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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题4 `7 P6 u0 d% g
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
% D- H2 m, a$ R) q3 T2 rWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ m6 i% @) A- [1 s( _8 n T
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
2 @" u; \* e% l8 ~/ m+ }- Rthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 O5 { q% D+ A2 Z6 O( ~8 x# K
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( Z* X! ~6 q3 L% x" ~% Y2 c/ E"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential) N, O/ X, W. E7 j5 ~
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
, P7 Q/ N1 |1 y4 Y0 H5 H6 `However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected4 a+ |, I) O% K( I2 r
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
! }0 j, l; @0 x( k8 [6 ntrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
3 M t3 B/ b2 Ymats and sticking accelerator pedals.
+ ~, V6 c& z5 zHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 y7 T; c5 C! l; v* l) i$ Y: b/ u
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 m( B4 k& m4 l. a( S0 ncriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be }: ^5 O4 ~2 r, U
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
& ~/ U& G \+ ]4 b/ Unot stop her runaway Lexus.
9 _ V4 Y9 l: d ]"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
4 ]$ s# n% X6 W* G: W. C1 v) fTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
0 V+ Q8 T- M9 T7 P9 m6 i"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
7 ^! b: F( O( i3 FTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues* b! D3 J1 a {, E4 d* f/ H
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said. [2 { X E( B+ Z
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has5 B3 y3 g6 Z/ F4 J
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 t5 A$ B7 \9 c& o+ o) nthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's' I# w8 V9 E6 f
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
: P* w; Q2 Z7 P* vLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
, [8 k% O* B# |. { g; l5 Eelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
' l, W4 q* A9 |the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a( d% J: A; O- X/ m5 T8 z
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he! U, l0 Y. J) h- t$ S7 J2 h( v7 @ t
said.
" k, S8 P; W2 ?& P" KAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what" O8 v% |. A/ B" y+ f, r
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# }( I! t& Y& Y
about driving our products," Lentz said.
2 q% L2 S3 M" J+ I# CThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
/ ^* C9 Y. I$ A0 e7 z! g! _/ Wproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 Z. e8 Y+ I$ E. `( H! ?
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
9 l) n5 C# ^- L8 e; Z1 Nmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of$ D' F) T( @9 B2 J+ I3 i
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& _( z+ O6 F) Vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
3 |; L) j+ w- ?# i2 k$ e' \+ R6 pconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
7 Y O, q3 t6 r8 _7 atheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow& b* {. p/ T: W% @
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# D+ ?' j4 s+ q$ b) i6 O
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
! N3 V$ n( y& x. n" j& ~9 r6 E7 kof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
/ _: Z# C m/ Y9 tLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
( d1 |# h! F3 W0 U" nbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he8 Q* _7 f' l3 x3 x0 b5 k2 X! h
understood the pain.6 l: [0 x* U. Y! z+ m% g/ d* a$ N
"I know what those families go through," he said.
& N# i4 e, J( `* L# o% BLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's" c% W" [: `1 d/ z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 d! u% y# n) J p# J! K6 M
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
& a* K) D, k# L8 H4 e9 oHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put7 d% r! d3 ~9 U: ]
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ D" _; y# l: K
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
/ h1 e8 @! X+ ]$ mStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
# O, K9 A& A/ R* `/ _"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
+ y \( ^: K) a% d7 bToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
3 I7 Q; e' B+ Q) v. Z2 ~2 Ipedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
' e) o4 I/ Y4 U; L8 yvehicles already on the road.
, v1 i; }) _1 }: ZMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 b( @% E+ _: c; x! \before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ H2 {1 q f9 B7 N, I. H2 aresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
! F0 Z p9 c1 z8 Roffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were( {( Z% b' m- y$ _5 ~) w
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% S. j% U5 p+ n" _" e
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a1 ]: j$ L3 b/ L/ R
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony& N$ }* k: f6 e( B5 B& p
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight% y0 O |! Y& p9 L
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal1 w9 ^" l! N. z+ E6 M
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% }* L1 s- r5 ~/ a$ L5 {. Zrestore the trust of our customers."8 o6 l! z) R: ?2 x
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 K% C% A. {4 ~$ X$ b
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
2 I# w3 `' ^5 S# q Y5 ?$ qzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
2 q+ O2 ^5 }# a4 j; T( qshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 t( i. l F. t: D$ a
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough& R* Z: l, `1 L k3 P" ~
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and1 G0 L l8 w; V6 |7 v4 z- e2 Y
turn off the engine.
( D4 d3 k, z; @' b! F6 a5 o: c UFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
' Z) F3 j- Y) O( f% UOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
. r ]3 [/ e+ f& t"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 M+ K% k* d: z+ {7 q5 b zsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond" j0 o P+ E( N6 k4 F: I
to her complaints.' j) |( I+ C2 v; |: c% x2 i! X
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ g% W$ ]7 u9 ?, y; V
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 R; s* D3 @6 z1 A7 r2 ?! B
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
' H; o0 J1 f1 E3 h, _* i" i" o"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ H% V" D6 w( Q, Y
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 f* r: |% |7 w% ~* V2 m' }. l"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
/ m4 C @1 M7 A6 \/ T1 M# Coff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: T8 I% | g& \Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
( q; f# }4 c5 E$ u9 |* m6 \prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were, P7 q: e$ M; F0 g/ _
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls5 K8 e- M4 A) O, @* L" f7 x' @
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
6 @/ W0 ^2 T W ?0 e5 b) A( _every question."
$ f; i' Y/ L4 I- h& fToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 g# {! s' Y' N1 K- Kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The [# T6 J" y" |% Z4 V- a/ A p8 g
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 q: a& D/ W4 l5 W zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
( i8 h* L7 f; j* S. n8 _number of vehicles/ A5 i( [; s9 u' ]! n# f0 H2 [
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ O6 J' r. O% v* o7 }difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 T' D; G. T- @8 G7 K( r3 W n
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one- n3 b2 {( k) `& i
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.% F! r& r, ~ l& e& E& p
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
: ]$ X( V5 M* h4 v+ Ewhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& c5 D O& t8 e( l3 t6 i
trace at all.
1 P! }" b P6 AHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call8 ?: H7 M& h4 F) a# ~9 \4 l2 T
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden5 \. V0 u! }4 V" p
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
, v3 G1 A% F2 H" A: Q. r) p" d& ~) Trecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# j* ~4 I, j& S. k% J
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
3 s3 h/ U( d( C. m# K) d c8 Dsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
# J1 P0 A, T1 z: _1 G7 m2 S6 yother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the/ b+ a! H5 o3 v* `3 x. _, @
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ r. g+ ]4 t% k( y8 T+ l. d: r
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- P& z6 f I' dsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained% J; j! s* d$ y( j. s- O
by Toyota's lawyers." s6 J& b; S7 x8 C. U6 Z3 s, j; p& j
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
6 t3 i4 N, q- w5 E0 t4 m( ]1 ~$ pproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
% x5 x$ i. A. p) u: V0 Z# \8 Qcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he. H) a% R6 e- f1 M6 T8 @
said.
S1 V0 `* J4 b1 m2 n"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with9 W2 q" ? }( F- m8 ~! M- x
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# a4 Z* i/ ]9 F3 [( s# X
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating) l& c ?( B$ R
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
' N7 F# @8 D: F, zSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 g9 Z" E7 Y4 P4 X" h: N) S
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
) w9 ]# W9 x+ z' n* m: arancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
) Z' M1 I& m' R, R4 Jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 C- ~% t2 u. x/ ^investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ g+ k- b* \0 ?* X( w: D
Chrysler.) _# O+ k) s9 k7 A
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax/ ^+ e- [$ ?# b
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
4 [ B7 M1 e5 u' }6 l" HHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
4 _. u% [+ p$ Y- [7 _* c9 V7 p* Tserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete/ Q7 [$ ?/ \1 M
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 P7 |3 @4 z: Z" a( v! O1 y
tough."
7 x. z- ]4 P6 Y9 z* n* [---8 x- W: m/ O( |# z+ c7 P1 V/ R
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
- J9 b3 D0 T1 k, jRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to# }. ~! W; `0 O6 {/ o- D$ y4 g6 J( A
this story.: ?2 ]4 a$ }$ u+ @+ ]# {
3 Z( ^' [ ~- D4 M. g8 v" y-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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