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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题8 N) ], V" k, h" q8 Y" a" B
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS9 u; T2 K! b! d+ K$ y
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 X& n" ~/ [# w) M0 t6 [4 T
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 G T0 B8 x; k0 B4 r: d0 \
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"5 L* N- v0 i) ~
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 H& a2 j& |. T% ^4 P
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential/ T9 \# O/ J- {8 @9 ?( S
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
3 l y0 a0 C2 l1 B) _3 K' g/ BHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected3 J$ m4 `# M4 r7 m! p/ ` \8 e4 ?
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
. p/ q5 T- S& T6 D. @# |trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
2 q" P$ M# P6 \+ ?6 V# S5 dmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
: N M& H/ s" q; x8 t9 ~+ w% PHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
$ |" L4 N2 G6 W1 E7 g( a/ i6 Xand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp8 A) ~5 A3 X, V/ T# I. p @/ @5 \) ~
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" {. Y$ M2 k$ k9 }3 i* C9 W3 t* S7 ^further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
# [ Y f% s7 P: s2 ], i. Anot stop her runaway Lexus.
9 P7 d# a! x3 \+ g"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,& K0 R6 Z1 y) s7 d, Q V
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second" b! {5 Q1 D m# G2 [# N7 Y
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
0 N- E3 Y4 ~% q6 N* ZTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" N8 b5 | s9 W6 T9 V
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! G/ c5 x+ u0 A# T7 G" b+ s; f"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has- ?9 s) X T" A2 L. V. L
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
+ \+ n) k6 b. R2 g2 t6 v0 Dthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. d8 \) s5 |5 I" K, finvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' z0 g/ i( a- o/ C+ W1 u) A$ h1 ]6 fLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
6 C' J P8 G1 m* Q/ b \) ^8 {8 \electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of9 E! \+ B: b0 W6 z# m9 a4 L
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
O% c+ h) ^4 G9 x, n, tmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he( ~6 c5 v+ T4 w# m5 J: i( k: l/ S
said.6 H: w8 v0 `$ R
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
% Z* C a' R6 G2 X( T# t. w% E5 N" vhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, d7 c5 I; e, n4 ?- z9 K* Iabout driving our products," Lentz said.* Y% \! }3 ^3 ^' J; Z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's4 G4 S* d9 Y4 S! B- u& S
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has- X- P I. d8 X( G+ I0 k K
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 63 y: Z7 y+ }( G8 k$ P$ o
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
/ y0 ?& W$ M3 \) |- K3 F1 a/ A$ Wunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& d( [1 J+ w7 S% A$ z& I7 |! Cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( O }5 e0 f2 k5 G5 T9 y
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& s) E: b) |* x" g$ F7 V! utheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 C9 Z" {# g) u3 _* k b
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, x l; s% G$ M* freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
4 X" h9 \. n. @6 ]% s; c+ Tof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& P- g9 w; n0 `+ G9 F/ _Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own& D6 D8 b, }2 v1 t( J$ |4 R) b: A
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
+ c/ T% L0 g. d6 K0 m6 _understood the pain., R6 b5 d2 R9 \& k
"I know what those families go through," he said.
- g$ O- [' J% F- Z. L7 D: X- jLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's. l# F/ \( G0 |: P
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
* T+ ]' m! I) m8 q. DBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. o! {8 |5 |# b- a- |6 }$ S9 a r5 ^
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
2 n- X8 w. e) h- v0 l: q9 yin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
0 O3 Z% l; K# z, \2 GLentz replied: "Not totally."
, _3 C3 c/ a @% D0 @8 W- P% AStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% E. i9 g, d. G. m" ?# k8 z$ ^"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- W( @, Y# Z) J' L" U; j# q3 }Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas+ X: D: d7 r' K( c" A( S
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its( N& r. U% T' [8 O1 D
vehicles already on the road.
8 R3 V0 V4 }$ Y/ z7 D6 iMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify0 m. x E' o4 U
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
. G5 v+ m' A! V% e) @( [responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and% l2 a$ a- T$ C3 y
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
1 ~8 v- J: F$ a8 V- ckilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
5 ~7 n1 B% N; U0 f# F G"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 G+ }2 Y1 X- q- f
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- Y3 _; F4 A7 J# ^- y% R9 {for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight1 o1 A' E0 k+ R0 K# w4 U
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
5 B& p6 R# U) S x S4 R2 Vcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! `' p: E4 b6 J( \( vrestore the trust of our customers."
3 J. c& X6 o( G5 V$ [& x. m' f( Z1 RLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
+ H9 R! w0 ?6 ^ J/ M0 ASmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" M1 U+ x9 }1 [- a0 n* Y: W$ L
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& Y7 M" z1 e3 S% e
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and$ b w( D$ [. s) y: J! j2 o/ {5 V
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
( p) z% `* \6 [* j# ?9 Qthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and8 `. h& a5 M, q6 C6 J
turn off the engine.
2 F5 a3 b7 o b( ]6 P/ {" _# P7 dFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of P1 k) Z3 g4 @3 Q0 a3 q& z3 P) ~
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."9 j8 j8 Q1 k8 s( }: T/ M
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
% J9 D7 z% Z& bsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
) M: W | T. y$ V8 jto her complaints.: z, O& k& z+ K, F2 O5 N$ c# k
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers* X. I5 i3 Y3 e6 |* [9 {$ l
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
# o9 d7 m0 m! P9 v. A4 `malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) u# @3 [! b% w! M
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- a, [4 U, a% ^9 E! tthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
+ |5 b& S7 `4 a"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
; [, [ T) Q9 xoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
% d8 e3 b3 N: nTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in; _5 k- ^$ o# \: o) B4 L
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
8 h% `2 J5 f4 S' rbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
' G1 K: R; a+ |- N' r* Vwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
% Y) _, c: }! o$ vevery question."* [3 M, v1 m2 @5 Z/ \
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
0 L# y9 j( R) V2 `2 W8 D6 _electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
6 h! c% n% c* Q3 w, I8 qfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But$ q- m3 ^' X2 b0 L
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
( `) N/ j5 h& c3 T: l, {+ {4 Pnumber of vehicles% j, i, v, ?9 V- Z$ V9 R
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
8 T4 Q! C [7 qdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
/ R8 B0 Y' ?% p% c0 Kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
* K7 G% ?2 M: h* isource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* u4 c+ o3 h( e0 N" JMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
* r& s0 z# r2 g7 b2 J; K( b" y9 Bwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
5 S- L- P# a$ ~5 rtrace at all.
- l' H8 Z- |' bHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
# T+ J+ h. N) J' c* R" fdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
* @# S% c7 h) @* Y( n0 W& L, oacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; ~3 _$ _% Z1 q' |& orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
) ^' b0 n2 p: }& i/ f' zRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
( |- g t. `: W0 u! \said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* b3 a4 N8 `# K3 T" M* |
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the* K6 ]8 m, N. F9 g
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; `1 F3 m1 J9 I: b, O" u1 ?
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
4 `4 v1 S, ]. B7 Hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 Z! e; X: F8 u: G2 y7 E9 Yby Toyota's lawyers."1 d1 t H7 F# _
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
/ |% {- }. L9 v ~problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our' v& r: q/ a) Y5 J; A, y1 ~. ~. l- j
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
4 F% V5 {* m+ J2 h- psaid.
" ^- G' t7 W, j4 m( |"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: `. R9 {3 J2 l6 P! \+ n
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
$ Q# G: Q- S. v3 _8 ]: M( Egood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating9 p9 `4 z7 p/ B6 e% z0 y* x" g
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
& f( ?. R. K8 s8 C0 {0 E0 ISeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 [. ]$ x. r0 P2 q& v+ ?
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread- ?0 t) L$ C: J n! g, r
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 v$ P# S8 b3 u# s4 T
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
8 I. p9 Y- B* g- cinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ U t: `7 q2 n1 S( M }Chrysler.5 S& W* J) t+ l1 E1 K" B7 V$ o
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax: S3 y8 [+ K ~) c) g# i6 e
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
, Z- d2 v% O8 O: CHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 G6 l; Y7 w) B5 Q* A3 Eserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 a+ O' Q! \ m% `
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
/ D. E, k* M" Q1 F9 ntough."
& |) `4 m7 t/ {- o---# W7 h" m! i# Z
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom7 R- b1 x4 Q% `* x! k
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to1 l% C! w0 q. U" S5 l0 d; v
this story.
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2 c* i; X& c$ m( D* E$ s2 D& u7 e! a$ ?-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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