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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题& ]5 I. Q' ]. D" B& _: P
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% [# o- Q* x7 H. n3 y& LWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
* b6 ]6 L3 p$ M& {+ J. aoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
8 C# l* \' o8 X2 H7 jthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
; l; r2 V3 c5 L, B* q! L* Lsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.4 v' z+ J; i2 O M
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
4 X8 Q+ U& v6 F+ o7 _" c' hcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.0 g7 a5 c% ^7 T: n
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, z; a4 Q4 Z$ P$ U0 c9 ], |9 K9 Uacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' j& j# p) v: v* Gtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor0 U7 N" R: ^ k# o
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
7 ^$ L) q+ v% b, F( J# THe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal5 }; }6 O( K5 g
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp: H ^% |, N1 H( B5 |1 y
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be3 e7 }# l% I, q3 S- ~, D4 _
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
2 |4 G, X) @& G# J' U7 Pnot stop her runaway Lexus.$ M4 ]+ g( g/ ]; J* V, |8 \8 @5 A
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, Z" k0 v4 g1 B) f9 l
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
6 u7 M1 L) O: k6 Z"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.- D! a2 x( i: r$ j
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues; a9 N1 g- Y# [! u1 [7 c/ ^9 m
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said$ k+ \2 T: d/ ? @% O
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ h! C' @! D, o# {9 j* h4 H
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway5 k7 O e# c' p. ?
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
" e; B* b5 s6 K0 einvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."4 C5 F% D5 A( H" }
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
6 d, A' _! _# z4 Y' L4 Felectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 w" ~3 E5 s3 @5 Q5 Cthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
0 c7 k) [# J9 ~2 n$ ?malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he1 ~. u+ O" Z& V7 \1 m( S, q
said.
8 Z' Z7 O) ` z9 h. `0 `. i- pAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 [: r( h" j$ F r- dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe/ b" Z. G V8 D* C4 i3 A$ Y+ R
about driving our products," Lentz said.4 [$ [* ?* u1 r! y& f
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
; f. K x3 ^2 {$ E5 Rproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
r5 U. u7 V6 T, g" A* W/ L4 Precalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6! F; C ~' z5 O4 E$ c
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
. L+ S: O2 f/ x p4 V9 @# nunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; h$ Y6 _( I% C( l p6 Sissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% j2 f8 `! v1 M! n5 M7 G' k
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& j9 p! S& U+ S, Z! Htheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. ^: p' V1 F; ?7 S5 W* P
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has! J4 \3 r! _2 I# d4 l
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
# g3 e' p- a9 [5 m L) Q# Gof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ V5 ^* D8 e: u$ Z" h" }9 VLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: v/ M4 e4 S$ Y" M, N$ \- b
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 x9 }9 J$ O. `" R" W% H0 F
understood the pain.
4 P+ W0 O1 C$ `* p0 c"I know what those families go through," he said.3 T9 a# {& C2 ~( g
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
- n% k5 u; M" L3 G1 M8 _# Mfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.: j; s' `: j5 n
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
4 r5 H7 p8 @8 I/ t; R/ VHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put+ V( N! l8 E) S* o2 x- [
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,/ c7 D, }' A7 G& [# {# |8 C' T. P
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
1 C; \! `; n7 j1 v! r; E% b" HStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
9 z7 L5 E, z- A B2 |0 U"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
@4 G( p8 U. I1 r( }; zToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
6 Z8 g& G- x1 y+ u& {pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
% f3 |9 \7 k7 r% K5 S# gvehicles already on the road.
9 T7 k9 k3 q( C$ ^2 g$ fMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
) x/ h: @0 {) s( kbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
. G* W! Q; J: v5 Jresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. n& B; ^# `6 o* C6 j! ?9 Z; C, t' k$ e
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were7 K3 @+ G3 J7 r: s3 o( n/ G3 J5 O* [
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 A9 a& M' p/ d, {' [ h' M
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a7 h+ m) [0 F" @* G: S% B
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
0 D$ N0 r2 h+ i4 zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
: `0 ^( u$ s. a: g3 I1 e) QCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- g/ q z6 ], ncommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: U& o4 _' P9 a% V8 erestore the trust of our customers."! E9 t' v- w( C6 X/ M2 g
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from0 w8 }1 O# m, H1 z3 O9 L
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly4 s% I4 o) ?! g) @
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --' }1 S/ m, j6 y& C$ q/ m
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and9 }5 B% n- [* `' O* l
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough$ K+ U2 b3 \) H
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and5 n) g! v4 _ V( u1 }
turn off the engine.
/ ^0 |$ _3 ~9 R9 f9 ?7 P! Y8 nFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ J8 m% k( L7 k& N% A1 [: c0 ROctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
7 H4 h+ l ?# g- ?, U"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 P- f( I/ \ g! c9 h
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# Y% A. Z" T% [0 W$ Hto her complaints.( H. z4 _; l1 C* g+ g! [6 ?$ o
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers2 d1 }9 h1 \5 D2 x/ r
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
, H o4 y! b% ]8 h5 F- X1 R2 {malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.: j0 x* N% [* v/ k
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric2 z/ D* j& C8 X' F& W6 |* S7 T% {
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited! j W5 e1 u z, d
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 W5 a! g+ c. p# B. A# h! Doff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 k# |4 }, E/ z. Q
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
8 t8 M5 N) `% l1 G& N0 x( yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" J& B3 U% n+ Gbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
3 `" h! W+ y6 qwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
% T( }% C* Q1 V3 i6 i* C; ?every question."+ F" B4 B1 O' h! _3 h+ T+ K
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( F% u' t' T! _( i2 `; ^; c
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The7 N8 t" M" _. Z) l2 A5 y r9 ]
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
% k% S, ^! @- Ocommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small7 C0 `1 Q+ `1 i& L" W9 X; j I! n
number of vehicles
! @0 A- G, G" \/ z b6 wTracking down an electrical problem can be far more9 c2 W! V" p. v2 Z+ F1 m# {
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a% S5 |) `6 Q; [3 q/ Z
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
4 S9 f9 [# ]$ z3 ^" w, t6 i# Psource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.- [( M5 [ Y3 Q2 }
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' H0 m) p8 S" | twhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 T9 s1 u g: w$ {, d
trace at all.0 S" w/ w% o+ l. Z( Q& I# u
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call0 D( u% J K4 F0 |; j, } |
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
+ h* f% L5 W( ~/ T6 O, w4 }acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the& F5 {- f, v3 `8 I9 t* a" `
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.9 W3 ~5 F$ w! w- ^& O
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
. z3 z- D1 k5 Vsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and" c9 }( \& }. B! h
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ I1 n1 V9 \! Z' W$ t
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
0 ^+ K4 R, b/ ~5 J- m* k& xcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only3 T1 |1 |- S; ]/ F1 \& x" r) l
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; }7 i& c9 Q4 |0 r# W! f8 a) F! lby Toyota's lawyers."
/ Q) f# y: Q2 m. J& ?) JLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of$ N9 a' d. Q @0 ^
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! P2 I7 I- [6 c8 M% s' Qcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he' Y/ X; t2 }. d$ |
said.
Q* @3 M8 r1 E& a$ W; w" v: \"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 b4 Y8 f5 Z) {a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" q: Q6 X |+ J3 C ^0 h
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating4 N Z4 _7 E. _, W7 }/ k- F
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
( p4 c7 [5 g; n6 k! b9 sSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ M4 J6 b* q+ hmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
' _% j6 j. `; J* ~, f4 v+ K, A3 m3 Trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. @) B- k& J. q8 w# lautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
' I; z2 B+ B& x2 B4 G: r& sinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and3 `, g" Y# R7 x$ L9 i4 |
Chrysler./ q6 U w4 h5 E" K' J5 F7 G
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% H% R4 g& _2 Zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a0 K& l6 c; j, |" y; }$ g* Q
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
' ^: ]$ h, k6 A& j4 y( _, `( gserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
" {/ }; S0 b0 [' gwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
' X' j5 [8 C+ q- gtough."
$ e- b; v/ F; {6 d X- L- P6 v& C---4 S, T( N8 e! I+ ^2 `! Z! f
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
* L0 I v, I+ n/ h0 y1 i- ~4 qRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
/ s6 ?0 F# q2 |/ j" o( nthis story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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