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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题. C: N( h4 y( d) L; ?+ I, U; p
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS6 ~( A. y" V6 z9 }- x' O/ f7 X1 x/ d
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., O" k- a, `+ k0 C) [# ^; g+ M
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! `8 Y5 }8 E) i( n0 |8 n$ n2 hthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 _; j9 @; I9 |- }. lsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
: W1 e$ }) y$ B' k9 @- a9 c9 c"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- R7 }* z. B: c" u4 acauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
2 r& @6 x2 u) |' f: LHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
/ W0 g4 u0 J6 S* P* oacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' ]5 x9 Q! U0 X( F4 o; C# atrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor( t7 f6 c. Y; Q5 o0 Q6 |' Z
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.1 L) }' ~5 ]( `# x
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal1 ?8 c9 z! W" {" M2 u: I# k
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp9 u8 z! b q1 ?/ \
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be5 x4 ^; y$ t" P2 J5 B. j- Z4 {
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could3 Z! X# u. Q2 s/ C
not stop her runaway Lexus.* o" J8 ^ m" N' b, v K8 K$ P
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
9 w5 I+ y- E) w8 d6 k% F2 N0 cTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
- Z, h" ?. [7 r" l4 b"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.4 Z* D9 r9 M; ? |& n
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues& j9 ?9 {, a; t3 a$ C5 @& ]: I
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
% J- A. |, J/ b* ^"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ h: { B5 x3 O+ R; U P
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway- j/ N' T5 r; Y: N. Q# ^) q
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's! j5 y- m' c: F! v6 K ^( y# T! X2 O
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.". I& H" J! }- f6 r v2 i. a
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an# r$ a u: n1 q' {
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
$ d1 F( L! \( X' ^the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
4 Q8 X! U |; d% \: Ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! y9 y3 Y" L1 p9 r- isaid.* D( g& n- O: a3 Z8 J. d
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
# h% ^$ L5 m t& u; J, f( s4 {) [happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
/ O8 d! R$ r! I$ w g2 ?0 |0 f' w5 \about driving our products," Lentz said.
6 v7 D% w7 b) RThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's! U. I4 l9 U3 f' v" Q8 e4 v4 @" r
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
( i. `( i3 w8 H" j- P1 `recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' {3 |6 R" _; e/ M
million in the United States -- since last fall because of t3 g: E) s( J0 j( G
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
, U5 B; n0 u9 E4 w$ M2 pissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
( O5 V' x$ v. q& J% K5 Hconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of3 d% ?2 \; j/ f. z
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
1 u3 a0 k. e( b) @; ~8 P; A- ~4 L2 Vdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
+ [" |' i/ l5 L- v. L, @received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& _& u! R* J3 D0 v
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.# O( @4 p+ c( F3 \/ P0 }
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
0 ]6 X# M' Q% x; G8 q: H0 R- E/ c7 Nbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he) h2 P! W0 `! J0 R" k( L
understood the pain.
$ O4 }: B2 s1 U"I know what those families go through," he said., @- F9 s1 M9 B( |! M( L6 J7 l8 v
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's) [) W; n6 T; p$ ~) Z3 T0 w( ^. b
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
! C" J! v6 ]( h* x$ S: P; @But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 a2 b9 Z0 L2 U( N) ?1 fHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* B9 M. B/ y y$ y) m6 cin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,. F: @/ i+ n+ f' L
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
) a* h+ ]# S& p2 J$ B: }% MStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were. c# |" Y! U& v; h+ G' c( B. R9 ?
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- W2 E# E, O3 R- d& O% L. CToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas0 B0 V9 y$ S0 i% Z4 C) ?- S: M
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its# E3 h' H( }- l0 n# o
vehicles already on the road.
, Y) r$ D z9 q: g# X, `Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) z6 V* Y3 \$ u
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
! m3 g& m7 a7 _& L. @1 ?7 p" X/ k" n6 Gresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and0 j; j _% w/ O& D/ {6 G8 c! h
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were. q% `/ x: A% N* g, k
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.' L+ {6 c7 m) g/ D% C
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a" G' g2 w8 R; C' @% F
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
* g0 r; C& p2 ^$ V# Q$ i3 F3 hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
0 f) j7 U: h. mCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal7 z" \7 R. b% `/ }6 L6 P
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to Q9 K: S+ D7 s5 M: t4 _3 P" O
restore the trust of our customers."
$ h$ t) I/ L) L& E( ~! \6 R2 VLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from a% X; q) a9 a& L% J Z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 e1 ?# S& _: I7 ~, H
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --. g2 w1 Y& r& {6 Y
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and7 ^4 `/ e$ I% Z6 w
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
. S! o7 Y6 x. p- R+ x* B; s" @that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( J8 _ z4 s6 g- _! I& V5 E
turn off the engine.; k7 F/ ^1 g$ T' n7 c
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# p. D# B) C) c! F! D; e
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."# w% v1 C, K& s, }4 d3 i
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she" M) s3 n5 [% c
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
T1 q' u0 L( c3 ^/ O2 hto her complaints./ @2 ?" E; W; y: N, }$ _9 p
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers! w/ ^! G: `+ f0 `7 b
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic) ]7 l7 g X/ Y6 @
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
* ]! E/ j' w2 }/ O"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" I* e( @" v: W- a9 K& c5 I
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 H6 z2 e9 B9 F" b9 F) P"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
! Z% i) C" d' L* A- X0 @* eoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: g1 F+ b( i+ j* d% J+ a, uTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' l/ p7 W3 U- T: d) Z( M% F9 cprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
9 |1 L( l* R8 [0 obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
1 O. y/ ~* {8 C9 W" j9 A7 pwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
* _5 W2 r5 c4 d" Q7 T7 b0 Fevery question."
) D- o+ d5 {& f( K$ UToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether1 E% |8 H# z7 y# a2 Z0 }% n
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The6 {3 ~9 E# A& @3 G2 T0 U% t
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But# Z5 N& t# Y& Z% C% h7 q) g" R8 Q- q
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small7 q/ _ [7 [! y
number of vehicles
& f# b$ I/ _0 F6 {/ z q/ K) H qTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
! \: l; Y& B9 |# Pdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ S) c8 p5 d5 c, t: _! \5 b
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
- C; ^! M0 u8 O. F6 h' S- Lsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
m P9 m0 @$ ~; z/ dMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
" u4 z! G2 g7 K. G% }' u ewhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
# \9 q' q- \ Ptrace at all.
4 D; ~, O# G0 l3 z) L7 jHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
! Y# D& S4 C0 m1 A5 |; c2 ^) vdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
+ h- h1 Z r" M% d6 [2 W' b- Racceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 n' j5 g+ a8 m precalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 E) k4 g& p# {Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,0 T' G2 Z$ y* J
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 P0 a* d7 N( R
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! f0 U: ~8 U9 W
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: U9 s) y/ _7 m a ] _$ g. P
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
3 P5 U; \5 e2 U* [such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained! I) ~$ Y9 J( ]$ J, ]/ F( [+ j
by Toyota's lawyers."
. ^& D% p* `, B, XLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
; O, d% i* ?! n/ o! Mproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our3 k! P$ r4 f# d$ ?
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* P0 d5 A$ Q# J* p) D: j/ E$ r; l
said.
5 n0 ?; U* n, h! R. |: m9 N"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
; T: N8 C1 M$ R" D- [' g+ ha rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
& A3 v& s* \" Y8 n# R: O) a# P. M1 e9 @good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% e4 ^' P" X1 X' t: Aofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.' \; r" J7 Z# D# M% I
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
3 w6 x. e: D. a; w- zmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread9 r6 ~) Z$ I2 w
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the; N1 L: a) c% Y' b: B
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
$ F+ @. O; ?. ?. D9 X8 E$ Minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
8 E5 U" J* N4 dChrysler.
: ~& s# Z4 Z$ i. v* T$ a"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax+ R4 Y/ R( w ~ a# N& u
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a3 h7 t( k& l& W7 O( q- z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 }% R/ N, a9 V9 Q$ |, aserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
/ w: i7 L% ^: S+ g8 ^1 dwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( a; t" X4 D* R# |9 R% htough.". [# r/ Z) B0 A: h
---
" e* E$ p9 F! i D( Z1 d' YAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) V% W, @. j6 v) e" h
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to0 @7 Z" A' L6 [( r
this story.0 v( X. ?' z/ B6 C1 p& O& R
0 p& F, a* i5 [8 |" U3 \, S0 \
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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