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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题. P: o4 b y3 \$ {' @9 @
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS& A( N$ c; t; `2 t
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.5 z' t( S) A! Q1 B% U. X
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
+ D* w: I- h$ T( V: g/ C) v% N, Cthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& I, U* J, t/ y+ q0 zsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration." u3 r0 L' S( P8 o6 Z4 r
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
' E# V, F& {) ?causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.% R6 W2 |/ P) G4 `- y6 Y% j7 G; U6 r
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected2 u6 y( Z8 P* |4 k9 }8 C
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
# p$ @, F3 ~7 I5 }" P$ ^- X2 A- @5 Vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ Y* ^/ Y- a% [8 h. k3 j8 ^" r2 |mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
p; Z8 a& l7 n E: rHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
: k! Z; {# k3 o/ z$ l! @and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. |$ X1 z5 V( vcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be$ w3 H( X5 L8 e4 f0 T
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could1 j. p! u4 A: C3 |+ I. H
not stop her runaway Lexus.* X8 G! ^9 m$ z" J" _! O
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,* o b$ S. r$ l/ o6 P
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second8 B! s$ k; C: t' k6 H0 f
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ i- {) b4 |( H) @$ {! R
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues7 p0 c" C; r0 B
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said$ \3 R3 k7 @+ _4 y
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
0 Z$ I7 m9 [, K9 }. H4 kdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
6 D y: \: ~# y9 b7 z+ Y0 [through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's' W, W1 x9 f% j" F
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."% R; A( b6 q( x9 s
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
! V/ ^- a' K8 s2 s9 v+ ielectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
. M" E1 G! Y5 \# Q# j9 p3 |the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
* D9 q. A5 s+ c' @! Hmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# S1 q f" k. Q' usaid.
( V, W; f5 r, A+ A0 M* H9 aAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 o" C& ?; T( g1 t2 K) m
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe$ m% \" V% @( _' |: B3 L
about driving our products," Lentz said.1 T1 ~8 F/ i1 ~8 h: Z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 l! l* U5 m+ q# Q3 F3 l" K! U$ G- ^. [8 P
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
7 H3 U1 W0 i/ u) {- s6 yrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 62 i7 S: V3 H3 ~2 x% s% S8 @
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
( i! Y& Z9 l5 ]unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking. b" t) \( T5 e
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering' V4 }- G w1 ~, ? J
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
. g! O8 L7 i! T# D! S/ J jtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow: j5 j6 e: p4 p
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
( V- t; h# N2 Y1 b) U: O& |. Zreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 h1 x- a) n9 d* ~
of Toyota vehicles since 2000., @2 D/ \# Q2 N2 Z6 R/ O1 T
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
* ^/ C) f& j: c4 k6 J& y% R5 Ibrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
, h' X& i: w, G1 i" i" Wunderstood the pain.; y0 A: }0 [" T8 P/ I8 j$ _
"I know what those families go through," he said. i- v1 h, e0 [8 U3 {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's1 T* T1 N4 p- j0 n5 G2 g! |7 A% ^
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
3 W& j, q! V! v. dBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 Z) J$ Q7 Z; ^! m. S' k
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put* e& h5 G7 Y; n- H% w1 @/ a/ s/ H. P
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
; Z8 H( Q/ @; s# o3 _1 B, BLentz replied: "Not totally."
1 b$ I% \7 a- m+ \9 EStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! ?9 `& a w1 i; @8 I& H: G4 ^) O. r
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
G+ ~2 d9 ^. F& W% }: C0 t! {* @Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas) l; e* \5 G! x1 Q; A N
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 C _8 q: A" O6 y- \0 u/ v" g
vehicles already on the road.' E% K( o, N2 L, p$ p7 s% v* d& J" J8 p
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify0 h I" v/ V" J" a6 w3 }- {; W/ B
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 F- `) c" _, @& O
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. l/ `% @; k$ n" f; f, v0 z, P$ O
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were l' a+ a- T" r2 g) g' p: \9 k
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.6 X* W L1 N! j% X
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
1 o0 ^9 Q! Z7 G7 Gtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony/ ^, p9 B# c5 @
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 I" s: \3 }$ o9 ]' ]$ p
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 A" j% z& N* I! ]$ k( V
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
% |& J5 A7 ?% a" irestore the trust of our customers."- q9 ]! F7 g. t
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from: j8 Q! m" Y7 K! G! q+ _" N& T' }6 D" a
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' x) w+ a' c4 U6 W: z; Y# H% G' K
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
3 Y( f5 |+ f( I$ a. {shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
) s+ \6 e! O8 q9 W* E; d* \- Xhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
4 W" {. u: [* ]) Tthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and* B3 j& s! B( T' L- X
turn off the engine.& `+ E! S3 x" c- w5 i6 V, \/ v
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of2 E/ \# o! ]; t' e! [8 R; `
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& { n6 F8 y* S4 ^) X: S K8 T
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
% D4 j! Y7 Y0 Xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 Q6 [ ^6 p9 V
to her complaints.
6 Z. }7 X, j. U" I5 tIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
0 R9 `1 u. A* ]returned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 [* L9 O* Y3 B( h# y* f
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
1 P, a$ \7 d# W. \: l"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
+ ]. ~) R. C) {( Dthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited0 m0 l6 t# B! F- ]% k# P
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
8 K. L8 D' x+ b3 C+ M6 Toff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
' g W6 H, l0 P3 G6 W! h: [Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ I) b: b$ u6 A. n9 ^6 O* c: H
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were; k( K5 X! V+ }3 y
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls& W. W, q, o* M1 D
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
8 L4 |( N5 @" y) q2 [: Y: I" eevery question."
% [7 S) _# g( [# E7 c8 O5 A, s4 Z$ mToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 r( I8 K9 p' ?/ [8 ~9 i
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
f" l- d, M$ |# \ \firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& u I, E; d! U: J- `# o
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
2 v1 ]2 {$ d6 P( D. j/ R% q) Onumber of vehicles
5 E$ R) @2 M7 g( m5 OTracking down an electrical problem can be far more) S+ Z! u4 e! \- p
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
1 k1 y9 q' x7 g, N0 G, K \ imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
8 \2 r2 B; E( n y2 B n, Rsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.( A2 ~" Q5 Z, v7 |8 E0 U1 r6 Y
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage," B2 d! x" o% o
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
5 ]8 } V2 Z" F; etrace at all.1 b# D1 m# q8 O7 s9 h# U8 z
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
0 H+ L8 K8 `- M, T# O8 ydatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 R% e5 W: E- K( N- O! Q, nacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
4 }) t7 J) |7 P2 Qrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.% _( X- N- v' v* T7 e
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,+ `6 \% m: c" U
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and3 D) p3 o6 W/ n! L0 o) N, K! l
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
) I# b. i3 B, u- v/ helectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible. I9 I) r, a; q% A
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
2 b* n8 L; O3 Csuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# D0 \: g3 Y% ^# J7 x( [& _/ s6 \. u
by Toyota's lawyers."* N, @+ D* C8 {# I6 f! \
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of6 O4 H' ]8 B* g1 N4 L6 f
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
5 l' t; c5 r0 @6 ], h8 \, p+ l- vcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he& X1 o& i. V# [8 `
said.( a0 b/ k# ]: A, H& [
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ v4 d; `1 |7 z8 q) {( Q
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
4 X* J0 n6 ?2 x, u' j, K6 ~good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
2 V. x2 l7 l. U( }: }' rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.6 D, `8 p( _ V4 A
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying9 `( H3 K j9 R- W8 H( f0 O) _
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
, c8 a6 ^; u1 Z$ O2 Q2 ^4 Drancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the$ a" Y# H8 c, v% m. r# ^5 O. n& ]
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
# K7 L1 g1 q; s6 a* ^* Q: Z: Vinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 Q# B" `- b( \7 x8 H4 oChrysler.
% K1 u6 ~( x, T r"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax* G7 }4 `) ^3 @- B
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
^9 N% v! H4 I* j/ l+ ^Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also* w2 p3 P' D3 X' f0 g
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
! k4 G# E$ I& V7 b# @ I: H' twith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 d# U, {5 ~9 }$ X! Otough."
; _! N- e5 i) a3 Z, T/ U8 j2 e---/ W, V7 Y5 [5 \% t, C9 T1 K. ]
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
% ~9 A! x+ |. u( ?Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
0 T; f3 _1 v1 h0 o" E) bthis story.
" _5 @1 F1 ^4 j- C' y5 X/ v2 i q8 D" e
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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