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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题+ A9 J; r* d7 M5 h
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 B, C+ _. @4 R) D& tWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
) A! Y/ }$ o0 P1 L l( ioperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# z6 K$ i2 s0 _3 i6 o' c! nthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ T& \7 H/ r7 ]
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 h2 H* E! [; d1 k
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& M1 m8 J0 ^5 f. O% t% T9 {
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., m: l; s4 E& o9 Z% f8 C
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 E' _2 M" U! P1 A* g, sacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and* r3 T! R$ ^5 h- j
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& \( H! r6 h6 }% o; k; |mats and sticking accelerator pedals.2 p! @6 y, q1 @
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal4 f( N: O I- m. A. R1 ]
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp! r$ P- f" X& E% N
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 j# j3 e/ q- }# z: d" m7 gfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
$ _7 X' E% U5 N8 y; Hnot stop her runaway Lexus.
# b H* Y; O; I- r"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) V. }' c/ T6 q: F$ {- {
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 M* e# d7 Y+ B- e% H
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.% B: ?# l6 Q, k$ c5 j
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues! U" w4 b7 J; `: z# i2 P
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said2 Q% s7 r/ a3 q9 {, x, a
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) D; M% Q! S j3 p0 X2 \
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
0 B0 b/ C k3 c; kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's! C% m4 l, x+ _ {
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
3 P- [ ~% z4 x' z' ?( u$ XLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
( s) {2 o6 X* T: Aelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 o; A" s2 l( F" a2 G7 p3 W
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a6 f6 Q# h: ]! `7 e
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
( y' \% n+ y0 s/ K- H" W, I9 b. Nsaid.' g* P& [% m; I; W! W$ o
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what. B5 Q* w& ^% c
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
- T% g3 x' I) a( B6 q! |about driving our products," Lentz said.
% T7 Q% M. Z$ Q& M7 ZThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
: _* q. y, h, [# T* qproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has5 G B8 a5 b0 L6 g* m& S
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" q: V0 C) Y* t3 E, G; h
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
& X' @9 C. ?: \/ E. z9 Zunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
5 K" F* V$ t: R; c: v: N% vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
4 m: y" _7 W8 H7 O @concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
$ o0 | _; M8 E. M8 M* Ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow1 b) r( J" j6 R
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
! E6 o) T; y* vreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 {" h' K; {( ?6 K8 x3 S1 aof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ y, ~& c I7 @6 yLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
1 H8 j/ y; Z# U+ p6 Sbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, m& }& y/ y- i% K
understood the pain.
6 [- F5 a5 G- F% T: p" l"I know what those families go through," he said.6 S# O; v$ H3 c
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 M, y6 N3 @. H' Q+ p
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.% v0 ~) L& B4 X* ~7 v; k' y
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
8 }; E% P9 f6 i6 J& l& EHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: {3 U/ U3 {& y3 W! ]1 _( w! o
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
+ y) Z0 {7 Y" \% f# R/ A pLentz replied: "Not totally."- G! V) b; }0 _
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 X. l; B0 [. {. R
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
& K* e; f+ t l OToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas y- q2 F) x! L3 r7 y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its& u; {% |& m7 s
vehicles already on the road.7 d) N) Z% J _* D+ k& P
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify' m" s; b F# l7 E! y' [- J$ b
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full) r0 f% }: X0 e( L/ l
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# E5 R4 B, T3 p) o
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
5 C$ C; ^, V- H3 T! z) n4 M( xkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.% X' g9 G4 U, M4 {4 A
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
" a9 y$ s, P# F, ^0 i8 ?tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
1 y% c% ]3 D zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
5 a; C4 F# L5 \2 h4 fCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
+ ]) U* j A& {7 P& X* Fcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 R9 ?. z3 M8 O. `) q6 a- ]0 yrestore the trust of our customers."! S- M4 ], n8 B* a6 j2 m
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
* [1 O2 L [: E4 iSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly9 C. X- T; F' X
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --4 o! h. t9 Z6 A3 I4 O
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and; g) g; k) ?$ o8 J
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough( V7 H, z/ e8 {
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and5 K4 a4 {! M0 }4 E5 Q( E
turn off the engine.+ T- g& P$ u* h5 g4 |
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
. W! n2 |, G/ T: D$ t% W4 ~, ?October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
/ u0 R1 i, R2 j4 F; b( x"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
, X1 L# s# \7 C% d0 q H1 M, L, ~said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
$ Q3 j5 N! L; U" ^* {8 y# Y' n oto her complaints.- a/ ~4 ^9 ^4 R/ i6 R
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
7 s0 R% f/ ^3 W( V) Z. n% Wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 O% k! x" e. A) J3 l
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.4 n; |! n# `/ u! q! S0 Z% Q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric D! ^" K4 N3 P# [% v% I& a% N
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( ?) }+ a+ a% N- z. c. g% `+ r"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ \) y% @; Z$ v- Noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.". V& A: y7 H g( E9 \
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
5 m _( W, ] y/ h, Xprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 P' v7 D1 m0 w( v) G% f6 g9 E
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
3 j& ?' L9 Q8 L' `+ awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
0 ?. c8 H0 ^3 R6 W5 eevery question."
( I0 N, S, o9 HToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether1 z$ [3 L& ?- L. r0 H
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
1 M. d8 h# n4 ~ ~' E- j/ L( }firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But4 @- y& x3 T: l; W2 g# w6 i
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small# R. h. c' P+ x
number of vehicles
8 q/ X5 u2 _6 M. nTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
3 B: C) j( e1 O6 Xdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a& i) ?! {; D! q# ~* |. C
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% Z) K6 a- O- v# gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.' C5 \& v3 o/ f% Q. x) g Z
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,, a: E# K/ E5 M E7 Y
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
T- s L1 }- D, |trace at all.
% @0 @! Y U0 |) ^6 p7 \House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 v7 I+ W* }/ b9 ]- k
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 X& Z6 \4 {% U: @( Iacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( W# ?* Y2 J& a* d% X& J/ u- M
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 r5 D3 l* o2 U% R$ o: I. v
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
4 H* V' g5 B) Q+ Zsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
5 ?# D' E/ z) g3 aother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the1 A, O J6 e( A2 n4 {
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible4 R1 {& }( n) Z( A l
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
; R4 E4 K6 \1 X1 h+ jsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
( l# P( J( T# h5 m3 A9 o) n& }3 h* [by Toyota's lawyers."
3 E- a( l, F' p% |Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# Q9 j+ r5 t7 ]8 U# @# A* Uproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
# m) J$ a/ K$ N3 o# g6 i* C) Kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he y5 C7 E( K& P4 a
said.
/ e8 N" c. K+ P7 z9 {$ t% O"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with+ g: X- L" ~4 t D
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our4 C9 b) ~* K! V9 G8 K5 R
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 R. c9 B# b l
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.. x8 Z: A. |: Q! f
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying; I) q3 M3 v2 {5 p. O7 m) W
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ m: b) n2 {4 o8 \/ t2 O
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the7 o" a& ?4 a/ L% T2 \
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
4 d$ Z# V# r! r6 h. a5 _investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
' @- E/ [- i7 @# A% R" p* tChrysler." S8 M! J# V" y! t9 A
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax9 `( b, {) C: F, | h6 T0 ~$ M
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; B! I8 U; a3 z: B) y/ z3 a& P
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
l. |) `% @4 i1 N- A4 qserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
% {4 u* ^: g; W6 Z5 ~3 g/ Pwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty! u5 G2 Z; \3 r* N
tough.", y7 B( _2 i) y
---
; a7 q0 }, s# ]- m, S& l( ]Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom/ {6 j0 \2 X! [5 o
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
' t* z9 a+ T$ S$ V6 Kthis story.% z; ^- f5 c7 O% g6 F
& V( i/ o- [% h-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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