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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题4 I! p& V5 ?6 j$ \: i: L
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
+ ^$ O0 t2 _4 DWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 O9 W2 ~; T8 @) c7 T( @+ v% D; _
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
+ Y' V' {" _+ i5 h) L3 |1 f7 fthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
5 r7 }8 G5 l; u+ B8 osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
# V+ Q1 I. s3 t5 h7 x"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
" k) [5 g% }" ~$ v- N7 `causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.8 f$ m" y& Z9 S9 H9 n
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
@5 o3 ]) J5 B0 B* ?acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and; T1 j I7 ` V3 r( b( W; e$ H
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
* W) Q0 m7 Z+ qmats and sticking accelerator pedals.8 S( E Z' m* Y( Q; H9 R
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, ]7 A* F1 f- `2 Y3 r
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp2 |9 h: [$ W/ y
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be8 s) S% U0 C8 w3 o7 p. m
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" c0 T; H. D' x4 B' S2 I Onot stop her runaway Lexus.' f4 d- c) j. b- c. T8 d$ Z) o+ |
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
' ?" Q4 n3 e) a+ I, Y! jTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second$ w F# ^0 W6 w: l
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.5 Q4 `7 ~4 R; f- c5 n$ M
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues+ z7 ?! ~# m2 h1 R8 B+ Q5 t
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 S! C8 U6 N) Y; h' X
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 X7 m/ L* w7 ?. t/ k kdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 L4 f" }( {9 K5 o' y" Kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
! b0 \( L, F- i: l: pinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
$ C i/ Z! u& V1 _! qLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
D3 m6 _+ H, s, e' R$ N/ ?0 welectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
, ^% ~0 {, B) q" \7 Vthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a# \: \( z6 z2 N# c, U( c
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* h6 Y+ @# u/ a$ g: vsaid.
" M- X# u0 c4 QAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what" _& i1 ?7 q4 ]$ ]! w1 f
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
7 X+ ~5 O% i" \2 Gabout driving our products," Lentz said.
$ F3 c! E% j# J2 t* a+ V9 t7 `Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's* d6 I! l( n2 w6 Y* j
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* t% Z( B# I- U" K( f6 o' Precalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 Y7 p8 @9 M- hmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of# w/ x5 a9 b& `/ N# G; W
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& z- F' T+ x7 \2 a6 yissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
6 k9 l6 t' b/ B, z% }concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of- c6 K; ?+ r8 C# m0 O7 ?
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
' W1 @5 _( H% Vdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( f' ]( w% p/ J& ?0 k y+ v0 z9 n5 W
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ @' E1 M/ K# I5 eof Toyota vehicles since 2000.+ [" b2 [/ v) P3 T& v/ ]4 ~
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
( `, u! Q% C1 O2 n' O' U6 N* @brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! |1 g1 Q' Z. e G/ U! tunderstood the pain./ D% Y, W; ]0 n: p
"I know what those families go through," he said.) J7 G0 h9 _2 U
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's" |$ l+ V8 O3 o3 p0 Y, |; Y
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
7 b) L9 f& H0 D/ C: g. S3 mBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman( B, f/ h6 j+ J, L+ U* t$ y
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 a- u% c# R! V# S u6 ein place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
* @( Q6 h; L7 d" |& iLentz replied: "Not totally."
5 W! `1 m) [' \6 QStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were I( D1 Z, m& p a2 c/ u
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said+ {- y! I9 r1 }, q" a# |
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. n( B4 m# I- s0 U% K
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
* Z, v/ A' A% f" Wvehicles already on the road.
) V+ @$ m! y9 f) f. {- o2 xMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
5 J' [5 z( W/ a2 Z6 c3 ubefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 |# e; W$ ]9 `# Y) g% X! lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 ^: F4 `( c% e0 [
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
7 I0 \' ^, k8 \3 A- Tkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.( j/ ], k& @5 E- T# a
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a7 B9 i7 ~1 i: k
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 E8 n& C1 L: r: t
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ A) f3 N7 G' ZCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal1 ?' M+ W0 E$ }+ K, y5 s2 }/ @
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
+ z& P4 {% m$ k/ Nrestore the trust of our customers."9 m5 S* b6 j( H+ N2 y( J
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
/ d5 r, e# F$ ^2 q iSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 u: E% }5 f+ ?$ d6 a
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
0 U0 t8 m( h, K! t/ W! S+ _shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
4 B" T4 i! E: O \hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, L5 b& k& A- C6 H& Ythat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& }2 n, C- g5 T! ~2 Zturn off the engine.
. \& N8 y% V# o3 a" C2 S/ I( sFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of/ K# H: n3 d0 y
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
- ~% S, X" w3 q1 M. v3 c"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she; X- e4 S/ n" [# Q( F5 `" R( V
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond+ p% J6 @9 v$ b9 f5 Z
to her complaints.9 O0 x+ r6 ~# P r1 R8 v
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers# N& A1 O0 D$ i+ C
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
) G$ I' Q0 m/ I$ Q5 V$ F8 ymalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
) t, h4 ^/ B1 I, \/ q V"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric6 a. v; b, K) _% s! c
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 a l3 I% t4 u8 ?
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! N0 @( d7 k8 ]! W' P) Moff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 K" V/ I9 {% W! nTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in0 _1 k+ t0 F2 J9 m7 g1 E# C" J' ?' Y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
: ?3 ^: a7 a* ?& Tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
. B) {+ A6 ]" \3 g- jwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
: u& l: o" V# Y7 x/ Ievery question."
: j+ _* E; R; k. u7 _* PToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether, [/ y: h: s+ [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- I! v$ C4 e/ A' Ufirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But2 S' d7 [% x, _' i1 _+ Z( @8 M
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
8 [3 d) H8 y+ H6 K" u3 B; fnumber of vehicles
% r2 W' D W$ V1 n5 B6 S& BTracking down an electrical problem can be far more9 C# [5 d1 T1 f' F* l+ @/ B* J3 b0 H
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' }/ [: K6 B" R) q$ emechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one% W5 Q& y! U9 D
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
% o0 {# y1 E7 d" p' W8 JMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,& L$ f2 d2 W1 Z q. s& Y
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 r! l, K" r A( O/ m
trace at all.- z7 a5 @" { c( B8 s( ]2 N
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call4 r1 ~! G& I% k9 x
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 l- h$ y% [/ D& Facceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the9 U1 C/ Q- y7 C) u5 A
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.* @6 M. p' h: l, Q: L; L
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
]& N9 H2 Y3 }9 ksaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and7 O) c" Z, Z' w0 l
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
9 u3 b# o$ k( W, C2 G8 k" ^/ jelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# E' S3 L/ y7 Lcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only+ r$ q$ P1 \6 _8 }# v" p( q
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, X: S" T+ @2 e8 @
by Toyota's lawyers."
6 e2 x" S! T8 r) e5 p: @Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
- ^1 E% N) J j N; N# U; w% Jproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
q5 l1 ^8 x2 H0 U3 g+ |customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he2 ^6 R3 q( F: q4 X J
said.
; C0 w) J% G, R"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
x- v! S5 p/ Z/ B0 k$ Q! b8 Ma rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our0 g4 ~6 t" ]( _- q" Q1 I
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& V8 L! U c. q. @1 M5 S2 h& ~! x( s
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.0 {, p: Y- O& Q+ s; A
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying A8 Y# C$ N( |! G% K# F0 X
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
7 `7 V# g2 B4 G# U' mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the' a. @/ [! j6 `
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" F) T6 m) L' E0 f+ {) }2 O, @investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 @. D: w$ v6 c' J/ ZChrysler.$ E+ q$ u% V/ P, }
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax/ ~" J( T& `* A
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a& V! V9 X% D: G% R* C5 v
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
q* I% m5 m* f4 X. A1 X" hserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete% b+ i9 m+ G1 X# f( o. t
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty/ |& r, r3 c1 X Z, D
tough."* R( w3 d) ?) M* ]; r+ K2 C
---- ^: k. L, m0 W- F$ w, D
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
# |* w8 J$ d2 gRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to) o3 w0 t# D7 e4 M$ e3 B
this story.
* M) k) i. H* F# Z) ^5 h/ u& s
2 x4 P7 j1 T; i$ \$ ]" q-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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