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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题% @5 g* o# O7 E T x8 R3 W
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS3 h* t1 `/ I4 t! V9 s8 A
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# B8 K9 W& T9 V
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# Y t8 o$ G( T- y- S8 [the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
1 q' @1 r# T/ j# l9 R5 s7 k; Ysolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; Q& G1 m' Q6 i3 \" q8 o( c; W
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
9 l% ?1 m% S, qcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
4 y! K" A# F0 A: E! ?: ?4 @8 ^' A% rHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected* p- M1 ?! Q# R0 Z3 x
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* C7 c; C9 ~. Y# a6 q7 _; ?1 utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; ^' y6 { s& Q" @
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 J- ?3 A/ S3 s7 oHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 k( g- x. W( q
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp! g$ t) G9 t8 Z- Z* S* w9 t3 B
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
; y$ i( Y1 [# I/ b, g' X7 jfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
% j1 n. b% k( N5 P; n4 Qnot stop her runaway Lexus.
# n6 {" A6 V: ^0 N! R' L) ]"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,. b# G* f6 D4 G' H2 \5 D8 o
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 q( `% @) R$ Q! R8 e! g' D0 v"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
+ v3 N' c f0 sTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues; ] O% o0 j8 R
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said' ?. o- b3 f% g! x0 [
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has& o6 }" ^5 o, R3 @% L
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway% [* f8 \0 L/ B& S$ G9 A
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's/ \: T" U( s9 n' [
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."$ u# [: }4 E( P- ]+ [* ?
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* d9 n* e9 [5 O
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of) b/ i' d: o, F1 U+ r( r
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a+ g- i. Y+ w1 `( O6 O) `6 C; ~
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 A0 C, `! c7 g5 R: s D. m
said.+ s9 }2 W e% a! Z% [6 n" \
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
% y. |2 v" p7 K& L, T. e- bhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe9 x0 m. e9 a' [! o# ^; C0 E
about driving our products," Lentz said.
$ {* c5 u# `. Q1 G6 g3 K- nThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
1 `* R% I) C9 _6 Z7 Cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
9 K1 g7 W; Y* N0 irecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 U. o/ g) n" a! Y- umillion in the United States -- since last fall because of! N( p% @% ^ C$ R ]
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& i F) t. B+ Dissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
0 [* z0 d% [1 k, Y5 e1 Jconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 s' X2 V6 v& w3 e! I* _
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
0 b7 M Y$ E+ c3 O, Pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
. l" l* ?6 I6 y- z4 w( Kreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
4 Q! i; n0 |& a& ~5 O! u3 X; A; s$ @of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
1 y6 q% u1 Z! a! w( F8 OLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own, J" o8 }; b) x+ W9 g+ n7 b7 \% t
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he$ p$ q) v2 C6 q: O- p; c
understood the pain.! a5 R1 ]- ~( J% z( c- V j; Y, w
"I know what those families go through," he said.
8 `: |- r8 R+ V" O JLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
6 _; l: A' H' ?: P/ tfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 H% X" z- ^$ i6 [4 C0 L8 XBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- O: |9 _' c3 A/ Q/ kHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put2 S' J) h5 m# [/ E
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. [7 p0 n* t5 ~! B" O* K4 ~
Lentz replied: "Not totally."4 {3 g* O3 z; d% m
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 t" k' ~8 l2 W"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said& e3 l0 ~/ [9 `# k8 X/ z5 ]1 D
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
' S( M% }* G4 C5 ?- Ppedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
X+ l, H: A' u" nvehicles already on the road.
6 n) ~) i* U% T1 Y* iMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify: G9 |% a2 B) W3 r: P
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" H3 `7 l1 G: ~responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) F' _8 ?2 J) J/ l I1 Z i1 q' J
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were* c/ F# Q7 B: n E3 o# {
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
- B( B: ]7 a2 |3 W2 `/ ~0 s"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a' u1 Y( h$ _ }6 l4 b, Q' p
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
0 _, V( a A1 T( G5 K* Afor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
# g7 m# J8 z: J3 |0 FCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal' n2 U) a8 S( ~ O' h; E
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% e7 q* _8 { E3 B* `restore the trust of our customers."
' ~3 G* E% n6 l( l3 o- O- BLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
( [; Y) }! }5 V+ L* k. \7 DSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
) Z6 g' S. C' M7 e: H7 {4 N6 Mzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --( N, b$ w& _6 m r
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and; Q% C5 T% l3 _8 T- v, D% J5 ^
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
. C" D2 c |+ ]( v1 Zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! z7 J8 @( t) K c7 M: n. h
turn off the engine.
9 G6 O( f$ [" u, y) E* e, m: ^/ `Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of; \9 @* T, g2 ~
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
( i; s' b8 S* V- r( m# U* x2 T8 q j"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she S7 ^5 g1 ^3 X' r/ K( Y2 O! d, R) m
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond. f# I; Y" u2 j0 _
to her complaints.
1 W" n: f0 `% rIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers! |* Z7 S( e/ M# [; q+ Y2 I% J& \/ R
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
4 D; l* o/ r; Qmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.$ m, L9 k2 P: y' p8 O5 m9 J
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
( Q7 |2 q' u: l, |throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited; P7 I7 r5 o( e1 S; N: \
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut$ Q9 l9 M1 V& K7 b0 i! V
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."4 b1 @ X) g) r( N4 \' s F% i
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
9 y! c# I5 t# Y7 K% z; N1 `, Gprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 [/ M3 V6 t6 f; [& t1 Dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% d1 o( D5 ?% n0 \. @were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer% V9 L; `! R% e, {& A; y; Y- R
every question."
. [$ Y; m: J8 l% Z5 [$ dToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether' j5 c) K1 m' V0 w8 h$ E
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
" Z" {8 f6 V7 F7 M' ^8 Vfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 t2 y* S9 b% n: v! N# Ccommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small, A+ G" E1 a. r, m& t- D
number of vehicles
2 X4 y. z4 a' F& L- F; U, MTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
6 q# ^! M+ F$ r" {$ f& h3 Ndifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a8 F! B8 Q4 v% A$ x4 S5 ?; C* O
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one; ?0 [" W1 S; V, y4 W
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.6 \% _# l- P. {
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
+ P8 [$ C' z4 Iwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
9 y/ S/ ~& v) A: t+ v9 Q$ o6 Rtrace at all.
* I+ A+ M; w) @# `$ v, nHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call* H- k. b0 ?4 u/ h8 Y0 r6 h
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
4 `8 M7 x3 G$ t7 r jacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the- o$ C" s7 Q3 [- ?9 `
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.0 @1 L6 T( Q. [ G8 j
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,$ {9 J, U7 w% x; {
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and& A& S1 O0 d) _
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
: |0 H% S; c- w6 E0 xelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- n6 B9 w! R. R" vcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
1 z" X* P6 t% A1 }8 M* nsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained) R0 A$ z. f8 |8 c2 A- Z% e
by Toyota's lawyers." R9 ~0 v! @% r
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of# t& Y7 |+ d& k2 s, t
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
8 m# c/ a8 B/ \customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) l4 S$ W" O% d1 Z0 `; h+ I+ r
said. U4 z& ]0 ]! ?. J% t: t
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
$ C- s$ c' }9 `5 fa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 X }4 |) U6 V* F" [) G6 [' S
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 H' ~1 r7 Y2 ^6 h" t" K
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ y, Z8 F/ P0 B8 ]6 `( Z4 S6 p
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying/ C# b& C2 k, ?; d# u( u
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
0 ?7 F7 P) m: w7 v4 e# zrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ `4 F0 c! m/ o: l/ S# z1 |automaker, at least in part because of the government's! k) X' g+ \3 j$ m6 R! _# X: A
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and$ a! I+ R# b ~7 K4 i
Chrysler.
' M$ `6 ]/ [ u3 @( h2 d"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
" t6 S: c, F* g% P% o, qdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, ^. Y0 ?$ ~; P: |/ A+ e3 g, bHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
! Q6 B" {0 |: ?8 r. J5 g, nserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
+ B$ x2 m1 `# _' Wwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
* M8 ]2 S5 I$ S9 d/ otough."
. _, R; a# B- a4 o" r; \- ^---
9 K: k6 h6 {; Y! bAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, w: k' p5 d1 m" d( I" D
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
" _% M2 a0 N& J% Q7 i! |- }$ n0 |this story.; o: d' a4 X* @6 w, T
+ g' x) u( F7 d# n. {) r-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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