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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题) R ]% y' ~# ~3 r
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS7 f2 x) G% m! E* P5 L. O0 Q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
. {% [ ?( \' Z) N/ @operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. ~6 K3 w7 {, {' i$ ?' B* [( ~the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"3 z. E, h$ }; w, t
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
8 e* X, P, ?7 a8 @: K: t6 i- p4 h"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
" n, j2 m1 g% s6 ~2 ucauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' C: h7 q+ Z1 X. h) R5 QHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* g( a5 @# V$ L0 W% }$ f% ?
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and% y5 H: x* C: [
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
2 b2 S" [7 a2 n; Q. ^1 Imats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 [" o! p, g4 b; N- F0 WHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
9 g7 r+ Q" A6 K$ w* T7 q& n' P0 `6 zand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
! x0 ^9 \$ C/ Wcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; W* l$ @* E* ^- E3 U) |
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
1 ~) h3 l6 V9 m: C3 dnot stop her runaway Lexus.; z% ?, n+ }3 ?3 o" t! B
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
0 |* ` `5 f6 U0 d1 gTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
( \1 g9 `( z3 t"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& i A6 m) E ]1 ~
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 Q5 ?! D @# o7 H4 v- O
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said# Y7 G+ j, v/ q/ }& j
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ q' q+ U+ n5 V4 e. Z! ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway9 Q$ v' s8 l2 x$ ~/ v
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's6 S% \# g+ P5 a3 ^
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ Q; ~0 T0 E" z; E( H* [- L# R# b
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
4 a6 `/ k# Y( d U8 Gelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of& |6 x4 @6 V5 N: Y6 y/ n: t% \5 z* c
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
0 z+ J2 x+ e* h& Imalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 Z- @9 \0 D) D+ i4 z5 ssaid.
+ K9 o: R# o& jAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
+ E, G; L" [4 Yhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
: O) C# p( Q9 b3 p. v+ Iabout driving our products," Lentz said.8 i2 p" m' Z- n" p
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
T2 w" ?. W" l* L3 i# N0 @problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has* z1 }; p7 M% ~" q; [* {* g" S
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6; V! o D/ c* z6 {
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
3 ~% Z# I$ g( C& @: f3 u8 Y1 Eunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking+ u' }6 i( t7 L3 W8 a2 ^
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 \3 t+ V) D2 o% H, F: W
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of1 {4 e; {3 ^9 L9 U, b' y7 n
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ k; O; }- h! d" [3 H. z
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has% T3 @7 @" J7 K% }; _
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration" ^* ]5 ?% n: T$ c2 X8 V) i
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.% A8 Z6 t: \ @ b0 {- I- W( @
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
. E' d) g, V: }4 ?& Jbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- I2 L: \8 B: C2 }; t( j- G8 E
understood the pain.
% z' \# j1 l( p* M, h"I know what those families go through," he said.
. g3 P; q4 L! l6 P# NLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's6 C% y/ t5 a& {
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 ]% p3 S' C; ~" OBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 ]; F0 M& m2 W) R6 q4 DHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
9 E/ y, O' u) _! sin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
" S7 G9 H" U6 b `( ?Lentz replied: "Not totally."
6 M8 c" C& @" J0 x0 f, s" cStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were. R$ e7 m+ a b+ h0 N! u. e
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said# p' D! w4 y0 S8 V
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas7 y( S$ n( ~4 |# E: e
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# b& q6 J3 Q) E9 C
vehicles already on the road.9 d8 V& `+ `" R v1 H$ ^
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. ]: F* x. ~3 R# h* w* F/ q
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
4 l8 t9 W; m& r9 N* w* W; Qresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and5 I6 q# }( \9 W9 y& A
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
L* w; }: M! S9 K& M7 s8 Y6 X0 vkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.; T) { q& A( T( _
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a; i7 T" G4 y, e x [, n7 _3 ~0 E& z
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
I, ~ Z- F2 H/ c4 r3 R6 p7 h+ Z. d: yfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
6 f8 x9 P0 h% }) u8 D1 @Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal _/ ]7 i+ I3 o
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! n/ {3 n# b: k/ p, frestore the trust of our customers."8 J4 v* Q4 c# J& z) c
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
' M- n3 W- S% V) B }5 E0 ^Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly; W6 Q' }2 f" T5 a
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
+ ~$ W, L5 M& Y7 J- R' mshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 S+ L5 c2 e- u2 m7 Nhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
5 Y; [8 K. C5 y2 H$ a+ K8 tthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 O3 M" \- F: ^6 \3 A0 P+ p( pturn off the engine.
, r1 c5 C7 K' s& S# \Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
3 D5 x9 {* h4 s# F6 n# g3 u" hOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
" A4 `2 `" I0 R) Q! i"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she" T7 x6 T- R$ a( h+ z# Y# n8 {) z. \
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond3 s2 B# L2 H1 r3 m1 t
to her complaints.
: I" [! J7 x% w' L7 f0 mIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" L7 C7 F& Q: E1 a6 x: freturned again and again to the question of whether electronic, U/ v e% D- Q2 u: }! C
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
6 S3 |4 K! Z% F"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric* u8 `1 i& K& W, i
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
/ v/ C) E7 ^% q1 \7 \"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
) x& Z; O4 q M+ O1 j; h2 l7 [% A$ Doff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- h5 B4 O9 G6 L2 X* g: k q5 p$ jTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in3 [7 i; f' K* S, O1 a: P0 l
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were+ I0 J+ Q4 ~ p. }5 \! S
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: E/ W1 h/ [% F- y( U3 x3 q$ h2 y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
: a! m1 t! A% z8 aevery question."0 c6 z; m" E; }: [% X
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
4 d+ ] H( y# Jelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
: p; k4 E' d2 X- I5 ufirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
" l3 w4 Q2 a; n% j: v1 K2 s9 e# i! \committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. h9 H! a/ Y8 N3 h" p3 Gnumber of vehicles
' N6 n7 Z y; u6 o- uTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 O- _2 z5 Y5 n H3 ydifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
3 m% q0 n( o5 t9 O5 y) B/ b$ T2 Kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one) |( N. h2 n1 u; f2 x5 b% M
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
& H4 r% `& w4 I3 ~5 fMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,7 ?- ^' f) F$ ?$ Z( R1 L$ D. ?4 R9 N
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" r) g i% ~7 v e3 Ztrace at all.
# o7 E/ d/ T1 pHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
" c- ?1 x) W6 \% k" v# adatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% M7 m5 ?5 ~6 Q' B7 U# G4 M! uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! }* G8 n0 _( L7 Crecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
9 x. J1 k7 T' Q5 y2 h: ORep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 J8 m4 b2 f3 n2 {said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
[, n+ z7 i# t: f% o6 mother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
G7 S& m0 x6 I; qelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, b' l- l2 m |6 F- [cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
+ N. y1 q# R3 `9 D/ F' Lsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' e( M& f1 P; Mby Toyota's lawyers."
" l* h' }1 T( E6 d) T; W, K6 ?Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
/ o" H9 Y" f, F, O+ a5 |problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
7 i7 B2 h* p! ~& C6 g4 Icustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he$ V1 S4 N6 `1 a: o
said.: w" R/ }# X% S4 b4 P* G8 K9 L
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with# \; {6 R/ V1 y
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
$ ?9 I7 V7 L, T l h6 A) Bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
2 r6 s0 i( N& L) a+ Wofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc. q" S" Q2 @8 l. w0 r! R
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying5 @/ h' C" T4 A7 b
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread( a' M& }+ f8 J5 c. _
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the3 ~& N0 d3 S" C9 K$ D, `- Y, }" [
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" k9 I5 Z5 C% d* g8 \% Q/ m Ninvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
6 _- {; [6 G9 h! u( [) E! @; }Chrysler.
- {. S" z7 [4 M4 B4 L1 ]* z"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 U5 t$ D$ |. f$ z0 Jdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
( @. F# @+ ~8 _$ q' \Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
2 X5 S2 S" g7 U7 j0 Pserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete% M* p$ _- O$ J" A
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
! m# A: `; S& d/ k/ Wtough."( ~1 E2 n1 n+ S( x& @3 Z
---1 n/ m& {% M6 h2 c
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
) C0 D) A- @: S% L3 URaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
/ q7 F3 J5 u* J; d, M* ^& Ethis story.' r1 D" ?5 K) T8 F
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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