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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题3 c" Y4 e6 W! h: D+ Q
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
; X) g6 R$ e# T1 N yWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.7 Y/ X( I/ b8 D2 }$ p6 ^/ o
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that: G, |, G6 Z6 P" c5 Z
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 |% R) W+ g" b* Q4 f4 ] M' T1 Asolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
9 n) V& J. q! e/ ]4 r: R"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
4 t8 Q2 i" J1 o6 A, \causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.5 J, R! D* o) B4 @% w
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 L3 h: R; H% t6 Eacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
7 A/ Y' ]+ x# P2 mtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor& h% L. i% S, F8 {7 T' Y" v' s
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, ]3 w# j3 O5 S: m; O' T* H- @; |# yHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal) C; c) K) @' ?* h. [' K E. }, q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
- @, B; h1 b7 g( ^3 Pcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( I$ p3 P% N2 J# b; gfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 Z: A- \% X: F' I3 g/ |
not stop her runaway Lexus.; X2 M1 R6 w: @4 ~# m+ d
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* V/ l) ]& y3 i7 KTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, }* m5 D; }$ R9 ]"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.9 }( h1 w- B/ E, W9 d# x
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
8 I$ J0 _9 k$ X- z/ t" A5 kearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
0 B1 g- a4 m' I9 z"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ D+ X s2 T* g$ v1 Sdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway' J- z9 z9 y8 `* Y6 X# \0 c$ Q) l6 t
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
7 u. @* x1 Q7 g0 C5 l) ^0 K& zinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."& E* b9 x7 w. v8 Y! V9 C# t
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! d% M5 w' Z- N# Jelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
- c7 I- i; i- ]1 @1 m- ~the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. {/ ?: C( R& }# t! F, z* o+ i+ ~
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
2 [& S& X3 {, N) L jsaid.
% D0 D& u8 u+ ?( S+ U4 }* OAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 Q% P( A. x; N" J+ B7 Ghappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe- z, {& P: d0 G- ]3 A* A) L/ b# s
about driving our products," Lentz said.- x9 A8 [/ [& ?/ U3 j
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
, p( P* |1 P! w* K+ xproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has, }6 ?( G: o5 O6 L, z
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
5 y b- h* H4 x" Omillion in the United States -- since last fall because of) s( s3 a8 Y& d& a
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking( t6 ^$ s4 V8 P7 `0 x
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ E5 E$ j; n. {# N+ I2 z$ ?4 Y% U
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of; n6 d( ]# b! c3 F, }- r9 |
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow6 C" b# W5 R1 l8 _8 w4 m- U( Q
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
m. H6 _8 x3 Mreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
_* r/ o# \1 E& w! Z& lof Toyota vehicles since 2000.; `! f& {0 I: _
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
" Y r7 q# d6 A+ O+ d8 b; T1 ubrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he' S# |8 e* X! F3 _2 m1 X
understood the pain.- Q! R9 h0 T0 \3 l
"I know what those families go through," he said.
- w/ b1 ^$ n0 W) L+ }/ e, E% E, m8 Q JLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
: `( p- H' g) J; ]# W* ?fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems./ n. }/ b: N9 {+ B5 m
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
s7 W7 ?, q" z. }Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put0 o; ]$ K0 W8 f9 J% K X6 W1 T
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
. \& Q2 x- J- a0 a7 M4 I7 sLentz replied: "Not totally.", d9 q S0 s7 V: J4 e
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were* C& ^8 I& [+ i# N: g
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 D ~5 Q5 j4 b5 R: {
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas# V: ^2 t: |; r7 g! `8 ~+ _
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 X. r/ ^; u2 I: q9 y$ t
vehicles already on the road.
6 V: R% ]# v) UMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) o. s2 }1 s2 d- C
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# P q& ~) Y" c+ A! N, Wresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and1 F5 F8 y+ c2 G0 a1 j* y/ I
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
; z- F4 ?6 w+ o3 u Fkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.7 V# e6 J2 v8 }+ O) l, u% B9 S% i. H
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a9 q/ c2 W# q* u
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony* t/ x6 j5 `3 X: j5 [# u1 c
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ h* f- K$ ], u+ f% P$ P2 m, qCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
1 p3 x+ z& d- C, |commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
+ b# b* Z; r. n# B, N8 U) d, Brestore the trust of our customers."$ o7 a# ?+ U+ ^7 W% C
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 \! J1 B7 L1 N; m# Q% I. Z# CSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
% `$ ]4 `4 ~+ uzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 B- E' W! R2 g5 N" g |( s
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 B' g y% @, A! n- O G0 l: {
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough7 w8 l, ] x2 l u# m' H2 W& D* s
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and' K) d7 v( B: {, Y9 k; W
turn off the engine.* T' N; l$ j+ M
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
, T1 B0 K {& B0 w$ l, Q9 HOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."9 ^; B5 P- h8 ^; ]* Z) m* E
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she f6 D, T2 }: F- _
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond" H& r3 l8 y0 B7 q6 b/ }
to her complaints.
* z8 x: I1 c8 ]4 i1 j) K) x4 L; vIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers( w( l. k5 g1 l2 g- o, g* I
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 [+ W* J* ~2 ?; k! x* ?# P Z* Q4 L
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.% t4 {7 n& s2 q) A8 |2 f8 `
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 |' C7 b7 L: x( r/ X3 R! H5 r
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited7 _ a$ c) {, x V8 }. N
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut. q& @: u2 U9 H. i. Y0 R
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure." C4 W8 R! ^ ], C
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in+ E7 W% g+ B8 a0 U: ]9 z8 r
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were; r% a- W2 T3 x
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: q5 o6 I% o& @were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 w0 k! B6 I2 }7 Z; {every question."
# D2 y/ T9 V8 @+ u+ M2 ~Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether+ a- }+ s; ?( c5 d2 ]
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 g% c' R2 o1 O, j4 |, q) l
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. r' p* ~- V; r2 w9 ]& n, b6 a3 G+ ^3 rcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
4 a8 q7 Y0 l8 Z, `4 m# E1 {% N- xnumber of vehicles
7 d8 K7 |8 x: eTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
6 G/ B" @! A3 ^. Pdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a8 J6 `& ?3 ]# h; q+ {7 z& {
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" T3 b+ w1 }9 a: ~* i8 u* O& d% Vsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.# f8 Y& w( k: P' V
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,3 G! a8 Z- ~6 h. Z% D
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* }2 i" m' T: `) Wtrace at all.% G% k& `" S* Y, c: ?" {( }
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
1 _2 _" D/ P/ wdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
( M% z$ S; h8 n; K I2 Y i9 i5 nacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the9 ]; U6 f( e; e" q7 q W
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.7 |1 z; D, [' F- n* y+ ^
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
: O+ Y3 F* H5 H8 {: D3 T( s* Xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 _9 s/ K" x* f7 ], w
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
. j1 Q, L2 T8 c4 g, [: {electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
% s! z4 O% I" Y+ M* H! Ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only& R3 D1 E7 d/ _" k) X7 E
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
! ]0 Q; L. T/ D* I# d1 V+ u; Oby Toyota's lawyers."
' a$ f( T* p4 Z; @Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of4 b- c3 r! G! ]+ O5 a2 u! ^2 w
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
" H# M. |' h, e% Wcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( k1 z5 J6 c" z2 Z1 ^! N. F- K
said.
$ l* ^0 q* b1 \6 p3 j u* l" I"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
1 x0 r$ X6 T, X; @; Ua rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
$ e- C3 }/ o, m. v S/ Xgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
/ O/ D1 Z7 l5 e& S3 eofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.+ s8 W ^7 w. v5 w5 e
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying' o) w) J M. f
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 {/ }. d$ }3 ^" C, @* l7 Yrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
1 ^1 X9 R. e6 ^7 q, y sautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
, ? n- V3 C9 s2 {5 j6 Finvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
8 \+ U# G; _% X j u7 Z; U xChrysler.
: X+ |5 P U- |, I+ A1 u6 x; d"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 x+ z! I3 \2 @5 X2 f" d3 X9 X
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
; i e7 @& L THouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
$ r, d& B- }+ M) ~7 h7 L* [served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete" p# S' s @8 c- I. O: c1 W% Y |
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
2 k- [) N6 ^7 B8 a$ Jtough."
& W i/ d, s6 @& U) _) T$ w---( @5 U, G( ~) Y/ K+ g
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom y, Q9 ]( ]' S7 ]$ P1 x5 n: l
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
/ c! H1 _0 s3 a+ o4 @this story. L+ ^4 R+ y# n
) v. L0 W& ^0 _: Q2 ]6 a5 H
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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