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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题2 r* F7 l" P6 p' t1 L" n& b
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS# G- r+ B7 _8 N \6 G! H: j& ?
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
, ? J& { D7 voperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
" E& @. b; v$ n# l) {! vthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"2 e# C4 S8 y# {" r# O( Q4 m6 p
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& _% F' P' \, |& V"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
. Z6 X$ x; V2 ucauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
# m3 v I" _ `However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected6 c6 z& j* ?# a! k
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
) c$ h& ^) i5 {! `* j1 @% vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
4 X/ O' e! W9 F8 x5 c. W9 Emats and sticking accelerator pedals.3 l' u; T8 h* u. V# x i- |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal. L6 {. e: K9 e3 [9 @8 e9 j- \
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 ~0 ~! ~5 p6 D2 a1 Zcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
% `, [/ p( I8 |3 F1 O& ]further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& v/ s% d5 m& l6 V! Y
not stop her runaway Lexus.0 G9 ~+ d# G& m
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,' a5 [& E/ H. U$ x, y
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 G6 r. S, l, w* D' q
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.7 l( y7 g/ M5 Z1 {7 ~
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
Q2 @: G/ ?$ c' p Searly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
1 Z; K, c3 y" v9 F"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has: ?1 |4 y: j G7 |. _1 L
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway4 F' F9 d, O# ^/ z. H. \7 m
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
% |; b9 A8 v( J5 n% E4 Iinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."4 c; z& c! t" S3 w# n3 E: Q/ r
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! c% N$ U4 s2 }, c% q& {electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of. A# Y% R3 v: x# ~ i
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
) F' o; Z& c; u3 b/ Bmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he5 o) B3 V; b7 U1 S- a) [* `
said.( T3 x1 L6 v& d+ B; P: ~6 i# S
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what3 i: m" |: d. C5 W) g* a, f3 h
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe6 K3 p! v) \1 b% g
about driving our products," Lentz said.
2 n" ]4 l+ U1 V! G9 }$ G' kThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
9 |1 |: K) N) Q% s% o4 ^( {8 Y8 P; cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
$ b5 A+ {" L C" L. h7 Wrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
`3 _! I# p' d$ u2 L* Z" mmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
6 \2 W. l7 G1 L5 w! R* h1 Cunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking" M5 y$ _+ w7 g4 j$ ^
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering" q3 l, M: b6 a- F1 c4 E$ s f
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
+ d; E+ Z) L, e; S7 E' Ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow1 o. D* S \: i8 ?% F
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has. `6 n! [4 E( D- j1 _; e. }8 Y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ J' m6 ?8 O) Q- ? ]1 ?% J
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
* z. Y8 Z8 l4 Q) tLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
; O. U/ `8 w+ k, H+ bbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
9 ?8 Y; N, q" s+ Nunderstood the pain.; s, `7 R1 d1 S0 z7 Z2 U( v+ F$ l
"I know what those families go through," he said.
- E! ^2 U' ]0 P% e4 B9 f5 I; MLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 {, r3 d. c$ @* G8 k+ c
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
" G: q: G2 F% v' A0 d# `( nBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman4 h) ~- R. i9 w
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
, X" b9 m `! T2 O* m; |in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 x$ m, B$ d5 N0 J* e1 i" }
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
5 X% ~$ M; L# g' [6 nStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
$ u- Y" _7 @5 [( B/ Z0 F2 i"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
; q* t6 n2 G, t; P7 R9 IToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas; w# @% Z3 d8 {+ H, h/ w( s
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
U- ^0 }8 v0 @# p" O* Rvehicles already on the road.
( F5 u5 [' B* ~8 H& c, nMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
/ g( O" D* s! d! tbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# x2 B H' j1 }3 L+ P( wresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- u# m% y" H+ }% q0 O' K& X; p; D
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were6 L3 J# p0 M- {- ?" [
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
7 d) g9 @: G$ f"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
4 r; k( Z# M" {& F( Q, r0 Q8 itragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- \) \) `, K3 `. F N
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
7 c0 p9 S# b. `: b! {Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. O8 _) q. n/ Z7 D
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
( y4 t& w4 u3 M% U; c$ \. Krestore the trust of our customers."
0 g' M9 x; Q9 L; i0 \: tLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
) G. M4 D" {$ w$ S6 N2 H4 a' }3 QSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% B& S; F; m+ ^7 }* ]1 q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
+ g; b) w) L/ h0 |( E1 U# ^shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
' }8 t& a0 c& V% s, c0 v lhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
. D; w. i$ |8 }- L$ ~that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
: d! H( G; f5 T4 K; \# t% }' ^0 Tturn off the engine.# _2 l5 F1 M) Y3 r
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( ]( {2 ]! f) M$ i( s( @% IOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 L" v' e' `% u4 k' E+ m4 J
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
- ~% M7 ?4 v: K; _said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
- a( I8 k" t% r) i$ w+ V' ~2 `) N" _$ }to her complaints.
0 b# d& b5 o' i: `- HIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers. R" Z& m# R/ |
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
! z+ v2 ^; I# W, O7 t. Tmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.4 @3 p+ j$ y8 L- Q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
/ J D. E/ V' M% o9 Tthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
, A) E" `9 \. f* v" U) Q" d5 ?; D, J"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) Y" s- [, V6 q3 F9 f! `
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
/ g+ ?& O2 }4 Y. B9 p# |* w% G ?Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
2 ~. z# [7 H6 U! _, ]+ f, S4 k: Uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# p, ~% p4 _, Tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 s& N& Z0 E5 f8 N, B5 D
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer# l# q4 J+ D: }% l" a$ v- p
every question.": V. U7 L6 d5 K2 n% {% K
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ Y5 [0 J( z; u5 l7 }! X+ k9 uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
' O' n, \; E3 j) r3 p! Jfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
, W# P) n! G/ [, `) Ocommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) y6 W5 v6 S g' k0 t$ S# Cnumber of vehicles% J8 W4 |5 `% y2 K1 B* l& n
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more& B& {) v, J: E1 j6 N0 O
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
$ N5 }; r0 x. l2 b0 F9 Y! k7 K6 gmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one" ~0 J! x* J- y. D
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 z* J) S6 \9 C+ K
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 P L' ]* k- D! vwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
`3 v! v/ Q. Y; d6 @ S& Ftrace at all.
7 \9 L( U6 W8 J! H( BHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call' Y1 }7 }# x1 l% n0 M% V
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
; | W& S: Z6 E- d$ macceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the8 X- |# F4 ]5 `: z! E1 E5 } P
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
; D9 j# j8 X; F% X- B1 _% ^Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% k7 e3 Z# k7 f' \; ^0 u+ }9 hsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ N8 f# f2 g! c* |
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 i" z, a7 T( B9 p' T
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- j$ @/ ]) N( L, l) W& M. w$ Hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) o. ^# x) Q6 r% H
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* {5 ?: i! U: ^; N7 S1 n
by Toyota's lawyers."
# y. {3 Q9 _4 n. O, ?0 ULentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of6 l, z( M1 W! a$ |# w
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
2 ?. j5 `9 Y: A! t0 tcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he; ? W0 Z" ~9 X5 ?) k9 u
said.
0 {$ T t; |3 S u; r3 a' X6 e"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
* W1 O* r# |9 ^. Z- r7 O7 Da rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 x$ W0 i, f7 L- E9 S
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
7 P1 _% e! t' r3 W: S- fofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
3 \: }& E3 W) r m2 |* ISeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
$ N9 P+ L+ B' v2 T& V$ q# smembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: E$ ?- f% o7 `# x& i& V
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 q" `5 R% |( c: Z* r' M; z9 X
automaker, at least in part because of the government's) {" a2 o3 I' k$ J0 i% n
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
% A |% p: n! G5 c- K+ U' rChrysler.
Y6 L, W8 }3 Q0 R9 ?, C"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
8 o& D/ c# e! I6 hdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. d q# G- R& a4 c, |* Q) m: hHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
+ v7 t: ^ a% kserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete' j8 \8 U6 S+ b( ?
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty2 B, q: G4 t3 a$ C( ?9 X% ?
tough.") a1 d7 Q- p: k$ a
---
' l& T- I r E. C8 C+ J+ cAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
& B& P! o# E. q1 Y& WRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to D1 u! ?9 c |3 [& `1 }
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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