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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题6 n6 Q' e2 e. p' h0 [, E6 d! P% i
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS2 B- m) a& w; i; G+ O- }
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
/ N0 m) @' p: Eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
: L5 o) r& o5 u# b. R- Z4 ~8 ?the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
/ e" `+ I1 L& m }solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ ^/ p% J4 S! w2 e4 I' `"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential; F, S. t* Q1 p
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' ?* k6 {6 J8 _# ~" M1 k3 V, U. k1 mHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! E! q- p: g* k- Dacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and9 n4 M: u& m8 ]% x I2 A1 a
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor0 p! K1 D$ V Z' |3 |, _& k! U
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.8 j1 S) k! f! r# r0 A
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
) {: R# \3 j# p( vand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp( M R( m7 s9 b0 R0 ^
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
; |7 R: u3 [! H+ Efurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could3 q& d: F/ G0 @( @8 d
not stop her runaway Lexus.7 ~4 u- ^- o: i: {
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; x0 N; R$ f: q. @( `3 W H2 |
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ b* f( f, ]/ d"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
; y# g% {3 M+ D8 \5 E- @Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues- e4 ^0 @* {8 J6 p) u) r
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* \- x' E- u/ A; U4 d- a7 \
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% T0 n$ j% M% z2 L( ndone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
, P" Z9 D' ?: ?through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's. \1 @# p( o. Q- Y- l+ ~
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."# L( x& G( j" X% z0 v* J; b! c
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an. M2 I6 O) W' `
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
- E- [# u5 |# G! Y- gthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
( k1 w4 e/ |$ mmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
w% V- E" s4 I( a9 M. x, ksaid.
+ C4 e% m- H# D' a& @As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
; h% ]. e* y9 b( {9 [+ A! bhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe. Y- X! y+ e% `3 |6 T
about driving our products," Lentz said., h& k9 b9 j+ ?5 G& I
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' ?3 C5 g9 p/ x* z
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
! L8 [2 d- ?8 [+ ~! Drecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6 P- v% H' v6 `5 j Z4 s. T8 @. v( a" S
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
* R" Y$ h) ?' U* B. kunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
" y/ b5 |. b! O$ r0 j3 {. ^issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
; B. q) K/ r9 c: fconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of5 h7 b) y/ m2 ^: Q7 J0 ^+ ]; e" Z c! n
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- Q3 ~, f2 x! }$ T( G5 d
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has* d% {8 m' f4 R1 \$ y; \, ?. O z
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
% g2 N# w5 V# f9 ?# ^of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
6 s& w/ n4 E, y4 CLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own3 q) J$ e$ g& u2 N
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ @# B @: c/ |7 Z. I, n4 L
understood the pain.
7 `/ B7 R. i& ]7 m6 K( f3 g; G"I know what those families go through," he said.- w; v6 f& K; |4 B1 ~
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& ?3 V4 C; p! u+ S6 z1 {& r
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.4 ~0 h3 S; ~0 _; L u9 M% x
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% p3 o, n; b2 A! v2 d! n! p; eHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put A" W, X+ P2 |) f9 G- D, K
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 m0 x2 @/ O' ?Lentz replied: "Not totally."
6 a$ [* h2 s1 Z7 O9 j3 [( | E, xStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were2 F4 P, |$ n2 ]3 w( n/ E
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said G, M7 J; P3 M6 c0 `
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas8 ?) F3 d2 X4 T2 a( c
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
' ?7 x7 J I" f/ {* n3 {4 q; P8 Ovehicles already on the road.
h7 a E, l \ s% d# UMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify2 [' G( s; v: Z F' d: `( {3 D3 I
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full: Y$ F* W x" a9 T4 \3 S
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and9 u- R- b( U6 r
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
' N( }0 K8 m; ~& y; ykilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 K( E" \2 p) H% S8 F! ?
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; O+ Z3 t' v ~$ rtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
7 m/ F+ _" F1 H+ Lfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
# X w e" |* z& I1 u" KCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal, @! z f$ h' t! I) o, O3 K
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
7 H& m# m0 s# v1 P- Qrestore the trust of our customers."% W1 h @" B8 I2 L0 [
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from% Y: ~0 x" A) x. t" ~
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly. R, T5 S3 y$ g. d
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --+ m# @, _; q4 v, j/ B5 I
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
# S4 X* i; ^% ~1 j; i4 Qhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 f0 p8 l% E. Z- W6 W9 |
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& n: `: [2 L, ]+ ~ k6 uturn off the engine./ C) E+ F' l9 G# e6 p: z% `
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( H6 V- C, f0 d" E# D/ S
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."3 _/ o$ I. j6 \# I. |
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
' L( {5 g, M+ J' vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 W$ l, E% w( G+ q, H# B0 ?: ~to her complaints.
7 s: ?5 m1 Y$ g: m' }0 mIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers9 M& p( t' {, J) b. \
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 [6 v; d! X) O) l
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.5 t0 j9 O2 O( U' r
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
/ S! e2 w8 l. D/ Uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited2 K- U: I! C2 }+ c' `5 w6 Y# W# m# B
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
" b( g" e3 a" Q) ]$ e0 Noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
9 b( F1 \" X3 Y/ Y9 z6 N- mTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* F5 k* c- B! w
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# k3 o) C7 z0 B9 s- g0 nbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
& L3 v8 k$ n) F kwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
/ u, y a: ]& D Z8 a. f, \* q0 jevery question."$ U Z. f$ k* [* N+ X
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 @+ N* f3 R6 Q- f; R) G5 }4 Celectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The/ B" H1 _8 @) w) Q$ E+ f
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 x# r/ Y/ o& Y6 _' {committee investigators said the testing studied only a small/ ]% [0 a; _5 o3 o+ C. T2 M0 B
number of vehicles8 {# ^; l2 \# j5 O" c! b
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
# b7 Y5 R6 U' Y1 x' g6 w& N3 qdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 J Z; Q: V+ ~6 m8 zmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
1 j4 h% |% v& }; ^' N, Gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 e+ r V, |! w3 O5 K" RMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,6 f3 V6 k" {: O. C2 [8 b! O. v
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
9 Y+ C% e7 {4 m, ^trace at all., ^! \4 [. K- v- q/ d
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
9 v- d- t$ p f- J+ P/ Tdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
, Q" _+ z2 L2 s8 B8 i1 Y0 m% |6 f/ iacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the. w* Y# j8 k1 }8 z5 D
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.+ x( h# Y3 X8 k" ^
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
# q6 u& J% s2 ^* isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ O# N" A4 n5 u H* J3 N; aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
9 k$ X9 Z2 U( @- delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible) `4 P. l# n$ `
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only3 ~/ w( R4 D' @) V( r W
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
0 C* i1 j f. @9 n% Y+ _0 f8 @by Toyota's lawyers."1 i9 A0 s+ U- w p, @
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of9 {) |% y% B; }; N( c! N; R
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
3 K1 u4 W$ D; gcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he j7 F, ]& r5 P1 u, {
said.! U) F0 A: J$ j/ N: |
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
6 h2 |/ h2 X3 y2 b% y/ v3 Ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 a3 W1 W' ?+ ^" F
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
H' L# E3 H. D2 D, h* Aofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
( e8 a6 S' b6 _4 jSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying8 w) Z5 y8 g4 s4 F" D7 U( G
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 a, u X. ]& _rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the4 W3 M$ \& U- U0 |, [
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
, Y9 }; r% p- w" [8 _4 ^9 Linvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& c |' |1 q- [
Chrysler.* w# ?8 S+ J' \
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
5 s" H5 e% d0 Fdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) V$ n; b+ Z; K$ t/ L% U2 IHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
P$ \" I0 H: _" z5 ^- _served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete& O6 s- y& O$ X" p: v6 ?3 ^
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty! m+ u/ W( w/ z
tough."$ |1 O9 L2 n* |7 I; }
---
5 H- n* b5 @$ r# z3 vAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
7 s S2 J! Q+ ?. NRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
/ z5 V/ e) p$ {this story.
/ h: V `3 a) P3 p; G. d5 K/ x, Q/ L
# P8 w' k8 V; B7 L: M+ \-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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