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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题7 ]0 C# ~) ^0 y" e. d/ J6 V
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, l9 P2 p6 _# D4 |) }- [& G
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.' g1 u7 M5 G: B( k- G6 T) G
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that/ ~0 |& t F7 y7 A4 C
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
8 |% g- h) [. `6 u* I; Rsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.* ~. H+ g7 Z( P1 ?% ^& f) _
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential- N% L. u) n( [/ E
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
D6 Q1 X8 g6 R Q f5 ZHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, a. W& r( O$ \1 ~acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
/ i* E# [# G7 ~2 ]( P( wtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor8 r6 v8 D* |5 X/ Y) J8 A: J
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.- m; _' L1 J% f& S0 z# g
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal# h. ~. ~3 ?9 M, Y5 z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 R, Z/ M& r+ R# {3 Ocriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be& O2 L& Q p& Q# w2 K! N3 F; R
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
- |3 T% Y9 a* u) z" z. F8 Enot stop her runaway Lexus.! [+ C6 ]# `4 m3 g$ I1 F* s% U
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville," g* c& t+ Y, S
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second, j) G. m- H8 c% Q; x! }
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.% \! I: D( ?5 |1 `7 k6 `
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
2 S: Q9 y) g) _% d% Y1 n Eearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
4 ?2 u! Z9 h& D"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
: Y( M" B9 d5 A" A0 Cdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway* K& |* D) @* A
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
) D9 E2 S/ U0 ?. N1 B; g: Yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
4 f3 a5 T; O0 {5 |- QLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an) p* @+ X* ?: a* x8 X
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! E$ d ~0 b" T' T. f' ]
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
* h1 L. q C* L" B) k4 pmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
/ Z2 K/ S" p- d+ u* Bsaid.
/ j: T. e" [, i# _* K; V, @, r8 YAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what8 k2 Y) F( M0 P! u- A0 d3 _# ?
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe/ A# _4 r4 H, _
about driving our products," Lentz said.
" s4 f5 n1 t3 M0 |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's- @. J% D/ o$ I1 ^( T! N
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
6 T1 E$ e0 S3 Grecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ ]5 ]9 p; \3 v& R7 Y5 Xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of: S& o% D8 Q& u. t9 S
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking; X# M% j& d8 k) V+ T8 n+ C
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: P# [2 _% Y4 N8 M8 R! r( {8 ^4 X& uconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of. Z" t6 `! ^& q4 S( w5 q D3 Q: ^0 Y
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% ^& n& E) {- n
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has8 N' n3 E: Q% C. R2 e
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration0 ]) H7 @2 p4 E
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.8 ]4 k$ i- _0 a0 T5 t
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 h* b( N t3 Q* \3 I+ Qbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ x2 F* `/ V5 {
understood the pain.1 @! V- g" ` U$ N" }2 ~7 P
"I know what those families go through," he said.2 d( \" H; u& ]. I! r2 J
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
: V, T! I O0 t! \fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
/ ]7 ^; e" @% e( C! i8 yBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman! u' c9 O8 B2 P5 F" y( k) p8 s
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put# i1 L& i6 m2 T! E( h( F% r8 j" A
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
$ i. ?5 K0 h* w# y, D1 H* U, z' K8 o ELentz replied: "Not totally."1 z2 K0 s$ v1 K. t) _0 }( K
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! q2 r% n5 I V) s2 H" P y"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
( e2 u6 s! U1 h. I$ t+ [9 f: k* Z- IToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 n" {7 J6 \, V
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its5 N0 Y7 o$ @% }/ p# d
vehicles already on the road., P* r @' V* _0 N" l" U! x
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ c+ u2 q. j) F# {before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full) J; @& b1 H/ \- B! `. s3 x
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
3 l+ K. Y) H+ I, X# p4 ioffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
4 V) e1 q& K# n; \4 F( dkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
I0 b: A7 X2 `2 P# }"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
' b M" {3 F. L {tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
; V2 p4 R% j0 i2 [for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight3 t7 M I' B( u4 @5 V
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal4 Q3 b# ^0 x9 t) r0 X7 H! J, u
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
* ?( j( {& N- M( ?& s4 m( xrestore the trust of our customers."; ?6 @4 l* W l& n6 C7 X- u
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# Q M6 W$ u1 p3 H( WSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
2 J6 E' n' K# Pzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
& a; L2 P/ h3 Z; ~! r; `shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
8 j U0 \$ B! whitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# {" U* P% _0 F0 i# `that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. {" }6 @; \# f0 |( H9 Tturn off the engine.
1 i1 q1 g- K/ A8 x3 z0 V" b+ @Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
* J+ a% Q2 S/ Z- C6 G2 L4 M7 FOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
; l5 m* r0 q+ \; |: F C( H"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she5 L. {/ h) u1 \& B* q9 P. S6 z. G a0 p
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* B, |9 n# k. b$ L+ U Mto her complaints.& x2 R5 B% N- f# \* O4 y: d* }
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers% J3 W# v$ H2 D5 P$ c+ ~
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
! m9 X: K% T8 k o# `- H- O, G$ ~& @malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
2 K5 |" J8 ?9 y! r"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 `- Z) o( V5 q3 k5 rthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% o/ S% e# H) e- Q8 e
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
" ^! l H$ {2 | p( e0 j0 ]off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.": q( l. c j7 J
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in9 v9 ^3 V; R1 I U0 y
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
- i8 i" s3 X8 [being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 f# S0 T& g6 V! ~: iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
6 v& y! z$ y" x3 E: X- uevery question."2 U% C8 n. z k: Y: D
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% j9 ~/ s% X, ?: q' `7 Velectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 C. N: _! B8 j T
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 R9 @5 g& a& K2 ocommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
# o6 I# h+ |* H7 J; p! ~number of vehicles; y; w# \* A' j2 Q& k
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
( i1 S7 Q) c! V4 n4 k* ?& a$ udifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
6 P. V* j3 D2 {! ?5 B+ Omechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 Q. q' k6 m! fsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.$ P0 g# O/ e" u' v+ [! a
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,- ?- I Z& E0 n( ^. [- e, B
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
% b" n' w4 N# j% ]trace at all.2 ^5 ?! M, i' A; d+ P \- V0 ~( ?" ]
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ d3 d7 w- F/ ^
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% q6 Z' [4 O* z1 ~! r- Z' b ]acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the- c; w7 l7 J2 |6 _( l) A
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 W* |2 T: h% P" l6 Y! ~& ? W, zRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,7 W; S7 `! X' C8 g
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# {3 w9 {6 C0 B% nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 ^" m( U& j' x- M) Melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
2 X) F6 w4 l1 n, L+ @' lcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! D( P1 w p& q) P, Hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. ]( j% `7 C' R, ?by Toyota's lawyers."
) F( X. L, }- l7 O& S2 ^. fLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of( s0 j2 Q6 l2 o {
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our* i6 J ?8 Z* y8 \9 z; @
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
) z# }* `: H6 P5 s4 s/ Esaid.
8 \6 [* m! x/ Q2 j d* p! i"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with* ~; H1 N$ [) l# K7 O
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our) Z# r2 S8 w: N+ ~ d
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating! t( o: d4 ?2 [. C# W( ^
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
+ }& V5 V. }/ c; }Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' q( V$ ~7 |5 w7 O( ]7 Zmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
/ q% ]# x$ H! qrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
0 Y4 A2 L( x4 E( G1 u3 F7 N8 D9 l Uautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
( A7 y o' t) T# B) winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and* e+ B: G& A/ P: l* O4 C' [% w4 D
Chrysler.
7 d) L4 d/ B% v"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax* n7 c0 X; Q' K; `
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) ^1 ^; O- y8 N5 K' o }" s
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
g+ d- z0 q! F! {# `3 x. ~% Dserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete% m5 ]: [4 l" b1 B$ z
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty3 v! s- N" {- @2 o' H. I
tough."3 I* F) }! B1 P! C3 K8 v
---9 B& R' u, j6 D* i5 i) }" e6 ^ U" ]% o
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom9 V" `# R, _# _* e# @7 I" T1 V( Q
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
. s( b! ]: h; H* uthis story.
" q5 v5 h* W5 D& a% h1 B) K/ B
+ `1 Q: t, K( F-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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