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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题4 X& _$ W2 r, x# Y4 p
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- F, r7 v: b& {5 s+ z9 z/ N- S
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.* ~# F0 k! V# }8 I, c+ i. u
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that" K) A s5 _0 x/ Y6 Y
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ r; U' @8 {$ e, Psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
3 b% s/ v6 {2 ]+ q4 f+ l- i) L) I- r" L1 I X"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
4 H I' _* Z# `: H4 _& a, h1 G: [causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel./ B8 N" E. d# T0 m2 E8 n
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
2 N c2 b% P Wacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and* G' w9 N5 m9 }& F0 y& e4 n
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor, S0 j/ e+ c O) ^
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
+ x) c" p# W3 V* t" O* ~He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal4 a) Q2 X v1 n4 q& w% X
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" K- |! m0 G' |* ?, ocriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
; y# S! R" o% _2 F* hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could4 S9 K; P& ]* E0 a
not stop her runaway Lexus.
: V$ o \: j8 Z; u' o, C"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,7 U. r, h9 |' ], J* z7 u( @
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 i6 I# ]" H' h# d
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
+ o, n6 | R6 e6 y1 y4 CTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: Z8 Z' | n% j/ _/ n! e4 w/ B- W
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! L0 q* ]6 S5 C; `5 t, c3 c"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
( c6 H' W+ N, K# jdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' G, \& e* _- d+ ?- J1 @* g/ `# Z0 Mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
! Y7 V4 D# \. V+ g7 j, `* Xinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
4 q/ N- J1 k' i% BLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 H* J& F# G2 J8 b9 y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
6 G: ]! o X* U3 c, ^. cthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a3 p7 H3 w6 M' L, v% |
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he, |2 I5 B- s- Y4 J. o% M
said.
v6 O* i1 i \+ IAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what# q( S: v0 L% j' Q9 E% N
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
7 l8 v0 p4 y) G$ Y5 s2 E% |/ ?- b8 Yabout driving our products," Lentz said.
1 O7 ~& T F- X/ u4 b) DThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* K$ i& n: W8 N+ h0 F2 a# s8 ^problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
& b& y1 S4 J9 s! hrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 68 i) z7 O4 V; J3 F; O
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 r. h+ T% D9 wunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking& M2 m7 u" g4 H7 q8 s7 b8 d3 x
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: V: H6 L* k lconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of* { T( g7 w- B8 V4 k. o. f
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
\$ A# b! _* \, X! U1 sdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has6 n8 b! _3 {. Y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
8 c3 w7 E/ U0 Z3 M; q; Kof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
' m2 w& P! [0 U: G# A. GLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
! e. N3 X; |$ _ |: r0 m' abrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he" I* h7 `1 q' d1 ~+ g, R. g% Y' j
understood the pain.
: F5 }. e4 h" j! q. k8 `" m"I know what those families go through," he said.; a4 A2 T& o% K* \* N: B1 h- I$ o7 c
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
1 Q$ j f w5 v, i/ ]fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
c) F6 S+ ?; q5 pBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman8 n% H! l( D: Q4 o
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
0 O, ~! K) n5 L9 m* }" h3 L4 Ain place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,# K4 G2 ^0 U9 n- n2 H' M7 W
Lentz replied: "Not totally."( t: O3 t$ I/ ?( f. L2 l
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were1 h* J4 M2 X2 }$ O4 p/ y" L
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! b1 B. `3 E. R' ?. {Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 ]$ M( v7 a' a! e
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
$ Y; j+ Y1 p9 `9 jvehicles already on the road. D/ a# g3 C5 b; u
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify5 r+ N' V' E- v$ v7 ~
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full: F" a! q- N2 [- k. @
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
7 C- ]; i: Z! N7 qoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were$ x L+ k) O; o2 m
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 b5 Z0 X8 _$ G: C: w1 P+ Y. t% c"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
4 T& I' A! J- p5 q' Y) S2 R! e2 v" ktragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ c; e4 `9 h- u# }7 d5 nfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight. M" [% L6 M+ H2 E7 `
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
( [/ q F* g, K7 `! @- g: f3 Scommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to9 e: S1 r+ y5 w) g
restore the trust of our customers."2 W X% {7 O1 {
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 G7 w. ~5 }0 o& P) v8 L
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
( U7 T! Q2 l. D1 Q$ }7 |# Hzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
7 ~! H9 |7 @" m1 Pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
2 C. p; u) \8 R& X4 R4 ehitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough; F, h# q9 @$ F( t: `- L" G5 x
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
m: ^* o3 D J# |& Zturn off the engine.2 y# V& U) m E- j' \8 T$ u U4 f
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of/ M' v q; r( o7 F; z/ c( K
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' Z+ @9 e e( {& g: K' N+ }0 L
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ d. g' e3 ?" i1 R4 csaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond L+ n9 s8 i+ b6 i# @. h, I# _
to her complaints.
2 W7 e+ g2 S( Y/ w9 i+ n; mIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" O8 h& G* }. Y4 n- u/ F, ?
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
. H @$ X4 v+ p1 Mmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.$ M( d* p/ c8 o; {7 F( Z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% P* `( _. [& N) P
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
3 X2 N% u5 J& I9 X, l) e: R"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut! C* |( G, L- P1 O; V
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 g _' a! s2 |; C6 c- ~
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in0 f! w* W" I+ Y! {+ [+ K8 d
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
7 E% D1 T4 _ v3 S' w0 D @being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
+ ?3 @# F4 Q b7 j$ N1 L6 swere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer0 m2 ?; t2 f, G! ]2 V% v7 z
every question."
' l% z8 c# |: jToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
; ^+ Y" m8 M' K7 ~electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The" } u- l0 l: I% M/ W8 y+ U
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But: D& a" u) {9 p# |- z
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, b" {* X' w; h& m6 pnumber of vehicles! a1 k6 ~* r- C! S; T3 E _; p
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 c7 e9 T X! s+ i$ z
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; A) v$ o+ X4 e4 i: l
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
& p/ b* M" g" m- d3 ?source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ f, e: i; ?2 a
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' F4 U' w) g3 t& z6 R3 o9 u7 X* awhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; E d; I$ V R
trace at all.. j8 i5 [4 u; Y( V
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
4 C" D }# T* u& F v. `6 }database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden0 ]( V& _8 O# Q( Z: j
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the3 T$ r# j3 t. \+ ^9 `7 m! y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 A# O1 c. H4 L8 a$ l7 xRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* q4 j# i* c0 {8 u) Ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and# \' a* l: ]7 E" Q
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
0 D; |6 P Y7 R7 P1 u2 B: eelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
) s% F( R5 t: X- P/ J* }4 wcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ Y1 f# U5 n% A! }% O0 `
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 { n6 s( i( x* {by Toyota's lawyers."
) a* F ?3 H7 x7 pLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of; {, x0 N' ?( l& g: P. b3 t
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; Q: }, n5 d9 a* P5 @customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
) c# l, |; K( k/ y# ]( l# p% Gsaid.6 K' j; U) g; V9 x
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 Z& \# G: g9 F$ A0 ?a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
9 `$ j1 F- q1 q( Q+ D1 O7 rgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! K. j% i1 p2 P7 W8 w6 T) R. ]officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
4 i9 |; v7 ?% E# b: B& J$ uSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying& T+ q* U) Z: X! z
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread& \$ ^9 {9 j8 |: ~
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
" X& e% R( F" C1 x, _automaker, at least in part because of the government's. X8 N) D5 }/ b4 l
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
: P- C& ^, a3 E+ P: }' c( EChrysler.
/ J' E4 ^" T: f* D0 N4 y0 j& ]"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& I# X7 V( I' m( Z: D$ p, r( E2 H
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
! D+ C/ q( ^* Y7 Z, vHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 Y; {0 G& P% j9 P
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 V, ]9 Q+ K x& ~3 g7 ~! A: A
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty" k! s4 S$ ~! [; t; x) ^8 Y
tough."
/ v4 D! ^. q) _) L" I( e1 Z8 ?---1 t, F, e- o0 |' t/ H
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom* O$ n! n; c; v' j; y6 e
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
% H. z d+ f, y# Dthis story.8 O4 Y$ m6 S( P; B% g, n4 N
0 k: p+ R; Q+ q, u" ~) V-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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