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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题8 ?& D3 g6 W8 S2 Q1 l, B
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
" ?6 R1 Y. y" N* C# g5 n: v- fWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! c' U+ ~, G. y: `
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ {& p- O" s! Y5 b" ^the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"! n+ O9 z w$ B! T( ~6 A; [
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration., G: L8 v& Y' o8 M0 _* y' L
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential, d4 q% {( ^3 I r3 m+ f' |
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, J' o, P, n- _0 YHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
W* ?1 G& ~: p& Q, [- f; z7 T3 d6 facceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
9 B' n; S. i& O' I, o+ strucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor6 S' \4 i+ D" ~* r) u8 Z* P5 t
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.8 i, p' Y- e1 {& }: d, y7 K% n
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
6 t! z, `/ P: X4 zand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp. G( }& C2 b, H, y# X
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be' [9 c; v' m- S
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could8 C" E9 |9 x5 {5 h
not stop her runaway Lexus.
( g; O: V2 j5 I/ A3 @) s6 p" @"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
- ?; k2 c/ \' T y* d% _Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' H! t( f, F2 V4 a V3 e"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ V# Z" i, S! t8 MTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues4 n6 M; M+ e3 G, b# r. z
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said2 `3 Q/ I* _) I' v, J
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% O. H" |6 b; t8 Ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway& T( }, }3 l' O; u
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
* R, |8 r7 b0 S+ j+ cinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
9 A1 P3 d8 I; T* b0 V. P# A$ pLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an. n9 ^2 O/ o0 ^" N9 l
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of( U% V% b# V2 y7 o' J: d
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
* s R$ ?" m3 F. [/ Lmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 U; ?" X1 d: {, I8 f+ G5 E7 wsaid.
9 K) i1 G% C LAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& A1 T* R) z- U/ G5 @8 b2 ]
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) i7 K" A, I! z' b E
about driving our products," Lentz said.
7 }$ |% q) j. B F+ tThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's) l+ ^+ Y. S1 K6 S; ^; W& t
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has- k) V" k; P; U8 q' W$ {
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6. @) k6 u5 h# }2 l6 f1 `" d
million in the United States -- since last fall because of/ u. `/ W, r' k
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
! X5 r3 J, X3 k5 wissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
3 f, l. @# [+ Fconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of4 I& [! \, T4 N# W
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 l5 J" e, `$ _" I0 l% k! T8 ]9 |down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" e: ^/ J: o% j4 S% y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
+ e4 s3 w! l b2 lof Toyota vehicles since 2000./ x& f( w3 x5 @9 B/ l; `: w
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
- f1 E+ K2 F: P8 a& e- E* mbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
+ I0 W( M( I/ r7 \, |understood the pain.3 y. F4 a# ~! W/ O( m
"I know what those families go through," he said.
, T8 ~5 }& t1 G% x1 C L( z |" |' K* [Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's- j' }# f$ f9 {% ^' [
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 b) g7 [2 e+ `5 M- o0 UBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman+ N! [# r7 f: u0 u
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put U) T8 r& [8 y- w$ S5 s$ G
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
8 [0 A3 n/ y) E6 m& Z$ MLentz replied: "Not totally." Y) g1 a% b: ]5 f% E* y
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were% \: k7 k1 J( V! D; p$ w9 U- E
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said$ g; q) b9 @7 |& B. @6 C
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas3 [; f: u( e# i5 }' V
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
) E7 U$ D8 f0 Q! }vehicles already on the road.; O( Y& _8 |7 b( I' w p
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
- E! d% H1 _2 D N9 {" ubefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full( v' }. s' }3 i2 l
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- {7 V; H" X8 q1 }$ B0 Q
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
) `: ]+ s5 a- X* i' [ jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.' o5 H' C2 y; @; l
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
% e( z9 _* a$ ~4 r5 q) B2 ?0 g: Ktragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony- |' n# g6 x2 s+ ^( r
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight; X% ^1 B% u0 x8 l
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- M z- z$ S3 L- T' y& i2 m0 rcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
7 p; p, E5 C# orestore the trust of our customers."+ m$ T8 ^6 P$ I3 I8 H
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
( M I& u0 X" s5 g$ vSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
4 k" _0 |) A) E$ o1 Azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --% }/ h R2 T) c! V) e! N
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
0 e% R& B6 s/ \7 _8 ^6 Ehitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough8 c2 J, @, d- A- Z! B C& p( B' c
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
( b$ g- K, j3 i2 `2 Hturn off the engine.
/ N5 |6 y2 z9 ^3 S3 ^8 LFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
q, n7 ?- N2 n; s' ?October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."3 c3 h v+ d1 y" T% \5 P' a
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
" F( v1 L$ |) l0 V, Esaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond1 W. B$ |+ h' C3 {& ^1 G/ I
to her complaints.7 N2 E6 S" O8 t4 {0 |1 K+ c
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
/ M- X) u! C( ^2 wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic& l: V" t i3 x1 v- ~6 E
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars., r7 T$ B2 ^' f' ?) _ G4 v- B
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 i5 M) Y/ R" g! `# {. vthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. x5 H) w# n3 j7 f"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 z/ j) G" t# q+ doff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
, p, w6 h4 v- J1 T6 n# L$ ^3 m9 eTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in4 _# v5 {! {- v: ?
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were( v; A# Z9 e% r/ ^: J
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls" `/ P9 X" |* V$ @! _" w
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
7 e9 Z3 S- r! q# D0 \6 ^3 Devery question."
9 F/ {* N+ J, o% |0 O$ {/ r0 U9 eToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
$ H& C/ D7 y7 f) _. Eelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The6 C+ s2 f3 |3 z8 g3 z
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
" S; n0 s! C$ { _7 w9 Y7 tcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small; i5 ?# q. e& H3 }# l) C+ c
number of vehicles3 A S* u, u" g# _
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more# L t" @' g! ]0 ~9 A7 }" {. q. E
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 T3 i# |$ i4 n, Emechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# s& |5 h0 D& l. w% D# ~7 @source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* _; f7 I7 ?$ h$ _$ ZMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
; B4 f4 V7 J, M1 Swhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* T* E A3 ]/ U2 w5 [6 ~trace at all.8 v# B0 [; l7 K0 X; I
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call" H) y+ k# G V. A! Y, Z
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
5 q% G1 A& H7 L& Jacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
& Y7 ^7 O' j4 T5 G9 G+ d1 Orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
+ ~: D5 L4 g5 B1 a" TRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, B3 H) i, X% G0 Q- _# v
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
. s7 c( {$ q; o9 N3 o* Y7 Jother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the v7 Q# |: M/ a6 c: e4 w
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
( @6 T9 F3 Q, vcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only# D8 @. {7 f) F1 @$ U3 z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained: {" W7 D# p- i, l+ x+ p3 Q
by Toyota's lawyers."
8 m; h: P6 n" _) yLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of v8 c$ E* Y/ ]. N
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 |! y& Q! [$ y
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he% A7 v) |' y; {6 a
said.
: s; _% e) D5 T* A"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
; l& |4 _ Y8 G$ c% V3 \; ^a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 ~4 h4 e5 g; W* i/ hgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating) F9 g6 D2 l% y: p+ k
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 s4 y$ Z5 q* G6 ]! V! l7 tSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying S/ a5 j* }! I% k5 h$ ]' Q
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread7 t7 G4 r: a. K% g+ w, m
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the0 e( [, f2 j# I. }4 o3 M5 t: `/ c
automaker, at least in part because of the government's* p/ W" t1 @! ~) p2 R
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
+ d+ r3 \( y3 z: Y/ M" l4 ? PChrysler.. q) V) W* d6 R" [8 x+ C
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
" k# {3 v/ o- k+ tdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 B) s1 ?4 x5 T3 j- `5 cHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also( C5 Y: ]- o& K
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete4 d/ R6 h0 c B$ p% ^
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty4 N: ^7 L/ T& h4 C; X7 x
tough."1 d) R; y" ~! `! ?4 X7 f
---4 k' o& {9 Q6 Z$ L3 }7 h
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( Z- Q3 D: } T
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
2 D$ |) f& z3 _) Q' Uthis story./ o" |1 e5 p$ r1 e7 s7 j( r, \, b
! e7 u0 L2 g( r4 W1 G" i-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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