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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题) X3 P2 G5 R# X; N8 h) N( h
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS: v, T6 P3 r% d, C+ S# J: d
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
+ {$ P8 S: P, A% g7 \operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that2 X* j% X& O4 Q, y) Q9 N: e' a1 Z
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"1 ?' [4 I9 L4 ~
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
# g2 A5 }9 p" U! C"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential4 |; Q4 N) k4 K' \! w) X8 d1 o K' ~
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
7 `1 K3 _; N. Q/ \/ g+ d3 JHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
1 s. c1 t( q3 W- C# u; lacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
3 Q7 v2 {# ] etrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& P* s5 r' I2 D/ x' J5 T6 Jmats and sticking accelerator pedals.; ?/ C# Y% w+ s
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal2 g5 M, B( d: Z6 _$ x
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
: a3 S' s1 N" y4 x" Z: Wcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be9 u% J1 J+ F' O9 A& M
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could7 C1 W1 N% z2 O% R0 L
not stop her runaway Lexus.
' W3 U( X/ t% Z; k5 _, m"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 T8 \" ^: }$ c' e% _Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second- d4 T, b! b7 Y. P# K1 s
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
# ^+ C# ]: ?$ g9 X" o( ETexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
9 E$ Z3 p$ x" K8 S e G& p# \early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
m$ d3 ^7 | b9 ^* r"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
" R- H' Q9 Y( `7 Z: |done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway9 C4 A i4 ^9 {/ H
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
# [/ {- [, |! t! {; [3 c) T& {investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
* l9 a! q& l, L* A' ALentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
; U: m! B( O7 q( ~electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
6 Z0 q' ]0 y5 uthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
b+ g/ e8 f- N4 z% Y7 ]6 J& Zmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ y) w; x* q$ [) |' ]said.
' s g/ P4 D* O" sAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" h$ v& s# z# x* F( ?$ Qhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
d' Y9 X6 z! I% Yabout driving our products," Lentz said.& s# r; r: m2 c1 j% N" L
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's; r/ w7 W" V( s& F
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has+ c. T" l' \' m0 c0 B* y
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 63 u- v' d1 L/ e/ t+ Z2 D2 X1 r
million in the United States -- since last fall because of$ ?8 o. E1 r+ D" ^9 p- r
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: Y H W# {/ R% t& N4 zissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
0 w3 ]% o2 {+ ^7 @concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
! |' m' V# c1 y! G+ r/ btheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. ` s {" t# C# s* U
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
- E# V/ \* k# ~/ R: s( Ereceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration l2 q Z& n+ E3 j# j. k
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.# d- ]- o8 D0 k% Z( V% i, I- Q1 m
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 H7 t0 y7 g) N/ k8 ?9 ^/ i
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 j" e6 K! F( }/ w9 m* z$ n% V: lunderstood the pain.3 f& Z1 c2 X( h. W
"I know what those families go through," he said.5 e; H+ X/ y! x# Y' I, b& ~. l
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
6 V1 M' N9 \7 ~' |" vfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.! n" E. c# D" o, T0 T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
w" {8 r* R) j/ X4 _; a' nHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, X) }1 X( h) I; m
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 A) f4 b& k* s: i9 R
Lentz replied: "Not totally."+ f* p7 \/ F7 _* g# c$ ~
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( L5 f+ p' K9 ?! O* X* k+ h"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, I# m$ n l- j9 P$ SToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
/ V/ `' [4 a- e& qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its% M! U" F9 \, g( `
vehicles already on the road.# p6 F% Y+ C7 i
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 B2 e: F7 g; C& ibefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full: `8 A7 h8 V! s$ V/ P! q6 V8 l( Z
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# x+ K# s) A$ \: [$ M
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were2 d8 U7 W6 O/ X7 j% {8 a
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
8 K7 G0 g& S) i+ P8 T7 r; k( V"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a! u* ?3 F# K$ ~& G$ `* X9 h
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
5 j/ j4 R7 w7 Z: E8 ufor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
$ C( W n% C2 j& Y; }- e0 _Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal1 P+ H) L+ O' _. I, X
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- l1 X, B r' N! ]" }! [: h! Xrestore the trust of our customers."
' [: L3 A5 h% TLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 |* R& ?, y) c9 t; J
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
`* Y: R v+ g* o. F: a mzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --( Z. `" h% ]3 }5 w- { f9 t; {
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and! V! A% }, e9 q, B( K
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
1 {0 ]" J* M' q; athat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and9 y* ^! {, N1 v( E; |* y) |8 G
turn off the engine.
# c5 u8 s. h/ L5 O3 L6 y; yFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( J8 l! n5 c4 @October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.") W$ s5 @& a; ?" k% q9 u" H6 _* k
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
7 c7 d- l e" R; Fsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
. r) H' V- C4 j1 V$ gto her complaints., H$ c9 A! p. N, e! x
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 U5 i* t0 Z7 ?/ S1 G0 f0 ?" nreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic7 u% Q: D6 Y; S0 b7 d6 U
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars. b0 o4 x# y# M: R. t( e0 r
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
3 C% p$ X3 L3 V; b2 Ythrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited5 P4 b) \# t1 |9 a* M
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* n3 e. \$ o1 {4 _8 p& {off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."7 V& D! t4 O* n/ M2 y' Q' O1 D
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in- a& I) V2 Q F& S
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
3 B: R4 }3 h7 Zbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls; Y. }# P. K, n6 @6 i7 z
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
$ Q2 a7 w7 A6 G devery question."
' U- d u0 C9 {/ uToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. f) p& D1 J7 T' [% z( _5 o& zelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 z6 c; g8 {4 l9 a' o' D, ~0 }1 r
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ Z% q8 ]/ {, r5 G% v7 O R& Pcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small1 [* t. `" J! y& K0 u% j9 d
number of vehicles
7 f0 I2 P% q8 u2 C9 cTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
/ G e! T8 i/ A1 R8 {3 a. W" gdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a3 c) \9 K7 [" j% U8 ?
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one" a7 e( k" B K& E3 q& V8 ], d( y1 R
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* n& _/ F% N+ A7 Q; O. H% TMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
& q9 \& u( l+ G% G4 ^2 H* lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
$ y0 S; j+ w, o* R, J; `) {4 F; ctrace at all.
2 C! @- Y0 }& m7 e0 CHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 X" Y _% x) a }# N2 O3 h8 x) x
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
, l' l! P" y$ Y% G, `acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 V* M" d5 u% V' s' \
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
( T! J( R& n6 v# K8 J: DRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
$ r& `9 t+ `( X+ f2 U u" ?said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
: ^: z; O6 B) t& {; z" O3 zother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the6 X% C2 N4 Q1 C8 x
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
. d" H) ?: @+ g: v1 U( ?! [cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only3 B8 q. k! j2 i* ?* W
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 b* p' m [6 B/ iby Toyota's lawyers."
. e6 |& S2 t' Q1 L7 k# pLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! x4 m6 V5 e+ j% t! ~* ]; ]3 d- Kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our3 L: | }; ~: M/ P
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! y3 Y, J* ^8 n0 C/ w# b
said.- }- O( k6 F% J2 [
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" v) J4 H. w% v& z
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
! f2 t) W# `- ? Mgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) A4 o/ t0 L; ]9 `: T7 bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& M) M" t; V8 q" j
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 |# x4 s8 S2 c/ C3 M- `: u5 N
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 x- F+ \8 t( h8 `0 g3 I
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ s; l! P0 v. C1 L; |/ N/ Fautomaker, at least in part because of the government's) u* B8 p6 ~ I
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 u, {. K* p/ _3 ]Chrysler.# j0 R( a; f$ M# b$ O' f: a2 n& c
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
9 M$ E. \2 }/ Cdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. t( @2 t/ M- s4 i& WHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
0 T1 A2 o7 f0 J( w, t( x7 ]% Qserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete& _; s# d9 D/ ~3 `
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty* k t. k4 B# R! v+ c
tough." M# ?& \% N d! ^
---$ |2 _1 d2 { g# n& H
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 P. v2 p7 T8 ~- X0 bRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, }6 Y: A6 D* N6 x0 A
this story.
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3 h4 M; J9 h& U-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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