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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题5 g2 A0 Q# d/ a+ Q* J
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
8 v- O+ A( ?+ k& LWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! s" E4 u6 g' \7 x
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that8 Y& g' f: v+ d
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"" u. C, i- V: D( L( s
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.6 i- q- m7 v* C& R
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential! ] p" S3 e' O$ J6 f$ H1 y
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
! D2 A+ ? g8 W0 c! f/ B& M. {However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) L+ C- \$ K, S' Xacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
2 \: u- n0 \: x$ c( i5 S0 ^trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% }0 R7 J1 I0 D$ t+ x# omats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: \3 v' Y% q" G, T4 |4 {He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
, X" y- @+ C, _0 H$ C' ?0 M* [and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
4 ?% k% ?. [8 i+ y5 g8 qcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be. }: B4 t& `0 H1 B3 @3 F
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: b+ ]0 I3 H' p: K8 J/ qnot stop her runaway Lexus.
" N* A, i5 O. G, \4 R"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. L2 Y" I" _) u8 ^& K0 x
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second* ` p, s( R) y
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
5 F6 q/ ^5 E) i+ z3 m' kTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues! H4 z. Q0 V# M! i o. v% U
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said7 n v8 m+ T$ z3 Y3 ^4 M/ i" d
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
: y- w1 X) ~9 P" N2 _' V9 P: hdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( S$ p9 m& s" _# Ithrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
) l. _ t: T" z1 F# k0 Ninvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
" o+ }7 F! P/ r. u4 T3 B7 W; y1 LLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an7 z6 u/ x# h7 f
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of: `* h% g2 |& Z' ^# G5 B" ?
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
8 w2 c0 W0 `3 w1 J, N+ `% e2 w7 Lmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, K% M @0 R( F5 a7 zsaid.0 O, q+ L' P- e: r) ?
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; |* O1 ?: F O: p1 @% `happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe% b' U1 q4 N8 ]9 W: d# N8 O6 A
about driving our products," Lentz said.
0 j0 U2 }) [" I- \ LThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
# c, E A1 X0 C# E% K/ `! a" P' bproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
* Y9 J: ~; p2 m) S" Frecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
8 ?: W- |2 \2 p% nmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
: `0 z* @+ f5 a* _ j% z8 z/ nunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
# Q5 i! _* ?% s" s! h! hissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 q" j: ~" Z& O9 c% n% l
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
5 M8 _/ q! v; U2 N( H& U7 i! Xtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow; I1 u8 [& U; e# S' G C) G
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has3 `5 E- d5 C) I* `
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
N# n: `' |7 b' a- s. }+ Zof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
8 j; r* K1 Q3 z: WLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own: ^* b+ z* Z' ?
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he9 ?6 x+ f" D2 [% l
understood the pain.- X+ O2 d8 u9 s7 y7 s! y& _9 s
"I know what those families go through," he said.
" Q3 Q1 p' i' c6 W% Y9 E7 xLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
& ~% Y4 g: e$ H2 U3 afixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
" j7 A- |, z3 o T. G& mBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman/ S& t- N% R% [) l1 b3 z& C
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put T5 I3 I+ s1 D( }$ U6 s/ F: Z4 y
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
2 Z h9 s i# v* bLentz replied: "Not totally."
5 A9 Q4 F2 g) W% p/ eStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 n4 J) B! ]( W+ r: y9 y
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
: I7 p: H6 i# sToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 P C& Y4 N: e. w$ d' k
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its& Q. F" u. N' X5 A8 i+ t7 Z9 h9 m
vehicles already on the road.% s' i: \/ x& t' U+ L7 s$ [, o% M
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify' f9 P1 T$ o5 c K9 R
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full9 W- L n2 e& A& M+ {& @
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
1 |) K2 ~/ [! Q5 S9 }offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
4 }" ` y+ ?; I; n Akilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) s! n$ e r& B; V$ |4 m% r
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a2 j* X* p; ~) s6 J" B) }9 r$ t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
5 g" ~* U3 g2 U7 q4 b& E0 x8 xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
& e! N- W, Y3 E3 x: N0 q1 cCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
7 p2 R. n* t* t6 J: W! e/ Ycommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
6 _- }& {. W, z/ e: g- {8 B+ {restore the trust of our customers."
7 n$ {; _5 N+ h- gLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 s$ T8 k3 }( z ?. BSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly, Z# l! N1 A- b& ~5 Z" Q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
3 ~0 Y; O) m$ y; F" Eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and4 ]% l, M" s% y/ Z* ]6 R6 \& f+ h8 R
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
! H6 f; }2 `* ?9 q$ N! w7 E* T; ~9 gthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and2 W5 ?3 y! m6 x# o0 h1 J
turn off the engine.
6 H; P7 H0 o' W% o1 u8 H# b. I8 xFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of3 q& B7 M6 j: n& B* J
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.". Z/ f0 J1 s2 c( M2 E
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 O0 N, l2 _( Z s3 w/ }4 Asaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond- U0 R7 z- r; Y E4 _
to her complaints.
- V0 T2 K F* T Z( t: ?; @& R4 pIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ V* a8 C5 l+ z: C/ y. L6 @) Jreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 r$ t7 H% \9 X$ |; e2 i9 V# v
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.* {0 c" u3 J/ @' K; g
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) Q( N! {1 R2 {8 g x Q
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited. z5 b- M( v/ W0 d f- R5 v0 m
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
- i: T9 S- b, Loff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."- _8 C+ C; Q/ P/ b$ J2 n6 W8 U
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" I) E4 ]+ g% N' t3 g- ?
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! j0 R/ ^- a d. n2 v0 x2 _$ u8 H9 `being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
1 J5 b7 Z" B8 D' h6 e @8 d' l6 Bwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer+ q! ]# E4 X" A4 U
every question."1 U8 P% ?$ h" e5 A) m
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether: V& d# [2 X7 E- ]7 u5 w2 `! w. E
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
% e. z) n1 a4 j1 W; }6 |6 N5 Lfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
7 W8 T8 j- [# I# q, acommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small! t6 u5 z" j; y+ H" T
number of vehicles- q" V+ m, j _) S0 |, T3 i
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
) K# |/ C! P) a+ Pdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 d" G0 n5 @3 i8 ~0 Y! Q; Z8 i% |mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 P" L) y; ^1 F! nsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
! \! d- Z1 X+ [Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
& Z4 e3 v8 ]+ h5 C' l% E( |where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no! Q6 x$ r2 a7 b! G4 I: j
trace at all.& Y! k5 j( ]1 Q0 U! _
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call7 y" C g z, M$ ~9 C
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
5 A. B; }8 [( R5 B% uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the; z1 Z- k6 U# M- M8 s* v
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.- ^4 F! L: U% L& W
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
! |# V. s- n7 f" s) nsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
$ e$ v* l# \' }& r2 y8 {2 Q2 A6 _other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
) z( ]+ j) T) S& _ C% G5 _3 a/ e! eelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 p% {, d% q/ f9 e3 t$ ]3 @
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only1 c, t. J" m& X4 g0 s+ z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 T/ ?0 u$ z. I4 Aby Toyota's lawyers."4 I6 M' z6 ~3 k) {; v
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of- t+ o0 w3 ]5 h, ^8 m5 s$ T4 p9 V# g
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. ~* E3 H* e, I
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he: [- n( M9 Q+ M8 ~
said./ W( h2 w* P) N, a6 n N9 s# D/ a
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
. H, S2 ]- h B9 f" h2 Qa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our/ t% S7 H: n# g
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
/ U, \# |( L d. N; o0 Qofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
5 c3 E3 k" U: e9 A8 Q) g3 L7 BSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying8 l" Y# J: ?# I! v
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 K& k) h( O& O9 Z; l
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
4 j% d/ i" `- E/ @( Wautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 z% \; K0 R& q9 _) Tinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
3 n) Y7 s+ E3 u% |% W7 ]Chrysler.; \0 X l5 y) @& H" p- U
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
& x. l3 S9 n3 J- O# Y- T- Ndollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a' M/ ~: C9 v* G/ R
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also% U& ]! y( ~7 t X& V/ P/ n+ s' { i
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
, O2 @" e. e" @/ Vwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; g. K9 M& M# B5 l
tough."9 \7 v3 e- j! B! i
---
2 I- j0 `) N0 }8 Z; ~7 S4 ~Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom! @' g: S% T; A. Y1 Q* w- F
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 e2 B1 E/ }7 q: N- ethis story.- s/ |" g2 Y" T4 R
- j" M3 B) q- T3 M( C-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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