1 C& P+ p" ?+ [ btragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! i7 o) M+ _6 Q2 kfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
) p4 F4 Q% ]" s; i. SCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal; B$ K8 P4 A* M- z, Y% E/ `2 C
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
k M- z- j* f$ |9 grestore the trust of our customers."
4 P$ I2 `3 `; `1 ]- U' z6 X* l. I. YLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from# ?1 W0 H& P" C- X1 D4 w
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% l7 J1 f* a0 f2 ~* w! U5 q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --% ?5 {, J/ W, l. f: H! ?$ v# C
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and- ?- k/ b5 V" f
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
! v; T1 E3 P* [that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and$ x/ i9 Z1 w- N2 P1 x* m
turn off the engine.
# C' `0 j+ A, u vFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
; Q% ?2 i( P4 M) |$ [October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% f. W0 I. b j% H& U# G2 @2 S1 k* o"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
1 u+ s& P* ~9 {2 [' G1 Tsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond0 L/ ~" e2 V& n) m5 d
to her complaints.0 _6 v3 f U3 L4 R
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers) @$ K9 R2 C, s, F* I
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
4 d" d1 L/ [- M- i1 H" Kmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
% d' C' C1 l; C+ W2 P, W"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric$ u* ?% z7 d* u/ B% u; A
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
- ?7 z" w* T% x( A" t"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 ]$ l! p$ m* G; ]$ Q$ Y; t( Roff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( u% o+ z, J' q& U+ w: LTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
7 [. P' E5 q1 q2 ]/ s# g: y8 oprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
$ Y- D3 z+ Q2 O5 J1 v/ fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
; r4 `5 x* @. y5 ~9 Y, Zwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
9 T. |2 p% d* V* H4 y& V& Y9 {every question."- @- @( Y1 H0 F+ m
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
( t/ O1 i% a" P3 ]electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The: @ h1 t' j2 m: p7 b
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( p5 g a, c1 x* |% @committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
9 H% \/ X; t3 b$ u, a6 Inumber of vehicles5 s2 \# k5 ]8 ^! ^6 E$ N% I
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more( J% m: J. G5 \( u
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a/ T& D6 ~1 K8 o$ H
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one* t X+ _/ e8 p( l
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* g( g- z) K4 [Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
# s% w) b/ D2 f7 o' awhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no) x/ t8 X( e5 I3 L' I9 p/ a0 n# U& ?
trace at all.
. @' e( R4 g, O5 k3 P" x/ ]House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
( H7 X" q! ^* G' _" A- t- n$ qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: | w- ]: Q7 Z) facceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the z1 x2 t7 v1 p( y8 d% y8 w
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. E% Q& n8 V2 P6 j4 PRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
7 |2 G9 t7 x/ u G' ?said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
' ?4 c, }5 P$ Cother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ Q% B; W/ _* [4 w/ J1 _# d
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& _% n# a b4 E2 g5 @cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
1 i( e: ]7 G5 _* g4 L$ ksuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
* ?7 A z I/ ]! _6 j/ Lby Toyota's lawyers."
" O2 Z* \7 ~% v5 z- zLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of/ H& G6 B6 ] L$ m7 V% t4 p
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our7 G! O9 y8 B& ~% F" o0 K$ f& v+ J* @
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
8 Z: f2 k9 \4 X4 c7 D6 @- Msaid.
1 K" S# K: D3 e) R" M"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" W: G) I( `4 V6 E
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
. W" v" \7 W/ {good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
- r8 K) }# W& b5 n' Cofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.2 s4 P I$ c2 q D7 p1 H
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. t) o$ V; ?, e) q! \7 s: E- Ymembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
: v- }5 M: |8 r, V. n+ erancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! G8 h; l3 l X0 ~! C& S7 N7 Y1 Zautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
- | C5 _. z) |) a* winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and- j% [4 R" O, ?
Chrysler.! |7 }, @3 P+ ~$ b( D
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax5 x- ^2 A' ?6 c" o. h; L5 g' ?' L
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a: \. ^. {" Z Y2 U$ O
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" B2 M* k$ r7 D( P& v; Y
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
5 c/ v0 F1 R( iwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty# W) }2 k, s/ \/ Q/ x
tough."! P$ Z8 v8 ^+ w8 E1 z0 t: Q
---5 r- |# N+ k9 N7 B/ m; A7 @
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
6 a. v, n# j @# S' g+ e2 A; X" yRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to" B( \8 B A* u. J j9 T, r
this story.
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6 E( ~/ Y1 O* W& V# r) K: y-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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