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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题: l4 a* I0 r, R. r
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& A% f7 l8 s& YWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ d7 z9 T g5 p1 Q+ n" [7 Z
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that0 T% D; I& |$ m; ^, l: R1 t
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
7 O0 S) i6 K( ]) q psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) \- k: p5 g% [& _"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential; m5 y6 o) \: K e8 k
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
+ s8 P( g) ~/ }& c7 qHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected0 M5 c3 l# t6 Z+ V! `
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 j# F, G w% O
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor @! D) w- j' X. X* b. j3 ]! T$ _
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.: V, V: G/ [, [$ K9 ~
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" U6 x( T" ]( s0 b0 land fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
5 X# k& b& g. K* n. Xcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" P8 z/ M- a. F5 x( zfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- l9 w* o- N: i2 m& m
not stop her runaway Lexus.
0 l" r1 k3 i$ ?3 l3 L"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville, v9 ]4 m* K4 ~2 n
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
% d0 V/ @8 @" X' Y1 I"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
3 a$ v% H9 S, O2 k* B8 UTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues- Y) ]& i; m! m
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
2 d( Z7 p1 [) k* H7 W7 E"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
& ?+ A3 T, l \$ Y/ kdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
9 ~& _, X. s& Q# G* dthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's* I7 s0 ?3 h" _+ i5 v8 [& |: }0 m
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
; w$ j3 l7 w K% g: P/ X* M BLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an+ V1 {3 v( i7 z, D
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 S* g: s. V! T; e3 R
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
9 P! R/ ^, Y ~, W% O, G6 Imalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* K7 X! Q. A" Ysaid.
" }' d) G: w% g6 C& L& kAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what% Z8 R: D! m! H: r; _
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
& ^9 f& \5 w( `+ fabout driving our products," Lentz said.+ |% c( Q8 S8 P6 `) n. i5 R* V
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's4 |( q. T' g, M: @9 @2 c
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has5 F# C9 g! T' T) q0 r/ d
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 g8 R; q; M* X& r
million in the United States -- since last fall because of! N4 ~& C7 r& }* m5 ?. g3 m
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 R4 I% N1 a$ F. x/ E
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
0 W2 `2 o. x5 z% s# }$ Oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% f$ k9 K# R: V4 r; i
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
, O m( `4 ]0 c" j# Hdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has3 n4 e/ N9 O) ^8 }4 K$ o
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 g* y r5 T# q/ T" v
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.- b& @* ]6 P, V. l- {
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own3 j/ t4 q" F# L H
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he; d; `1 ^* p0 `! F) t2 ]9 B
understood the pain.; ^: z$ `$ I- E: ~
"I know what those families go through," he said.4 V( }. M0 `, g7 c% M: `! j3 U
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's3 R, I( h& @9 u; l' C6 ^
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems./ b8 o7 H* o F$ g% E9 Q2 u$ a. B
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman8 Q6 I; @* i/ g. x* K
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
9 z' _! ?/ @7 `' Q4 U' h: Zin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
% P( Z2 K( b& x1 G. o- q, T' YLentz replied: "Not totally."' ?% @" x& @7 @% C2 U/ C8 J/ h
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were1 P$ b0 N* {: Q Y3 S8 m9 ^; c2 p/ ~
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
" \0 O& \" {% QToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 i" o, ] i0 i: o& Apedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: G# O' a+ M1 l: P
vehicles already on the road.$ N5 R8 B8 D6 E1 I( D% g' F/ v
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify- \! { Z: I. f: @" J! U% R
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
* Y+ t/ r5 S( @3 hresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
q" z4 b* [* S4 B% Ooffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
6 }4 I; s% y* C' ?5 s. zkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
2 c) J2 L1 O+ P$ h) v5 l"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a2 k' A3 G( L/ k$ n, Q# w6 U
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony! o, G9 g, ?1 i; D
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
4 `) Z* Q3 r; G! { GCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal8 z1 \# h7 w# o$ A* P! T- U* B
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to6 m% R* a5 Z; I/ S" b' C8 O
restore the trust of our customers."
3 D8 `7 [% M- fLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& z9 R6 {* q/ L0 q8 j8 d+ R: K
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
! Z: x- q F+ d: b' zzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --8 F" M9 F9 r+ b+ O6 ?6 ~; n$ C
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and, l7 b# g0 ~; y) L' s
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough8 M" a( s: N8 B: o6 n
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& t/ t4 |$ F! ^2 m8 \! vturn off the engine.& k* ?8 Z) x# T! U
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
$ H7 _" G( X- z1 yOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
3 d5 A7 K: j+ T" Z/ x R( ?* `6 I; r4 i"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
& K. s. d R- m+ wsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& n+ Y& A0 y' i
to her complaints.
8 i. z% y {/ E+ eIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
/ [# v+ o: [+ p' T# ]9 T, Breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic% j: @% X; f; @# O3 M
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.8 b* d' w; C( |4 S O+ s' D n
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ f) B* i- n4 t! t
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: U/ l8 `# p9 i"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! z8 h- |" c9 v: Aoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
% S3 z- P% v4 @# DTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in. d0 i& A( g6 a3 I' ~. @' a% L
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 A( c9 t" A( W( x& n: _being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# O' G4 e5 p8 @! i& Z7 B0 qwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
3 N" m% h; ~/ X$ w* M! gevery question."
` S$ w1 Y; i: p) U8 Q% M7 wToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
- n) ~. l( a" l% p5 J) ]2 G* T6 {1 telectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
9 {1 F9 z, {- c4 G% @firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But2 z4 c5 D( l% @$ m2 K
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& _& P2 I5 l( r+ V% v, `) znumber of vehicles
( ?6 l( ~ q! bTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 p! e( F; }4 {- W& S- d1 ydifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
& s' n: Y7 Y( x$ Gmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
0 `/ q4 m& [6 [4 \/ xsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- W1 w! U0 g/ p+ QMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
# J* [9 C! M( |* ?where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no$ M& G/ |- v! r7 X
trace at all.
2 p6 L- Z% \* j+ \# U# D6 DHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
3 F7 a4 d6 i6 U% {4 J6 Z v. M$ }# {database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) x) q3 D1 i$ ]" e! x: I
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 l* o8 R$ M6 L3 W" s& ?recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 o/ @7 `2 T7 t) `# c7 bRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
6 E4 Z" b s5 H$ Q$ w6 s& ?said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
9 e. F J2 `& }! L0 N r3 qother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ u2 S- z$ L; t
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% g4 V4 _5 C/ c" F1 v' _
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- |* C9 g0 |4 K+ Q& b5 _such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained2 d$ x3 y3 e( B# V. |
by Toyota's lawyers."
5 P" s) K- i; Z; wLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
; P k0 a9 G! l Q" b Yproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 q" E0 G! {. L6 I
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( ]- v8 ^ R, a% e1 o" z( i
said.
1 z6 ~+ W7 n! J0 k% n"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
0 z8 a( F7 Q/ Za rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
4 C+ f `4 F$ S j! ?: @; ggood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
6 Z- J3 I+ v" Fofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.' ?: V* y) r- G) U3 s/ j4 W" Y, W: ~
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# Q! h5 ~7 z* P T% I- y6 `% {
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread& @. ~9 h4 F9 g; |8 p: b5 n3 H
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
- W6 b4 n% o5 u; e' z1 i+ `4 Lautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
. R/ o1 @- H2 O8 linvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and6 C' D- K, C8 u% Q# z+ F9 F/ t! j
Chrysler.( I0 \. q4 p4 n u: \3 v
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax0 u, N! r$ s* \; R2 p/ E* L
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) G6 E+ G$ D( G, G- v- ^' G& d: ]
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also9 `6 j% O, _7 f- {4 e
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete* N* w; T9 o+ A+ D+ i k. B8 ^3 P
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; R$ a) Q# Y, `, otough."
y% G9 @# R* }---# [& W) z) S N! g& A4 l
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom* o- x. K% M8 U2 a/ D6 _% x: Q9 i
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to! U: G) j3 w2 B
this story.$ N2 s, ?0 d* @! E
. c$ U: ]9 l, I: W. d+ s4 O) g-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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