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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题* N( e& ^$ | R6 ^) T
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& `! a8 j: v$ V3 A# DWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.2 C( G, d+ D- D/ R
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that9 H! W/ E/ O* O$ t* _1 ~2 M' E
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# V% t5 C) g6 A4 v7 v2 bsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.+ C! Y% L" h- x. A( v9 h
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential" D$ A" y) U% p8 Y+ j! y
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.# E- U! |* x/ L, @
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected; r' F8 g5 F: k1 v5 \
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and8 s5 o; @6 r- Y( V" _% E b) ^
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
- q5 j! F1 `- ~$ \mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 M [2 ]4 {: n* _) [$ a1 g+ r- oHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
& A) |4 C; d9 rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
( b! O8 ?: E* p$ D" x: \ Fcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be- d, i9 {, G# {. n5 E* @( ~0 c
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could# d6 X0 Z2 m& M D" j# ?0 C
not stop her runaway Lexus.
9 Z0 w. r# W9 d1 K+ e6 h( y9 m6 x"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. B" l5 Z4 Y. Y$ t( q% p
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 M& D/ h% r6 G9 ?. M+ A"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.4 p a8 \& T; y% |* W5 e
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues& R& }$ R+ N0 j
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
& x2 A; F* @9 ]" T"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
1 ~" U6 A# d0 odone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
- l8 Y) }$ Z* \* O5 ythrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
! l6 Y0 ]$ [- k0 iinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
) D* T0 \. d: q+ hLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
8 J0 T$ n! X/ p3 P. q0 l# helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of% x- C0 @' I& @' ^
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a& n( I8 S& d# S# I
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& k4 o% X' R% h1 ^% I) B c5 o+ Psaid.9 }, j+ C( L5 [4 l" x
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
# K$ b6 h+ V5 y% [+ R' @4 i& ]happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; J: s1 d1 w/ K4 }' n1 q
about driving our products," Lentz said.# f8 n g1 K. T
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' v' J h: C; ?7 J, @, e
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
/ o& D, W! z# [) I5 K9 precalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' ?; q: ?+ P6 [
million in the United States -- since last fall because of, s9 _& h( d5 v/ h
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
1 o3 q, J. m G! W& Missues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# F2 x/ q( R) e& ]) jconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of {2 T" c9 p: z. ?
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 A6 @' Q" x. Q- `
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' k) _5 T# S3 Y1 b( G8 j8 _8 P# r
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
7 [# }( R: v# m7 L7 ]' O0 Yof Toyota vehicles since 2000.$ {& V7 T" v, ?) ^4 G
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
' W9 s$ s) `" o( fbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
3 @* M6 b! o$ K" `9 Y2 Gunderstood the pain.% ]9 J, g7 A4 }; g
"I know what those families go through," he said.
. V* Z; @5 T9 kLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# @0 M3 K. J& k1 }fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.* R7 X' A5 x+ r4 D6 H4 o
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
: g% P. P3 p) gHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
3 p! d9 Y# b5 H" x4 [. z- qin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
4 x D" f, f+ j# A7 ELentz replied: "Not totally."# }+ l! r+ F* _% ]' A- K( }
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were( h0 e, G" b) ~5 e' G. F+ d
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( S( {0 z- y; H6 P1 z: r
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. s/ G* b9 B: f5 w
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
; |- [, @$ ?9 `5 q! A. m& ?6 hvehicles already on the road.! ?9 \& s0 V" k0 v" g9 [
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify2 y% F* n ^: V: y7 s
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full! X# g6 k- O" M; n
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. _2 t1 X s# P) x! p U
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, a5 B, X* w9 Z/ vkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! `# H/ e. f& B7 g6 ]
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
% F( S' \: G) l5 p* }tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ F+ [. D4 U9 T& @# v" }0 e, E/ @for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( m4 r( p# ~4 ~$ G1 y" B) y0 F8 JCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal# l0 d1 ^; B! O) V6 L9 n
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
( v2 o f7 y- Q! _0 T1 Q: \restore the trust of our customers."
0 z3 }# ]( C" W1 s5 R8 u8 V1 x& c2 s; u0 uLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from% m a, j( i$ M) y3 [& B
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
- R2 E' y/ j2 H; Vzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
0 C$ b+ K3 M2 p8 y5 tshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
0 Y1 {0 ^# O- a# B2 D9 K+ p4 D: Mhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
+ V* f3 v1 \) x/ J9 v$ Lthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and) h% L; T) ]/ g/ I0 R
turn off the engine.
4 u! o7 u! I2 I% s+ xFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of0 T8 n, m* P7 l" L) J& i; R
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", V9 u x* f7 {' ?9 m! |( [4 W/ ^
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
- f2 i" I$ }6 p3 i: N# ?+ g2 W5 T" tsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond% U- r/ X: s8 u" |) Z" n3 H
to her complaints.6 Y+ |9 I# p& U% u' ^. E
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
: r7 a; ]/ k, w! jreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
9 ^3 r$ `) E- Fmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
% O2 x P% R* D9 f& ]"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric' _ ?' t7 H8 X+ I5 G0 c
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 N& V7 e& |8 Z0 }# q, j"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! U0 z3 I. S% r9 X$ X; P" hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
" V$ [, o+ k0 Q' D9 kTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in. @* W( D" i7 B( W
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
! Y) p w8 h" U4 l! l* [being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
3 N5 \; A" R' w; H0 Y& bwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer' p* G8 J' h& Z- x( S
every question.", o5 e& q1 J. G: S8 [
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether' I9 V+ C+ h: h7 f; P3 g7 H0 s
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# Y5 d) d5 k7 T+ g2 `firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
* k# N& C6 b+ L# z9 Z$ lcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
4 t8 `% e0 m7 @number of vehicles
+ o. x* A+ F, C! J _Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more l4 C E# z. r0 I
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a5 U1 c5 A; R" n0 ~5 I7 d# t: j( p
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" E+ O4 {5 T- J9 ?( `6 v* u* |source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
" X9 z& Z2 C+ L6 {Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,, U- S1 Q Q8 X C2 Z
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no8 Z4 S. [* W4 M1 m0 o. n/ R. a7 ^
trace at all.* G) Z. w J5 A" }+ }6 g
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call" s$ j* p4 [$ j3 q
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
3 P L0 \$ H. d4 w8 `4 \acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the |4 c7 h7 h U/ q( _
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
; K% M8 e7 {1 j! L0 h+ m$ ERep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,: N: B0 ~6 ]" L# C
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
" T+ J, R' l/ U8 sother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
1 {2 g" \$ S- `: t# o# H- Selectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 k: v6 K ]1 _( ?/ @% i2 Y5 A% Hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
6 E! W& J& c! E5 }4 |/ O! tsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained! W9 [( N2 ~0 \
by Toyota's lawyers."
: A! L( a) l9 h x0 ^! g+ NLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of- L) l. w' Y9 m3 w+ T0 K
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# H& R3 e1 Z! O. |customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
/ {! f( @ l9 `# t; e; S2 dsaid.9 g: M4 @7 [0 E% C
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
Q2 i# `# m1 Q, Ka rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our, R& n+ u, Y3 Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
$ R! Q$ Q! ^: C. b$ d9 kofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
- h1 ~3 A4 v. Q5 f% d3 A5 kSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying3 W9 Z& |5 I) o& q0 r4 t; ~# q
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread' X; c, |: ?: o0 A
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
- ^' x! a5 b1 M7 d& @+ g; |automaker, at least in part because of the government's" l# v. R1 ^& x8 m* v, x& L
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and: s! D9 E; e& Y# `. U
Chrysler.
+ s& Q0 o" ?" D" d- ?"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
; h# Y8 p) }: U7 C- } A! gdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a! D6 k6 _) h& u2 T0 H9 j) f P' J
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also6 A7 v: h% s, h
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
9 S9 D4 F) y* g! J V- G" l- Cwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; [- ^: j: }" Q# \' ftough."
! d1 I2 S3 Z$ a \1 v---! v9 j$ Q6 r0 B: R
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom0 k, d% t# k- ]* `
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
! v8 k* V- z' d* }7 _- C8 bthis story./ R9 k; w! T ?7 |0 E8 H
4 R2 `4 {4 f' [ B" e8 w* H8 M-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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