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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题; n9 z7 b9 G& \) P ^; n
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS+ O- U, {9 a! @8 R
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
. I) Y& Q8 i/ |% o* r4 V* ?operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. Y; T; j2 W) q2 Q Kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"8 H3 ?7 b& P8 C5 F" {$ r* \/ w1 k
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
6 |9 ^& K" [; E5 Y"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% |& o+ ?1 f& e1 E4 n q- e
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% _9 R. L& y& j3 j9 v/ q/ s. tHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 E2 }" w& v8 \1 gacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and- @- l4 |* y+ } n+ v; ^
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; y! ~2 |/ |; `% t' Y/ b" ?# G
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
. u. G, V, D c. t. l2 \He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
& Y: q+ e. L, l# |$ c, m& vand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
, o- E+ @: d* w2 ocriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
# u' F4 \( Y" N5 ]/ pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 F7 ^( I, b" Q$ g, G
not stop her runaway Lexus.& J# `0 R+ t, q5 ~, w% C2 ^
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville," V, i' H1 P$ @# _" y2 |2 h( O2 {- x. l* g
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' Y3 K& `) K1 \8 U$ P4 W"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ }+ Y! ?! o* {9 s2 q% N
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( q% c5 i% v6 i3 j
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
* {/ A6 H! P J" G) ^9 L"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# g8 r) W5 Y" c# `/ G# |; p! O
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway2 Y4 l. j4 P0 C. ]
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
! E7 h0 f7 ]3 \+ B' ~& t! p* Uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."( |" K# M! w$ k) F. W
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
2 \6 x1 |* O* ^4 k P$ t8 P# Aelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) x2 } q7 O/ o5 x# S$ h% xthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a, u/ R& |$ _. ]* O8 q
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
. g, n' J# a6 A8 nsaid.: m9 F3 ? e' T. E( ^' ~4 p
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. Q: n! i- A; ?happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe. o- L5 w5 y# o$ Y) S. [. K
about driving our products," Lentz said.
5 [7 b _! {; H7 p AThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 s9 a6 a7 X/ M- V9 p
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" m" l( I+ y7 t+ ?& X: ^recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 R3 J L, _! i1 W& zmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of8 u. {) t' ~( u$ F
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking: U/ h2 Y3 Q2 v0 ]& Q
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& G( h$ f- Y- Z: pconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( M; j+ E3 N9 s- Q2 V4 W a4 h
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow0 t" @. h8 c) s$ P3 I" q
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
- d2 e% P. _; `( K, C1 Dreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration6 ~% j$ P" W. e) L! j
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.$ o. r: j0 e" f' T) ?2 n! _
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
. x% D5 R. w s4 Z$ X2 Ibrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
: h8 t$ Z; m- y: a+ W9 d ?! B% lunderstood the pain.7 m8 [: ?2 q" u6 Y
"I know what those families go through," he said.
; m2 `# A2 n7 ^0 l' FLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 ^/ f9 u5 J; M6 C
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, Y- A: h: Y, `. I# |# @But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman* n! y9 e7 J7 g7 w0 |
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put7 S! v! l1 l6 @0 g6 d
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,! u1 R1 P' g' U# _( v
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
7 F. W; m9 i; |) \& c8 \Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
F7 ?" n5 f6 Z4 ~"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said+ x# R$ P$ M. N2 L5 J& \- Z" O5 |- {
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas: P4 w2 Y+ B2 ?/ A; ?( ~5 |7 w
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its3 ^: d$ m# a9 r( \
vehicles already on the road.
5 H% M) f% }) U+ \Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* C8 q H' u. S; I1 ^) B& u: H6 g
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full7 W' [8 L9 s1 M8 G0 H# f, ^& r7 U
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- d. {. b6 o: n0 ~8 v8 B$ \& voffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
: V7 o( V" U# ?* ?. xkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.' A3 H% H7 V; g
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
, ^/ g0 ?+ A& i% T7 W1 J# ]tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
8 c) d: J* a% F! t6 x1 ~for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
7 v! T6 m) ^: nCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
2 V& B3 e D+ Q/ fcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
# y3 l4 l) r& brestore the trust of our customers."
+ p% _4 X1 c9 j: O# `; r# M6 hLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from" B9 S+ y7 h$ \9 i
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
7 z o: \! x* @( k% @1 @ X ~zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
1 c( p& P% X# ~, z$ Lshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and# \4 b( z0 n! F& d: ?- m+ [
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; Z l4 I/ l a( A" b& }that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& l& O. ` v! ~$ g9 j9 F3 pturn off the engine.
7 m5 c1 o. y# @8 u5 ~: LFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of t" [. k) _+ l2 q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& b u& j$ U4 e
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) Q! ^9 J4 g* K( ~said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond" N! e/ ^% W) l5 y
to her complaints.
7 X$ N- O+ d4 r+ K5 dIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) B! o4 n* `1 b; H' b( Wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 s' f& u. j& W
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& x p+ u1 r8 l5 j/ {
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric0 s7 W W" @5 n/ L9 u
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 z, u; [3 x% x"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
# w4 z. T5 |. z' P6 u) Eoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
' l9 s. c4 d. k. U. ?Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 p* l: ~+ R; _% z+ I( U( |0 z
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
1 X( D5 _$ Z/ B* ubeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls7 ^6 l8 d% y1 ^! l+ H$ h& e& [
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
3 A2 Z5 G( r: s3 N- O' ?4 Nevery question."" D9 b) o% C) t) v
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
8 @# g0 @/ q7 A4 n' d0 q" telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
) n+ E2 n% v, C) @firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
! m8 i, n5 |1 y1 @committee investigators said the testing studied only a small; ^& I0 J; X1 E: j
number of vehicles7 f. Y5 w/ Y* T7 L
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more h4 n$ z! N% k
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# ~; I8 `7 x0 F* x* A
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one* z) f4 r! D6 j& W; \/ x: }
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
' [! [* I* b5 _7 b# u5 IMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
5 [# ~! s9 Z9 y9 |where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no3 B) @+ C, O9 L/ @9 a6 \$ ~8 j
trace at all.
: W, \$ t" k. _, H# v: aHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
' W. z& @* y! n7 F+ |( ]database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden& Y m1 n) [1 C: Q7 T1 R
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: @: h1 [& H) m7 C
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# n: }: }& J* x# ~: q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
- ]% e$ N( x; c \( W/ D, e( i e$ |0 Jsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, _3 L. M! w# e, _9 r$ l9 o! T/ O
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
3 A* A% [2 w$ I$ ~: i* Eelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
! H( i: B4 _! [: hcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
+ j6 d- K$ z4 Hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained+ M5 r6 \9 d1 W8 i& S
by Toyota's lawyers."' H( P' }9 {% b9 k8 M8 K& A! C2 o
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
+ o6 ?( A" k+ Rproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 D0 N0 E% j; N
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 Y/ x" {$ F4 msaid." [3 ^0 f2 h& _" X9 W8 a
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with( H5 V4 e* @% {5 W( N' {% \
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our5 T7 j) o3 f7 H- h* G- ?9 l( ^
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating+ e4 F4 | a$ Y. Z7 P7 P; M0 H
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.- x, e' k% w" B. t
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying' T, [0 G4 b5 v. q( c$ W
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) q. f6 U1 h, }! E
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
) T6 ]( g1 N. Kautomaker, at least in part because of the government's' X$ m/ o6 M+ X3 W3 [' ^9 ~/ u
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and" K' A( F; |; m- [- k4 G$ i8 P4 ~
Chrysler.. c. f/ K7 x2 f* h! f2 i
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax$ \' S0 |* q+ e5 D
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
' e" O& j$ `( z YHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
- q+ k8 D$ q6 N& V/ Y" Yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: B) w) r4 P1 q6 @4 t! f) Uwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty6 P1 E/ h7 m$ D/ z: b1 t+ u
tough."
: ]+ {1 [0 W- g- a" T/ R---
, i' o% b6 [# ~8 wAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom6 @1 s3 Z1 `0 O6 s! l
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
+ t. _" Y, @ `, R- ?" q% athis story.3 |+ {/ H/ Z/ i0 Q1 ^( W/ g
q1 A6 k6 I, |# W+ f-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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