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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题2 o. K7 x& O5 l8 V B, w3 N
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 z. t! G" D' [8 Y/ ~- x' @7 Z0 A
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.; h5 X- W7 K5 f- N
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# [3 ` B) m; B, C8 w# l# L7 kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
/ P. ]9 A. S* v$ N \solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
: ^; H2 [+ S+ P( u4 W& @1 t"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential$ q) Q0 {$ D' F, W0 @" z4 S @
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
. u3 }& _ b! q8 DHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: ~5 M' o0 m. U, b4 J
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ \' Q: a; V9 c: ]: `6 k# i
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
. D# j3 k3 U0 u4 `mats and sticking accelerator pedals.0 Q$ |1 x4 q6 P9 k- v, |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal" g- [# P A' l( e
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) q% @# }9 @! O; x5 L
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
6 R* x$ z# H7 |2 jfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could" r: w: u7 b" V4 Q2 e1 } V
not stop her runaway Lexus.% l$ O/ y/ t& Q5 Y- x
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 B% ~9 O, ~# ]* ?; O/ PTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second, }5 C& T* Y0 ]7 [5 P* l7 D& }
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& ]7 Q! E, K6 p" dTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues9 h# @* }$ q, V9 O5 S$ l
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; T$ e' b3 H. n) ^8 T2 g) N
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 T! _- }( w6 ]* S% k, u+ h$ z
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
h) _6 F! l8 C9 j) Othrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's- m D2 u9 D9 L* v& ^# Y( U
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."' J" N6 t2 }9 s$ F
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. P7 G [. O+ Celectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% A& _7 e7 z6 ^the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a# z; e2 `: P' c1 |/ H$ O
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 ~/ n; }4 _7 _, p. c; M7 C' w1 @
said.
4 N* F6 m5 {% B. Y% E$ L8 Q, CAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
) H) K& ^. P/ g: s0 p6 Shappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
4 U8 t( O H) a; q6 C2 Pabout driving our products," Lentz said.+ a; D0 V5 e5 @ p5 ~6 o: }9 Q/ p
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's3 _& B- X$ T7 e, G4 B3 m. ]
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has: b' B$ c; K3 h: F0 G$ U) i
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6* }8 J6 V' \6 |: P' k$ |
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
+ R# C8 F% l* f4 `unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking7 ]0 w* p. b7 }
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering. n$ X8 S! z9 \* G) U
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
6 b ~6 B1 h3 s4 L Z3 v# `their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
0 p0 E( ~7 c' D' P+ S" [% N; }down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
$ W9 N7 X' H2 h; n0 q- Vreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration; L) _" W! w1 T) O
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.) i" M; i/ X. D5 Y0 m; G, O8 [
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
, L$ X8 k& {+ C, fbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
" w; ^/ F) G4 Q0 S$ ~0 H( tunderstood the pain.
* H! ?3 ~1 A3 e' Y# d0 x5 b: ["I know what those families go through," he said.
* H, @4 G! Z/ y8 ]2 eLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
. m8 ]. Q' w) C! {" ^( M" x9 Y; Mfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.$ V( v* T/ i/ {. D
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% d/ m9 d+ }) i+ bHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( I" t( x0 u6 l. W) U0 Y D" yin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,3 T5 w! M" W& C& f+ d/ W
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
m. n: s2 m9 g& h1 o0 V7 vStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were$ }/ i7 p5 L/ F( j
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
6 ^! Y+ z1 E4 m5 o6 L0 ~' X$ F [Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% a5 t7 f9 B3 A+ a3 F6 x5 h
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its; o6 Y, z4 A* \4 ^3 s0 E: g
vehicles already on the road.
: \$ C7 m# `. N* v4 oMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
/ m& q; y5 R, M( obefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
V3 n4 E6 T% U- O, m, Eresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
T |( ^! U. ^8 z5 Boffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
' X1 M! z8 x9 g% W% r* O) t; Zkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.; r3 [0 K; T1 z' e% Q' ]( S" r
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
: _/ Y' s2 c: j4 }% Z4 x% |& f6 Jtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony, I: B) b( k9 }6 l; T3 a6 S
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
# M2 X/ c& B% a; b% _Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- ?& I8 M9 v: Q8 g0 n' O
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to+ r9 v4 v8 _4 \; o; |; z
restore the trust of our customers."4 A, B. P0 y; k$ A* L
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from6 f4 g& p& y* `- T
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly9 e; N, f! m2 x& n* C# L p
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
& r& c' x) W. e! Y: V9 Y2 vshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and- o) q# o ~' d" Q; O4 i
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: F4 _) g( L ]. B! Nthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) p7 l; e8 |$ t7 Y( ~. n/ Pturn off the engine./ @ r- R( M9 b
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of | N8 t7 ^/ Z& Z9 T7 P9 O
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."" c8 B$ @2 Z9 }& N
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she3 w, X) \ b# F j9 C: I0 j* a
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; U3 [/ v& }! S. P3 v7 e1 ~% @
to her complaints.: d# }5 J; a) A! A
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers8 x, E7 v* h' J3 A3 I. ]
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
. X) }; D* I# `9 \. |! ]malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
, _9 x) e. |; ^; U+ A) x( l% q* e"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! n- ^7 P5 b) T7 z
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
' l$ [ z$ l3 g1 ~"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut2 ]9 R5 ` ^. X3 T3 U" g. V
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."9 R) e9 Q" x1 n1 Y1 V
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' j8 f5 g4 h+ A7 j0 b& x G) z! E8 t7 kprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ Y" h& L4 P$ p$ E9 n$ wbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls) K3 s$ R' Z" B2 j, o
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
3 e' U$ k/ |* r% e6 t# I9 Y) E+ Hevery question."& E, U- N. y4 T
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether) S4 H% N/ d4 [
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ }: V" s5 Q! y: ^! yfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But1 N) [6 i; \) o
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small: F1 \" f) P! m- f1 S9 |2 x
number of vehicles& P R/ j; H* _4 ~
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 p# z9 P8 ^7 ?: y" z- g" [difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
' T! S% c6 X1 r4 y1 A- Imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one6 U3 h7 H7 d5 B5 r! l
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.: {% f( n# m* T' @5 @9 v$ _' A* N
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. y4 F; S. p( n) @/ ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
$ {4 X- P0 A% Z. j \trace at all.* C- V# `! w& |& o* ^+ Q
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
& d5 D, ^- v" C {" h( j7 x3 Vdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
! r9 V7 |/ y4 V% q! Uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
) X/ K2 m1 |; Q5 Trecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.. t8 H' Q% |: Z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," N* f8 B0 ?3 i7 o/ ?4 V
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
0 g. h* i4 `' P) B( t4 [- hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
. H9 L% E+ D; S9 kelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 s ~# q6 [2 _5 y, |: W$ W4 i
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) u3 z$ L+ n% T9 H
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; U8 d( G1 I" f2 t3 l' Lby Toyota's lawyers."* C8 T1 x: e1 D, p- G- i
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of& J( ~( T+ U* v r7 g
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our$ X# ?, A" B- u, {
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he0 i8 Y5 P i8 @7 E$ f
said.5 A- [" r2 {% B7 R6 G
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with. m. L* f" |3 n" ]
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 z6 ~; o5 H Z3 V9 G
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating4 c2 N* {8 g. M9 ]
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.$ z3 B8 J/ y7 Z0 ?* R7 O$ m
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying- U2 b7 x7 r/ g# \ A3 l
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
5 c" ~) G0 @- D/ [4 {2 }rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* q( }, Z1 B) X8 ^; Nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's( Z1 V7 c P0 g# L
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 p5 w6 H0 u) r+ m h
Chrysler.
* M; H: K1 I, {) s- m: y"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
0 z8 Z$ M# D" n2 Sdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
1 V, C( ?& b% I& }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also4 S' A, H1 F, \4 } B
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# Q- V/ T% {* |with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
& P* @ c- R* v8 k% Q6 H; _tough."5 R. W+ [% o/ W5 S
---
; f; L- h8 M: u( l) [4 O( n% fAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom% [7 N1 N7 y6 R
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 C, n o+ Q L; z& B7 A! g
this story.* E) U2 G0 P" f; K8 u
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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