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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题/ U, S' w/ A/ }
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS+ n. s+ F0 _5 ]1 R& @ N1 b9 W
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.1 v" v/ l- T/ ^4 m1 M
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 P; a1 ?( D! W9 ^ e7 d: Z: `+ lthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
4 K0 C% L8 X/ J- I; _solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 `9 K( Q& k1 @! N"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential1 ?/ T& T: I! B& L' W
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, V( V& I: p- V) y' c8 l& nHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected' k! R1 ^7 U O" [( E4 K
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
/ E% r" r/ b8 etrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor% _2 ]) F8 r( L' W2 `( [/ r
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 u* U$ e2 m9 d4 t* j5 G: Y- m- |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
1 A; A. ]8 s. a* a( j* yand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp1 z, s) O" ^9 ^0 u3 L$ N
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be7 N3 f: m! ~; f) z' ~8 Z
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" H* o- W) _6 {: Cnot stop her runaway Lexus.5 L- V/ s7 @4 L7 I3 U" v7 w
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,7 N7 X$ ]/ C) y3 ~8 M: I
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 V! c$ C* G# k* o"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
E5 \ ?8 }/ f) ^Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
( n& X+ Q9 x a4 yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said0 Q# ^7 T2 F8 r* F" I0 Q h, m; [
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
8 D1 K: X3 ] V) e+ udone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway- w$ P; f3 Q, q, {- @3 w
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's; [" o$ d0 {. I) }5 Q3 X- i$ I
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
) v! u6 i- Y6 {. l( d5 gLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
& S6 M) U O4 t gelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of* i8 M( l0 m2 s! A8 W! p
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
: ^2 x1 I# n% Y0 ^malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* n0 l+ m" F$ \said.
0 P1 W8 ]8 _' S3 dAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
& ?5 c; n, l8 X. w( v* shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe" p6 R% @! Y5 }2 L3 M) P
about driving our products," Lentz said.
% }+ L1 R7 m$ M7 f5 d5 |7 PThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's( }8 H& }1 t" Q
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
: }# ~, T0 _7 I, M2 Jrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6* T7 x! g, k/ v: J7 V2 Y
million in the United States -- since last fall because of9 c3 x4 b0 A" z7 D" E
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, f; B$ W, f# m: x
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
7 [7 u. V8 G$ t7 Econcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
# ]: r* E2 c+ Z, L, U: Ttheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
5 p/ G- p5 c; Q# M7 |; odown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has7 ?* _7 R, j7 G& I v: I# ~2 S
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration T6 m6 @9 D" G6 X
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ p5 {! O3 J6 a& ?1 ?% Y! ~Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
" c& J/ I1 E6 S) jbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- Q6 Y+ |# Q' G" h8 S
understood the pain.
5 [1 g9 E; I5 `5 H# d, d"I know what those families go through," he said.
, G1 Y* l5 x& v8 V+ E* |Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's# A7 ^2 P% a1 ^
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% j! F, Y% |/ x: Y- K1 g. ~
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman# j% {: m) {* ?" {) y( p9 }
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
1 l+ j8 x5 w; ~( Y, P% B# T. M6 ~in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,4 z3 n3 a. S* y8 n/ X6 `$ s
Lentz replied: "Not totally."+ Q% A3 ^& h0 w
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were; ]0 ?& n) f3 p# a
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
5 M+ g9 w9 b# y9 hToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas8 K: h; u* Q, B! g. @
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# v& p1 }' K/ x; V( @% ^
vehicles already on the road.& I& r( i K9 B8 d+ ]" w- Z
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
+ h; T4 K! i. h' h4 M9 ]2 Jbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full. r0 x9 f+ r, W. _8 A% ^
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
# G$ y" R8 k" l- Q7 p1 @1 r4 poffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
+ J3 B. b4 y% B7 J. _killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.6 K; d4 ?6 u1 A5 y# U
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
6 b8 x9 c/ I! J% ]2 ?tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony& i8 v' l7 l$ s3 a& X3 _. R
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% T: ^7 ?6 C2 ~( Z( ACommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
5 x* v2 u6 ^5 c- F, O5 C- x1 Tcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
& i! S5 K" \; G) Hrestore the trust of our customers."
, x `5 u, D% P" E& C* KLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
1 t- r- ~/ d1 K; ~; e- HSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly7 j, ]/ o# e; S0 J1 Y. i* a( P( _# \
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --; Y: g _# _0 [" y3 {
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
: L* c/ e/ J) w) o; w, Zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' o6 S) n5 A; h! x/ c% p' Nthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and/ W5 n& X) f! V' n1 |% ^9 P
turn off the engine.
8 v/ h& j/ g* GFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& M! p; R5 Q- ]4 S5 v NOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 c9 \- t. N. x( o |. A. T- e
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she" k# S' O+ S! v4 R; ^1 E5 W% E
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond( T' x! r( E- v6 h" `/ }- R0 v8 f! v
to her complaints.7 v c7 q, V! r' i R
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers! \% {) p6 i `+ z1 s
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 t- [( k4 u$ g, Q) Bmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
4 z, I, O6 m$ B( b"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- ~: G4 P% E9 d2 y \0 u0 Xthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited' V& o: W3 L# R4 F8 @
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
/ \0 u- s) P; l8 g5 toff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."3 N- L7 }$ v t: t, f
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
/ U) {* c- ?1 U+ Dprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were# h6 C3 Q9 K$ N* I I; ?& c
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% ^" h( N0 }1 A Lwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* m% B' k; i) S1 |5 {9 c- q( T6 @every question."' w0 j f/ [; J" k- v
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
( d' S/ i! f: P* t4 telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The9 j3 K7 @+ n- K- R# H. h
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But5 l' ~' `4 S. H9 J& d- ?
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
! ]0 ~: C) r# d T; W) F; }6 Rnumber of vehicles
$ U5 K8 O+ [$ s# iTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
! h! | j) t% f/ i% Q+ l/ G0 ?6 q& cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# ]% ~+ d4 ^ ~4 j4 a, p& T, E
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
! \# \. J! r/ e( P5 q. Asource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 n* ?7 r) P( \, U# P9 I* SMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 l' h, I3 B) @where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
$ f: m3 Z- v% A' W1 h% Ttrace at all.! Q6 `5 B: r2 @) u( g
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) Q! g. \5 W* F. w5 l& K: n
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 I2 a6 t$ r4 H, U1 I/ w4 f% y+ P
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the' D, w8 l& x! l8 \* V& v# \
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
8 G9 I- P5 k( z' H5 ZRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
) N; b8 y5 b/ `0 ?8 @said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and5 W a* A7 P7 d6 }
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
" V) ]1 D; L( k7 V' ~( U+ Relectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible1 A U) @9 q: ]' _! J# l- D6 {% F
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& e. \* T; k4 I' Qsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
6 ^7 t+ H% s1 j5 {1 o& U% Kby Toyota's lawyers."
- K' w1 D0 }! JLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
$ p9 U+ i' v+ Cproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our; n8 t8 y, p9 T, q, K0 b
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. S) k0 F. f0 |) T7 T
said.9 I6 B$ Y8 j+ g% m+ l* f
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
) G; q# ~# V1 p9 Z' Sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our+ e- p7 c! A& Z2 b
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating0 i* F0 } G5 u& m% c, w- i
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
) b& J4 f" \# ]9 z% dSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% _( ?; p6 U+ Lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread0 O8 F% c! S/ a- h
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 f+ H P$ j, {. L& @9 Bautomaker, at least in part because of the government's2 y3 q. T+ c( T1 B$ V
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 i% s$ o" s3 Z5 @ H8 n
Chrysler.
% o3 ~: x' X6 ~& n' D; t' Z"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
, \* J- q- v% Tdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 K+ u" @; |* n+ a1 v6 U; zHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
}! k3 t K2 E+ N( @" Z, S( cserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
0 o Y7 f& Y, I5 X7 q, L( Xwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
% ^* ]* K, _# @, qtough."
. ^& F/ E% Z Q& X. |---
% W4 F0 v/ g& {" Y, L9 R1 e" ~Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom+ l4 \5 f, G: d) |8 ^' W2 d9 T" ]. P
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to4 J7 Y9 i( I8 H V+ _
this story., m( B+ F* M; h: `) G
" D0 y1 e3 G0 W6 ?-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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