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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题- N1 p& ]2 n; `/ d9 ^ C
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS ]6 j0 u2 X# e0 r
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 T. ~ e$ ]( _+ H3 g: S2 ^
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ s w5 G0 f0 a7 c/ q6 p- _4 R% Cthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally", a: [7 X6 y- Q" O' N$ W% J
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 }: f" Z- [! G* r' H2 j9 L5 V) Q"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential" y& {) f: a3 C% o f& K
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
6 v& [) e: E/ o$ H! d7 @However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected+ R: c$ n/ d/ g' ~. P; ~5 s3 s
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and- R) A+ L( [3 m/ W# Y
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor, i. T: T( x( j2 X1 [9 V
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.2 a" r+ J- @ c4 [
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal4 W) Z2 V. q- g$ l- Q$ ]& t
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp# J* j1 R# s7 L& m- H. _
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
8 Q% w: ~8 ^( }further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
# \( {6 N/ ^2 c( z. S3 w5 Dnot stop her runaway Lexus., t- _3 c! U+ ?( n3 c
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 H0 Y% X' c" K, [. d
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
& g3 f a j! g/ q- A0 o: o"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
% {: i( P% w* V* k0 g. N( yTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues) H2 [/ V& q$ a/ o. M
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ a: R. ~. X3 G, ]8 Q3 c; R4 [. k( _"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has/ r; w# C4 H% M% V
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway0 x; U% q& ^4 p/ O( R* Q
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
( a" _! F. ~* J& q9 winvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' J( Y! x, T% @2 l9 pLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
$ k) S, x# I. O7 melectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
+ u' Q( a I5 i: dthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a6 E8 l, x7 U/ h7 Q* D
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he; o9 v- r" Z7 n$ |: D1 o
said.2 ^2 e4 ~8 |2 Y, U8 n8 A
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
1 m0 O7 H# G/ L+ ^, j, w* Hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe/ u6 y- Y5 @/ P8 i+ Q. j+ P0 m
about driving our products," Lentz said.
; g p2 P. X; F1 L$ H. m$ o& D8 G4 QThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
" |- L- ^$ P( q7 C9 Xproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" g( X) ]1 Y! _& @9 ?1 zrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' X6 x3 x; o+ x. R/ h6 P( U" c$ dmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
( G0 _2 Q7 c2 u, _+ i9 lunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking8 o0 M0 ^" _/ c. k1 R" b, S
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
$ t4 e5 v4 u( ~7 D0 _+ ?2 iconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
- u# h( U( I( H- T7 Ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
) f x$ M! Z( o. d. mdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has- K! a ~4 z2 q7 Z6 h# U7 @, `
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration" R% X. w2 Q2 f. P7 @
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
; \& a: p- A; n$ _# gLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
/ x! L" T! K' J$ J7 hbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he! K, ~7 L& J% l/ y
understood the pain.
7 ?, N' M5 M; _% K4 T0 g9 x"I know what those families go through," he said.7 _! m% B. P4 J* a; R1 e. M! c
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
: n0 m+ D/ W; i6 m" D; k* Yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 u+ A! {: ~; W: ]8 ?/ Y0 T! z- LBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
A9 {5 u8 s2 K! Q) I: qHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
G" _& y+ {9 H0 F9 i iin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,) ?0 a/ |- M/ z% p2 z
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
8 R6 s5 Z. e/ f: WStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
- ^8 ]6 F5 _ K8 Y9 o9 e"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
& v( v- u! C" p: pToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
7 ^- O F3 B6 xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" n p" H/ e" q) n7 Y B8 E* Rvehicles already on the road.
7 H; m& H/ O7 z, h" g! ]Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
7 e! h; d/ p4 _7 K6 ]before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full* J2 c. S$ U$ F* m/ }
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' W3 }) \4 j0 A" G( d6 z1 s! F
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were p5 X# X$ V; q8 J
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.2 ^* p$ b0 I! C$ }
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a3 j2 Y+ D$ U) J
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony) h4 T5 p! G& D
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
: K5 f! q. I$ E* r. p: JCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal6 V) S! M# C( {1 F$ C3 \8 V! [% M
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to8 S7 b3 E# I$ r" ?
restore the trust of our customers."
$ b9 r# g9 i3 X) c- d8 jLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from, D) Y, ]- k$ }. Q; r/ ?3 o1 V
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 K: D7 D) O' M/ C$ W. [
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
( E9 M- r) S: L" m- zshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and5 O1 c8 L5 s, z2 S. {" E$ a0 p
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough0 U' ~6 ^) M$ A$ @3 p* K
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
% a0 Z; W6 E/ B1 N. A1 K. A9 wturn off the engine.
2 L4 R4 R. w; o* A" d/ z# YFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
: R: E4 `9 X9 h. ^* WOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& g1 @9 W7 e& y2 ]. i2 W" [
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 R, m0 ?) r- Bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 V' k( c5 D- f* [, Tto her complaints.. _$ b) D/ ?/ V- O; E% j
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers, Y0 k) i% `& Z/ G$ }; y- f
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
: Z* D$ w/ ~, a, Rmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars. p" A4 M( ~; j
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
* L3 D5 C- N3 I( [* V/ V: hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited+ B: P* e t% t# o
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ ^9 ^; V! f# t/ @# x9 hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
5 I1 U' v+ _* C- [, B+ N# @Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* T- z0 }+ i: D0 L$ H/ {4 K
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" N2 [* Y: p! `; A3 c
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
5 z9 `3 W7 m! s Swere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer+ ]- [; |6 `' {& u8 @( e; A k
every question."
7 u" t3 k- u7 F" f9 l) [Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% k# _! z j& {* l. Uelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- g' x l; K4 Z- j% W$ Nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; Y3 K! u* X& a# C) r- u0 p) B; ?committee investigators said the testing studied only a small4 E1 |9 C4 Z' T4 |9 \% j
number of vehicles+ @' T0 G. U% s9 p& V
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 Y9 s: e. Z% bdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
4 |$ R0 N/ G `4 F' xmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 _& c! Z: T. q+ Q1 ^source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 S+ v" l$ i+ y; V8 \: ~Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,8 J! M4 [0 K! i- t( O3 w
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
( A a7 T% C/ S. r+ Atrace at all." e6 Q3 u2 C4 y% K4 F3 f% ?) d
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call6 }% U' k7 _3 D# s% }2 L) g( L* {
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
. w+ P- C& H$ racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the) {% i5 h. X" D. E$ ?
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
0 z* y& K5 F) Y: FRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,& N* A. Z. h! A: K* H- |0 x/ J6 \
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and( N, q7 |( j, b9 X' D
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the7 _; E0 G/ e8 B' z' k) p
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
' N& X( E5 y8 ]7 B2 i. U5 Scause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 R4 b( O5 P# G4 _ }1 D( P7 bsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained7 a. _! [# J! M5 P/ Z
by Toyota's lawyers."0 s6 v- W: Z. W! t8 {/ O2 w
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of0 C4 l! V7 ~2 s- j) d
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
( x( ?- W) N- ~8 ~) ^6 J2 |customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
0 |6 C* ~5 j7 F! W8 u7 Nsaid.8 L: t% F0 B* ]0 D( D
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with; r+ D# g/ c8 A8 n& U* r' G
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
# V3 r ^: t# u, Lgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
2 g0 k5 u- b" zofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.5 M! ] w7 {: ?' |' h7 b7 t. A! o7 ^
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' M/ {& T0 q8 ~% s% A2 y+ p2 ymembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
4 _: V# p; X$ t Urancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 f9 l4 N9 A7 _& E" tautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
t' }8 R- s# r. I) A& Ginvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& p) e% p$ J3 r5 [* V8 G+ ]Chrysler.6 n" b0 T0 e5 t
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
( t- y7 E2 O- M( t! u4 ?dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, h; j- K. \$ t1 _7 O; }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, U9 `! k5 g; ^% i7 Yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 g: M9 @0 w& p* d# I3 I3 f
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty5 t! R/ W9 a5 d7 h
tough."9 W* U( p/ \ t9 F6 S) q
---
4 h9 r5 p0 a% c: d3 L" WAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom6 P) o* |4 p& b% x5 i$ ~3 [% W
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to5 ~$ @* Y+ C Y6 [: |* [9 t
this story.
8 n, b g# d$ J! K1 [/ `' k0 e% l" L6 f& D" W1 }* h
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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