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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题$ ]) R. t, e" ]6 M
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
. \$ ]# v: J9 X( R3 g4 N( nWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' G( e. A7 o, N+ t) s5 r
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that( H# x: d% Z! i+ a- [: \, J
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally". V& G8 j% X4 {/ v N
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.2 o6 Q/ p2 e% g* z$ F$ I/ S6 ?
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential) h3 e" s, S+ b4 G
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel." w. o: f" y3 b! }9 ? {
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 Y- v$ Y* u" g
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and, r. n; J8 J/ n. a
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 z' k7 B# ^1 g- _+ C- `( @
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
/ h/ t1 p; U% m$ R) X$ H1 YHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal3 l2 P) M6 X" A" [/ f; C6 u
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp7 Z; d- P- Z8 [0 \3 N7 Y. R
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
! a! T0 z* i# F4 }5 D* Mfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could1 b3 X9 Q9 n8 `0 A0 I
not stop her runaway Lexus.. V+ N+ l* m' B/ p; |2 i
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( g2 \9 B! x7 y9 p7 ~- q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second4 C/ l. E% [, s1 k! J
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ z( S# T$ V/ F" w1 ]- E
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues& E# H/ ?, @4 W( O0 Y/ B6 {( E2 |& P5 h
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) ?! z$ `. ~5 C( i& w"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has* m' g$ p: D" F
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. M2 K/ g, E) V9 a: L! X9 k: \+ }through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's& ~, V+ ^7 J& t
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."" l1 r I- w! {- ?
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an5 G: z% z1 G; A: y4 X# I! G
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
4 @% _' V" C' _the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! q. x- {( Y& t0 @
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he3 Z# n0 A6 V4 F/ x0 n% ^
said.; Y1 b6 j% W/ l# f. _) B
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" k9 X" l/ Y" v) jhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe& u! m, R4 \4 P4 v
about driving our products," Lentz said.
& W) E B+ i/ V. e, B8 W: oThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
& |( q0 Z2 y7 `, O# a, ^ A( nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has* k0 I# ?0 c0 s$ R
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
0 r5 r( Z, f! M2 N' Hmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
' t/ w! ^ ?" m5 K: Wunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
' z$ m/ ^7 ~ U" L0 T) j4 |issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
, l' ?3 [# g! k2 x( \2 wconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
9 z5 g2 l! p% B! z% ~- @$ z9 i2 Y' Dtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 ~/ m6 j( _- f6 x' rdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# f* a$ i, ]4 `0 y* v& j N$ n' p3 D
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration- G1 k8 Y( m2 E" g$ F0 L7 {( ^
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.* s$ w+ }! ]& d% S1 ` U
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. W2 h- z0 \, B8 w
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, p& x+ P" O" D! E' l
understood the pain.8 F1 \+ z6 H5 F: X8 l
"I know what those families go through," he said.
7 a& d/ r0 ~" f% ~/ e! kLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 \+ f1 _/ B& S" C: g
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
# q3 W, Y: M% {! o' R7 RBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. v* O# ~# u9 m! B# @
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
& Y" m) ?- j+ U& L2 X+ V8 G- i# Yin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 J# p% X& Q5 n6 t! \$ b
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
0 M; B$ n J8 _! c, a+ ~ j9 WStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& A' q* Z% M' B* i; U! b0 a
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said s" J; }1 h' b) s. a/ t& V- c
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. C6 z3 E4 Y# a+ U+ } N" e
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ X8 Y7 l: b, j4 S1 T
vehicles already on the road.( F0 }( C) K5 Y$ x! O
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
" L- X, U" U# Qbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# {6 Y# R, J8 `; o$ Hresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 |. y$ s" S% l# m6 Foffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
# ~# R8 S. [3 @' }! Ckilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
' O4 }5 d* ]8 n$ x* n2 y7 r"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# z7 E; }% p+ X
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
6 y2 p* \! A1 {( {0 ~) Yfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! k J& n; F; Q% zCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
6 E' \7 x; w. n6 Fcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
" J1 q, R3 P2 o5 Rrestore the trust of our customers."
# N7 m! }! E' i. j% m! D9 cLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
; _5 ^0 `0 I4 j2 u `Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly/ m8 d5 C/ y5 l0 `4 e' G- t1 a
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& r7 D2 \5 T+ ]. ^
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and/ b$ g5 I8 I9 Z- t
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
$ {& `. p5 f# \5 t6 d) n3 Kthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
$ n9 u4 e- t9 b0 ^0 `turn off the engine.
" C/ A- H A, Q6 x% C& yFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# `; m# k4 ]9 n- F& E6 ~, I
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% W, j% \7 `* j- G: M"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
; R1 M) E+ r. A, E6 U: bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
/ G" |. M2 ?' X7 L" I( z' a% {" ito her complaints.4 Q0 m7 D! G: B0 a) l) o% i: q" I8 y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
# ~7 t! y8 X0 F. lreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 ?$ n# G s8 u
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars." `* b' T1 p$ }: u
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric8 m* v! s* e8 l; Q- M4 w9 ~
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
" `( i l6 n& h* _: ?2 g"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ h# w7 E6 a$ ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
2 y' f* j! I7 f% A- H9 d6 A# H+ @Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in( B) T# D- H9 R6 J2 z8 Z5 v7 {
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were6 o5 g- [' |$ ]# V. [8 e+ K/ E
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls0 v O" T; x) L3 A7 t# l# i" n4 e7 h
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) s; B+ n6 @' o
every question."
0 I4 j9 q% L' @0 O; q7 rToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, d7 Q3 s1 W! q) Melectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The+ W$ `& a) O t2 u
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( ^9 K2 T) g3 z6 s. kcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small) {" X% w5 q- ]4 Y/ |) _! b
number of vehicles7 w0 U" {$ s- W- O+ c; Y4 t5 h1 [
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more3 i' M5 S; k7 R4 t1 o" c
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a* B0 g% R3 d" Z; Z
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one0 S" V# f: P$ Y6 C3 p
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.5 t8 l! I: m0 e0 W' L' {& o
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,: G" C+ k: e1 @+ D* }/ n: [4 h+ l
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
C& e3 a* M5 mtrace at all.7 _' x: f- W8 C# q; z+ Z- |
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
9 F+ Z' I# [0 u( t+ \database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
5 J8 l( w* m; u: z! ^, L" Facceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! P! p! m& l2 F% frecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
8 e) R, w3 Y, k7 x8 `! _9 d' IRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' C9 d, |9 k9 q+ l0 n$ m- K
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
0 y& T2 ~. L! s) v* l5 \: {4 j# Pother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the2 Z2 H9 I+ Y* ]5 V0 l- Y
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
8 ^7 M+ I; O6 D, bcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
2 c; ~* [. [$ Y0 O& ]( t v/ h2 Dsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained$ `# p/ \/ i9 G" A" M
by Toyota's lawyers."! b# o$ Q( D Z3 m# B
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! g# c/ t6 M( u4 K6 A. e" q9 k2 Yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
7 |8 d( J/ H/ b( ^: o. \5 H- e7 L2 [. zcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( D% o4 o g4 g
said.
+ ~7 j8 K7 w1 O"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with C2 O d+ k; v1 G7 l4 G
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
! K! [, s7 G' z' sgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
9 G6 I: p7 s$ y; C- g; c7 S+ B/ wofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.) n3 H3 W& |% `. m( L4 t
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. G8 i9 {/ w/ N& `& Fmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread K: f5 ?2 S5 b% k. Y
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the% R1 B" a) h& L* h0 r
automaker, at least in part because of the government's; O/ O( K! G8 n, I
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
: q8 d5 ]' P8 y/ _Chrysler.# F' J+ g* l* u# p. \) G: ^: K' s9 g+ l; y
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
' }3 U _9 Z* zdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, v- X& e* f1 I. G, [8 nHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" ~/ Y) F1 T3 g8 W
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
$ S1 G7 k* P( U% `with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 m1 Y3 s, o, i+ ?0 O3 \tough."# Q- T$ Q- y9 r( [% [. b
---
- U3 ]8 q- |+ [# n9 H; z1 O. @( DAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
; O0 G# N0 m# LRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; f0 c& V l" ^, @( Sthis story.
! g( e# ?. ^1 k( B( @
9 V; K4 u' W8 B-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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