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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题7 w" D- h/ e! l0 {8 b2 m* P0 G
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
0 M( h$ r0 D+ Z) G! ?5 VWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.. [0 J$ {9 M8 O* o# o0 z
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
. s) r! U0 j( \the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% k: Z4 Y! X, ]
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; h' {7 s, M* o3 `8 E$ Y
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
4 z4 f; @, x" e e) i1 u2 P0 Jcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
! R) y9 o0 _) K# \8 E0 IHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected2 U0 ^. Y5 T3 `! K3 ?4 I
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and; ], E2 r% X/ B5 H1 H
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ Z3 v$ ^$ Z3 S' j, [$ U3 m
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.- m: x% m3 w3 V7 d7 \3 K( q+ N- }
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
' a; x# I* o. |and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
) A$ p. w0 Y7 y! ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
3 Z, |$ I f1 q1 I* nfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
$ u' s- a% \- a8 gnot stop her runaway Lexus.; u, G5 N1 `( g: [; I+ Y$ a
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( V9 s$ |0 R3 m
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
8 Z5 _1 W0 |$ z1 y d, r3 c( T7 f"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.% t# j ^$ h9 N& d3 X. L5 J
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues1 {) y& q W, `
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! T \+ P0 {, M0 G"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has. R7 _% _( t5 K! I& h3 G
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. C3 L2 [$ f; i0 y, Vthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. o' M3 D8 w9 u: O3 jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
u1 ^. x; t0 G! j% {$ S- iLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
X% m/ s) J% |7 G" zelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of1 |4 L) Q( m F4 X
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a6 h% P# r% b; B! d3 I: m3 l
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
" J/ l; ]" b5 n, @3 v. Q2 ssaid.2 Y( L8 X& _( |6 z. T
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 E$ g# R% [( f; }# x% C" R2 [happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe4 ^& x, ^6 W/ ]. Z
about driving our products," Lentz said.
8 v2 A# I6 }# q/ qThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 Z* l4 p2 r1 b8 h- |
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has& u, u6 i2 `/ {7 B' Z5 B4 l
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- h7 k N1 E* V9 l+ C' kmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of: S$ z0 g' B5 ` p
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking+ _) [ ^/ F% R3 g3 V
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering, m' T$ F9 l. g) k/ O
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of0 \/ W( J) X! d
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow2 u; e, f: I% i- H0 U( X- h7 ^
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
5 }: i5 |( H" T5 V, E6 Nreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ {: b& j# s2 t* z, X( y: b
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.) R/ o) T+ ~0 _# S1 e4 r2 m( @
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
' J1 l" O- C0 Abrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he E: Z" u8 d/ _0 N% ?0 z6 t
understood the pain.
3 f9 m4 I/ l* m2 ~"I know what those families go through," he said.
+ q- f9 f; |; ?) P) e3 x) |Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
& F9 K9 i; F2 g* M5 \fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
7 K Q3 u2 v: R# z; z' HBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, a4 j, H6 Q) L4 [5 S* O
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
8 S2 o) I( X* g7 D/ \in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
) z9 o2 C0 R: t( j) t& |5 uLentz replied: "Not totally."
' z2 @" f4 ^! ~& w/ Z& rStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were8 t7 X; s! G4 c7 E
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
7 Q+ u: h; M* B8 E( n$ q1 OToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
1 J6 n F# M. H7 m5 T% j Kpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
9 q& m4 y) p2 F) q$ j: ~, _vehicles already on the road.
* k0 z4 r4 p5 k9 A. ^Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
) J) `8 w; R% } sbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
+ F) c$ }/ {/ _. m3 @responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and* q5 t" ^5 ^- @6 v
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
% l- c9 n) B8 r% `killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.0 {1 R3 U& U. o/ X+ _+ h8 e6 r
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a* o4 ~2 k) _% {; x+ y3 {- `
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony' d! O) J+ o$ q* N6 X H* I
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
$ `' n$ I! ]) t, {0 J1 fCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 U) B: |0 c0 L2 N* e
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 \$ p9 L) a3 Q' k; k6 P; krestore the trust of our customers."" L& D1 X) E+ a1 U* R t& I2 x
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
2 }8 A* a2 }/ N: m: ?% m) o8 wSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' c. ]- E% ~& ^
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --1 I; U# U; l% J$ I1 }) s
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and. i: R/ ?- L, f6 X8 M; B- B
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 _& L+ ~; i& A7 J- q1 T3 t
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and# N; S# R% ~: L
turn off the engine.. N2 W" |7 w2 t; u* w
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of" P$ D& ]. ]$ V) [. O
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", L3 m9 \! F7 q+ H0 |- `
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
" T$ M! m0 t2 P) Asaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond+ j% s& k% l. H% c% E! H' D3 t
to her complaints.
- k& n- d1 f* e v( D" x- V6 `In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ S$ ?$ m6 E5 L6 C- \6 L
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
" U0 Q) g1 a+ _1 r& n' y: l' {malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.7 q0 ?5 ^# q' |) h. A4 k, A" E
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric. X$ S3 x( G/ o5 k
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited) F7 U( `3 g3 }
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut" B& g ` e$ M* O9 }2 _+ M! H
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) O% P, f( G" c, O; j! STransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
n6 E4 t5 o5 w6 oprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% V" h" T+ N( _: vbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls/ r" e7 l1 ]6 t! Q$ }) |) y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; f! f" M5 V- U% |# r: S% ` xevery question."
: n1 z- A: M/ _! W" gToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether, u: X/ o4 a* t' Q, \
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
) d2 [) j! y" l/ Q& ifirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But. I8 i4 {& [7 H! q% _
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 A; h& D! y" y" B r. }
number of vehicles
$ N+ H) C# c4 C8 a! v5 ~7 ^Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more6 n s- J. }7 e, P
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 P, L' `( h7 a8 n+ P9 J
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
8 a4 _3 c; k6 A( j, h9 _% bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
2 b$ N) f" `: _2 f- AMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,$ k+ \) f6 r+ A% ~. D9 T# e
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no1 T7 a+ d7 x, c! J
trace at all.2 Z; n$ a* o7 m3 A( s# z7 R
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 {% \1 M! }4 x/ k, i0 kdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden9 |% j6 ?/ i- ]2 R% t) i& I
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 z: w2 {; [5 G
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- S5 `$ ]1 t, e$ t" PRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,! p {9 O% s/ V! c
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! C, K6 v8 q, U, Z+ L6 i) |" I
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
8 r! X$ r5 _: e( Z0 Lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
! r6 F' P) z, M1 mcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only2 o3 t6 P, V6 ?, |0 G
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
2 r% _, u* I* yby Toyota's lawyers."5 b+ Q+ t. n" Z# Q5 a: _
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
/ u z$ Z6 o$ o* d- Z. q2 p( nproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our l: { Z% s' J% k( F% U! q
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he+ U1 d C* D# `: Y( r
said.
; y! b$ n( p! ]) z8 u( _ V6 h) c7 o/ J"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with7 m' L6 n. }% Q
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 ~% _' z; f V& O+ b: a( Xgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
+ A% T: A$ r( m' C/ Qofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.7 r% P' Q4 x6 R% W0 b( t7 b* S
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: D% D& d- P, g; u/ }
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
( z2 M. N( p/ X0 Francor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
& [7 y1 v1 u$ T0 ?. [/ z- Dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
/ D( g5 \0 f5 Yinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
6 `9 e& ^# H9 k q8 S* x2 Z VChrysler.
$ E; d8 v [( {, s" \" S"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax% R2 x2 L& y6 B1 s$ T
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a* H3 x% Z- d5 ?
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, H/ [8 v- c7 w2 [) X
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete3 K: G: D' W1 J5 O8 R1 M
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; M+ V5 k+ e7 G2 F: F9 Ptough."- r, Q# j" M. I3 ~* f/ ]& R P
---/ j+ h) A: Q+ g- {* v
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
! g2 @' j+ {% |7 b0 B3 l0 t9 NRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 y2 G6 m6 e* Ethis story.5 |$ s: ]) o! v" [% D% g
9 h2 d: }: J2 Y9 W, L
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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