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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题3 J* }5 r- k6 [1 }6 S4 Q" O$ F
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS! p9 Q' ^0 [: U o, S! M4 e' D/ [4 o5 |
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.7 \/ V4 K2 A3 ^) n* K
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! Z$ X- |* N. d8 g* S* `/ Z* Uthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
x0 q0 n" h/ u. C8 Ssolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 M: b) M4 b; t: s"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential0 \; P" u$ h! {) i. i/ c6 V
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
" Z9 S) N2 R$ _( N% ?! T2 cHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, H8 Y) w+ Y$ f
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and9 A3 X5 I. \4 A8 R+ m
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor- H4 B& ?6 _1 A" [; y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals. B0 |# c* D" S: a5 i$ ?
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
9 H% Q7 ]4 }$ M iand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
3 e& Z" L x8 ` W) `criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 M# O: x; c0 [( i9 u1 F, F
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could* `$ m; m/ H' L" P" f2 p
not stop her runaway Lexus.
* T1 {) j) E4 [9 s4 b"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 m/ y) V! Q, w @ PTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second1 d# D# n+ }0 l. L u7 f
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.2 f: a& i- F' e5 ^, O" O5 _
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues0 ?' S( h/ x1 H" r4 J; F
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
. w- o U* P m# m- m/ l"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 ~ q4 Y& p' jdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 @; _$ F7 {: `4 ~through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's4 N# ~# @0 S$ ^; {6 {+ D
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
8 \9 Y5 S0 T5 V4 x: F; {Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an" Q3 D z; @* P/ w) Q
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of, ~, E3 t: b' l: z; w- B
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a+ W2 O( G9 P% Q2 t0 ^- r' y
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he) ~2 t/ K1 V- I; {, K7 y% X! @
said.9 R+ q# c0 C" b' ~. F
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
( u) W, t5 O0 R2 o1 P$ p+ bhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
( \! t% R, M) [$ Y2 Iabout driving our products," Lentz said.8 c+ B) P7 H. ^4 w# R% A4 \
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's& _6 a$ ~0 h- V& I
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
+ P/ ~( \) a' \' J e }# Frecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
$ @1 q8 c9 ]/ k$ I3 H+ E9 }million in the United States -- since last fall because of. L7 ^5 K8 D1 _+ l9 q
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 d9 q1 E& M$ t7 G. \, ~8 Wissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering1 ?! _" m1 S5 ^ V3 h6 C' [
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
0 X9 K$ w- E! V; ]4 {' Etheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow9 k; W1 T6 K4 T2 t
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has! M4 c, n' ?/ _0 h
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
. L4 Q& x$ y0 lof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
2 X4 O$ Z+ b9 @& `7 K H0 ?2 ?Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
3 [0 E; }1 ~5 H8 Obrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he0 D' s, ]6 Y. b4 Y/ A7 }
understood the pain.
- e9 P' w" x2 k. h% R& V"I know what those families go through," he said.
# R+ ]- g; u4 e. f9 @Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's5 E2 \4 K0 d6 K
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems. \- Z, K) Q3 F- [- R# d
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman; F- z) X) ^- n* t" b- L
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* z7 B! S/ a+ v: P" R1 fin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,3 w ]7 m# J4 q
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
* n5 J# B2 z l; d- NStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were( ^( Z% s* @; n2 z
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
& P8 \. e" ?$ E1 h/ m0 C pToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
2 G3 l% e* H7 {' }; W9 P) T9 n8 vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
9 R1 e8 `+ R Fvehicles already on the road.: D! |' I+ h5 P
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify" U4 T% r# w! n9 |+ T
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# w) f$ S, w6 P- q1 nresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
: I& z8 ~+ x, Z% r# l: u3 Foffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 M; h/ [. W V2 d) V" c5 S: zkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# z. _# c) [# q z+ I/ _& R"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
4 X7 P. G0 W3 W9 w+ p5 c* mtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony1 O! R4 L$ V6 p& U |' E1 M" Q
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
8 k" |! Q7 _" ]3 _; iCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal+ s# U d" c# C/ j2 T
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
O' w8 Q, J! U7 k. w. Xrestore the trust of our customers."/ v; i- T5 A- T6 E( O5 U5 C
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
. d" \& H# m" |3 u. \; N5 VSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 g& x: R# ~# J6 M- k4 j
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --! @! L* W/ C! `' }' t Q }
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
. y( t0 z) p# p$ thitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough- @+ f6 [2 D( ]: c
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
7 V2 o4 ?, J% v3 d1 G0 u& sturn off the engine.
; ^$ h4 y: r$ e8 bFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& d9 F$ d5 ?( \; oOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
( F8 Y1 C3 [8 b k' J"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 c- x$ I5 N$ h- j! P. E
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
& Z7 Y& s% o0 H( }) Vto her complaints.
; C6 Y+ e" q6 oIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers& z" U8 i: R: e( j
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
6 z$ x& r2 S. t$ B! K+ @1 a! Smalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.+ u/ g: \( \2 o$ d1 t
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% S8 X' ?; i6 S7 D5 vthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited* O" W2 M. s3 l+ A
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut& B6 @6 g- d6 T1 z8 D/ X
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! y, Y6 R# S/ b: p( rTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) v+ e2 x8 f# Fprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
1 D; m2 u4 {* n( c( M4 x) w" P" ]being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 U' F% L# r" s# g l% M1 } I5 V
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 u" b6 q0 M- _4 p( v
every question."
! \: d0 W- B; L+ JToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether' w, C9 N% d9 h5 D1 b* }
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 S# i" D( I: N* O1 U
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
7 P& [4 @4 ]* [' }committee investigators said the testing studied only a small# T# B- ~% i7 L
number of vehicles
3 |3 i+ z' t7 E# ?' J& f, Y; lTracking down an electrical problem can be far more% d. ^ o1 H- k+ f
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
4 x6 J+ k( P# L# r/ z1 l j6 M3 \mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
$ K& q1 s- }; M# x2 esource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.' \+ R7 P V ]. ^+ j
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' W* N1 {( q, }0 `$ v- W; Z3 H: g
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
4 e0 I1 ^0 f7 [2 m$ S: |trace at all.
8 _! j& Y2 L3 GHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 C6 N6 p# D, m' @! u j* A
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden( y+ `+ G) V7 X: @# R _
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the9 `9 e7 C1 I& q
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
0 h) P/ o- V' i0 T# iRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
, I" t) C/ E* e! y) ~said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, I/ [& @! f/ T% j2 x A% I5 S: ^
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 {! i+ s3 W) w6 B1 m3 Y
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
! [; h6 T3 G$ @+ r1 \0 bcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- {% H4 p( _) M5 b* ysuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
) u v# R' o, v3 Z) qby Toyota's lawyers."' P: \9 C* E6 k+ C6 R5 m* T- n4 t
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of- ~5 w1 U9 N% ^/ _
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our' H7 a, y% A1 }/ c, C+ T
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he; |* ^! b! ]8 }6 o7 X% R. V2 W
said.
7 ?% A$ u$ X8 t* Y0 r) i"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with, _% E) }% \1 M9 Y
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our' k. t5 E$ X! l V
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating A* h, \7 ^0 H5 ?4 [# Y" A
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ H0 k5 P4 F# d+ t6 @: k. ^
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying! s' y( }9 W6 @) E/ ]
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread1 F1 h$ j; e" W2 t4 H/ p' ]
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the/ ]. F b, s+ ]0 W4 |( [/ d/ i% b
automaker, at least in part because of the government's* d5 A9 ^) G- Y
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ N( F6 D% w1 }; E* F$ }: TChrysler.
5 `4 S% w8 f; ~, j2 K"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax, Z# O5 Q: l8 f- Z' k
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ \0 H2 h% w- g2 v7 \" q) F3 j
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also& b x- l9 i+ g
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* v$ |( K% `8 w3 s' [6 |# y
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty* Y1 M" H" m. e! J; w% V
tough."
7 `: ^ Z* H" E, S---
4 q" s! k4 }; | VAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
( w. s- ] T. T+ F) T9 vRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
V% i, y) N& `( e$ F) v8 Z3 athis story.
x# r# v; ]9 X" ?& A& N9 {# P* l# V8 ~
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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