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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题$ \9 H6 b8 i$ x: s; a
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
( a: N% C, [5 s) W* H9 RWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
+ A2 q- Z. A. n1 q9 T9 P/ Ioperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
, e5 @+ w5 ]' M4 r/ a gthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
- ^. h1 Y; K& L$ J; G& X# v# B7 ksolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 N5 Y, u1 Y/ l4 k' c
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: r" g7 I5 J: J4 p8 o
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., \1 |+ U q6 |: T3 m
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
' h& z5 T" t! e5 [: s2 t0 eacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
6 Q1 G9 P! J5 S4 t- Gtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
$ m# g4 I& B9 t( }mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
- [ ^: D7 l! IHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
5 K3 r& b/ e' N$ D$ ~+ }1 @and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 `. v& p8 Z$ qcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be c) \8 K1 q1 N% R u7 X+ f; c
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
1 S2 U" x3 J$ y( Q9 r: t1 Knot stop her runaway Lexus.# i7 s% E! R0 O: t& `
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,# M. O& [) S7 E" I& L4 j- b
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
8 Y! q/ k+ m4 }+ Y2 O"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
8 V2 ^4 h/ |$ S [; ^) ]; RTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: [ Q' P: e- {early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
8 N, ?7 a# e" u"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; }- K8 P! A# H1 O8 r' t
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway3 I+ O" G7 {# G$ W3 B- N/ a1 y7 W
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 Q3 I" |% j9 b" p2 U- R7 N) {1 qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! D+ `& [7 o% t; c# o* l3 P5 z% rLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- h8 F. |$ [% e5 h! d* \/ ?electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
( d4 `5 @4 `% k& Jthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a2 m& _" {6 {8 P1 n# R: }3 ^
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 Y! X0 `* G0 D5 c9 usaid.
7 t( D! y$ K% m8 ~: K; ZAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: m4 w; f0 ^6 f& u ahappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe7 X3 O$ H7 t7 {
about driving our products," Lentz said.- @# m. P, Z* q' X
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 G, y# Y. U. X2 {. z, p5 K0 w% hproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
( O Z+ Q7 K+ G# k4 y: crecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 63 m* K4 k' F+ ^
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
4 S l+ e( n( B4 P" u7 [/ p3 Eunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking5 ~( g3 [% g8 X: I2 ?# ]
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
; Q3 @/ K2 | `" Qconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
6 ~. {$ J- h1 ]! Stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
8 r# ?* E/ a8 e' {( |4 q3 d8 ]5 |5 Xdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 D% k6 |( o9 T. A8 qreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration# I% m5 h- g6 i1 U* ]; h
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.; R$ F4 B# t; |9 A* ^$ d7 J3 e5 D
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
& h' o* \$ {6 B- R& E6 Xbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he8 c9 A2 I2 i3 a T* H! O
understood the pain.
: d r3 ]* \6 w2 @/ J& S- u$ ]"I know what those families go through," he said.+ d0 |4 P |' J) L5 d
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
$ k3 _% Y7 I# }# \- ifixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, w% T9 D" d7 n& Q: U0 K2 FBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman! x1 @# J+ E3 m' c1 |
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put ^) U0 @! P Y9 _) J
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,: x i6 Z) J0 \0 c3 l* p. u
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
, B4 c/ V- a3 Q1 s8 s+ JStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& s: h/ t t) ^- `" A
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said! H" |4 K) ~) F
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas, {/ u& s3 e3 q& {, w1 ~/ W
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
( M- `( H) \! A3 N5 Evehicles already on the road.& D5 }- `5 v7 ~7 Z+ ]+ E! r
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
U$ o: l# w2 e! \7 P3 D! L9 Cbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 O0 G& i# z; c; V( M
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and; h. \+ l) f$ S7 p6 B3 b
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' }/ |. B7 u& U; x3 i0 _
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# N N. r: Z% g8 [; k"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
' c8 c' g9 V/ t; ^2 e. z8 Vtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" n5 w/ q! n$ _7 e$ I% zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight$ {$ ~6 C6 O# s; d6 T
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal/ h) Y- m, ?# j" m7 `5 p) s% e
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# o2 X- x4 B: l0 i8 d; ^restore the trust of our customers."
0 q5 z; A) Z9 F, g. U% v1 D/ s3 `Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
1 n% B, E! S# VSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
6 p/ D6 |; ~" a% ?2 ?zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' n7 O3 T& x# ]shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
' C5 A! y1 j/ V( d2 Y' ihitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
" c2 O; B# I( \0 a' j: e% Hthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and$ r& ]0 e0 G& F% D
turn off the engine.
5 u# c. [' n3 ^7 ^% g9 i9 fFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
1 ~4 A& l" A2 B( Y8 jOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
) f L3 u: P6 H, W& N* c i& `5 _"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
* S( _# K) [: N8 r/ G% \6 Jsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
) m* j, R* k) f( U, N; p6 Gto her complaints.2 `# i9 w. M, n. v
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! z$ j, n$ D- d2 Kreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
! e0 [& t! B" Kmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
5 I! L5 t& X6 i& L- F6 Q8 f2 ~"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric6 N0 V' R/ ?0 }3 Y( ~/ x
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 h4 S0 G' m1 X) u8 B) ?+ y5 F' }0 Q3 `
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut1 a3 T1 e6 J! p
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."% O& f6 m" g2 ^3 q1 K; @
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
4 v6 k1 R; M9 a" n9 Hprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" Z8 k; q K* E. V
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 `$ j# S) w! H( p! y* Kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer: D' c) F9 y$ \/ U. L0 g' x
every question."0 ]3 a5 i, j7 M7 \
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. ~( @# e! v1 r% u/ U% qelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
2 `$ j$ N! f" a" W1 v% U8 jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( j' r% K- w* j/ Fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
( w S0 r4 r# U& j1 Knumber of vehicles
& Q! f2 g! \/ [, j+ x0 Y# XTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
# Y( X" @9 w. G( d/ E. Mdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a- N" y ?3 p. R% f& Q
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one& R% z G5 |) i2 m& i
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
+ Y2 [% u* w8 w% F1 LMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,! {" D3 T2 R9 T
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no- ]5 s7 Z+ v6 l# U
trace at all.
3 \- W4 h% w, p7 d. kHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call0 e1 w+ Q% y3 f8 b% l
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden8 f9 l- I% ^$ w$ _( ]
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the4 v2 S# l. H; K% ]
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.& U: v2 ~/ A: c2 q+ t/ r D* N: [
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
- i9 _" e0 E- a" T% Psaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
" ^# g$ ~2 j# ^% m c) C! _1 n, kother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 B' j/ D$ R3 H; t: }1 X6 G* Delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& p; ~* }/ |, P7 W. lcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
5 v1 H7 h1 O2 V0 K: q1 h9 p) Tsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained& w& A* f# j6 F8 p) z+ L
by Toyota's lawyers."
p& k w6 B) b/ `2 Q5 QLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 }3 w8 z3 J; n! f2 rproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our/ u) x: Z+ g' k, Z: f
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! I9 J1 K- a4 R' b0 s8 Q) g
said.
% L( Z8 C' N$ h. S4 |"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
' m7 q. u/ F) m* j7 sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our' i# q+ K, g" l2 x+ u6 s) ^" o
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating4 f7 b: w2 u" [* T
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
* F! P g y3 v8 LSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying5 `8 [8 T" _7 U
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread# F! p- d& w+ X9 l+ i" Z
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
/ ?! d" o4 V! {% Lautomaker, at least in part because of the government's5 |; z7 z7 E1 `$ u6 L% D6 e$ _
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% Y8 @5 q; R3 ^( T
Chrysler.0 V+ c# a% N7 \& h7 J8 D
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
" V, H# |9 O+ hdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
+ ]* s! s$ ^. ZHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
$ ]& n2 L& z- @* d9 ~9 Gserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
9 l7 ?( Q/ k/ X! g" _1 Owith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 q; I q5 j+ }5 g* I4 G! n k$ Xtough."# Q3 `- |* A" L; J% U' Z' ]! g! C6 O
---
5 x) ~& U* x: e7 R; VAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
. u" q3 @9 K6 ~Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
, }% b3 o/ P0 c9 c4 nthis story.
9 P8 S/ y, X0 v, }/ d
# u0 B% T0 Q$ `5 Y' {-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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