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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题9 N' \8 ]& G" N) p/ D" U1 H
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS4 w- U0 R+ Y7 @0 L5 ^6 W
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
# ` v) k1 `7 C1 J: [- f, Noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
- `+ f& N; O: T* qthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"9 W9 }* a) B6 ~1 ?
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 T1 a- p- F, j5 a6 x, O1 C7 U"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential$ H) M( m8 F5 \5 b; _
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
6 `2 n1 ]+ u) z) UHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 H- ]* B5 A# y$ `& nacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and1 H: C- U5 O; c4 ~4 o! l' k9 g
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor* I# D- h% V1 q( J$ U" f
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
7 T) X% v- Z# E8 k# I6 `# h0 `+ Q* @He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal" l& j- ?: V' W. c* d
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
: u9 d+ k( `/ @6 j$ d7 x# P% N icriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
1 e$ ^4 F; X" J0 Bfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 d# p8 B) \# r4 F ^" ^+ `/ }
not stop her runaway Lexus.$ e+ A N8 E! P
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 ]' |$ Z$ l' I7 A5 A f
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second) O. z+ w$ Y7 Z& O
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.% O1 t0 N0 a I# I
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
/ p9 {8 F I; T6 m' \early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said) E/ r8 H- L0 z* I- K+ B9 p2 V3 Q
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
$ ~5 D) X% Z1 {% ?6 g/ adone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' @: J# F/ s3 K* \& j" pthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's: y- L2 ?5 t- L' z2 B) L- s
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.". d& N0 K; w5 f L
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an5 ~! c& ~, @9 {9 E* B2 v
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
$ X, P* o8 W h9 ?( \4 o, A3 j) [( Lthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a1 U+ ^& w+ A5 G; C& p m8 U
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
1 b: R; _# q8 n! a; z6 q/ ksaid.: l! Z: ^) C7 o
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what0 j9 h- J2 \) l( W! a; o G
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# i) r0 n d! V I2 I: ^
about driving our products," Lentz said.
6 W9 l- o/ N: J* n7 U3 ~2 ?& {Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's' I9 `1 M3 H9 h& `1 k. _9 }0 u
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
& I$ k& ?: n0 ]" ^9 Trecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 66 `, t! Q1 Z+ {3 o; @
million in the United States -- since last fall because of' K( l, T/ j$ \' b0 b! J
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking0 w) s# h8 q( s5 f. E
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
( y, [& }' V# tconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
, e2 T7 J6 q( c0 R" z8 Etheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
& H% m5 n" U4 c! {3 edown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' A5 e" J0 @6 ]3 N/ _: r, D( p
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
, v' t+ v4 |: `# U: mof Toyota vehicles since 2000.. A8 w3 @ ?& m: h$ @
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ T: t* H# C3 u- K" ?
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he) ~: f& ]: s. G4 h6 u! _* K
understood the pain.
5 q) _" @3 @5 C7 C5 l"I know what those families go through," he said.
! x0 I# v, F6 RLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's. s @ i- U; c' {7 _
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
7 d; \1 E( ~9 z7 J" P& }8 nBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
) H" O3 r. y3 A2 qHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put2 y# b/ S H, ?
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 l. A3 A$ C4 R7 XLentz replied: "Not totally."# Y8 O/ O- Z( E- S
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) _* Q* w- @0 p8 G x4 t$ w"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said$ I) ^% h1 i. g+ v
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas0 k; m. @0 q3 u8 j: y/ y- n: V
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its$ F% T; }6 d! ?) i" r/ |4 s
vehicles already on the road.' K& n6 N: u& [& c! S
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify; P7 ~. o3 f/ N
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full( ~7 `* F: n6 }9 B; \9 j. z) l, V( y
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. B. k( w* `* f
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were6 r5 |( A! x$ \5 l& R( j
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
& k3 N. L" W8 G+ a* {4 t"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
& Y# O0 z# v+ V% l4 ]+ s. etragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 T( e, {' V u) o, l9 E8 r% k
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
1 |# H) C ?- c& nCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal# @7 M O N. ~0 y" L
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
1 r! |+ y1 X# r& m1 Yrestore the trust of our customers."7 a1 G/ I" e7 ^$ F
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from: S7 F* \& `; K
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 Z. a' X5 j! {4 }3 X0 [zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --( R1 C/ p% v$ j2 E. @! ]2 h j
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 s7 P4 j) T# E8 P# }: j
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
2 J. D9 ] B/ l+ S/ {1 Q3 }that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 G& M" Z4 c3 Y+ O+ {$ m, \turn off the engine.5 c# a( r7 F2 y1 o3 G
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( H5 O9 O; R4 _: w8 \October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ C* K% U& T7 m! X5 M! ?; q
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
( s! W2 x; X2 O" F' Y3 i+ qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
' G6 C( H, C, ^6 Ito her complaints.
! ^3 \1 h- \7 s/ I) }$ s0 Q6 CIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
/ q: U& I" B3 [5 v( O& V* [returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ ]4 _ }" J: v3 P2 Hmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.4 m# } y8 T5 l
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric7 q" _# r% p* F3 K+ G3 F4 J+ g
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 S( c; k9 J; s"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut4 |* z+ `8 W5 D6 H* N3 c
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."/ y& c& O; M8 j' t
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in' Y" d( c, b$ ^( {
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
) ~4 M1 Y) `, g/ t% Ybeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 g# t* y- a! W5 G& C" \- Y
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
+ P7 V+ B! M B$ S: ~* v$ k! ievery question."
# s3 @; r. G4 c& R8 s/ f0 E7 WToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, r6 { O' k% G6 m! delectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ f' d& Z" K, Q; D/ Afirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' y+ ~. j% y, U$ ycommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
! t$ }' B+ Q; P8 D( snumber of vehicles
. u; o o) G% ^2 `7 VTracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ r% s* P# `5 \7 S3 O! ~
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a# t$ ~# B. R- E- R# t
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: h3 ?6 u0 ?0 Y" K6 \0 _+ e! Hsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.7 ^: n; Y8 p# y+ G$ F# L
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
& B5 b I; F/ z* Wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no2 p2 `( Y0 e3 \ A
trace at all.
8 |2 K6 U3 Q' q% x" UHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
, J4 ?3 u/ S; R. Q* F" rdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
+ P# B5 s4 j3 I$ C* d; o+ Zacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. ?$ M; y4 }" a% Qrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
2 }/ q& ~; L3 C0 ~/ T- N* VRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- t |: p" y& |) y
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, X" U6 { _8 `( S2 t5 p2 _
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
+ h+ \7 _, K$ ^+ ^) ?% Pelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ A" `, a H a0 \+ g' c
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
. ~% f+ W6 ]3 z% z, P7 R! Ssuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained0 z! X1 ]. W, W& S3 s- r& U# U# V& ~
by Toyota's lawyers."
& l/ Y( ?/ [2 x+ p' ? VLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
: ]* _: t( u% ?' Pproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: T1 t# a" I+ n
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
; u7 J! {" h5 i4 f/ T3 {said.
! E) y# N; X8 b% l"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with/ M$ ?9 K8 y% C% k% A1 k
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
( f% l3 L, J5 a& M( y" {- Zgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating2 M8 J G6 z( W+ d
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ d! Y# L6 i8 `# g+ S: H4 Z
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
/ W* a( _! K( Emembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
8 m' h3 k. Q" L, urancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the6 J9 `2 j3 [. h: c! Y6 J: r
automaker, at least in part because of the government's- D" R+ T* H) m$ w
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
( P- u: o5 v/ i% ?" wChrysler.7 M0 |8 ?4 ]8 ]! C1 F$ n
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax, k0 [" @. V, V) A
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a' @' u t& X( z8 c2 l
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
) c0 F: K" d4 ?% S% d, jserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
1 [/ L& z/ G4 t7 v/ ]1 a8 Awith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( z2 b# \9 n' \" E& m$ Itough."
: C7 f# _# B$ V7 s# U6 U! k---! _3 U! i0 D4 V, o7 `( I
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
7 G. q a' T+ I2 C- c% c& G0 uRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to) \4 g) b2 C, c' i
this story.
" l. W6 W# b2 T( Q% j+ ^9 s; p& z4 n
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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