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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题2 i6 \( {7 k, g- Z7 F
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- t z; c# m; `' ` F! M5 K8 K
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.3 a' @( P1 @/ Q1 w, [
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
0 q5 O# `0 ^/ K$ }2 Z4 ]+ Jthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"" I; A# w, ^$ m" G. F. w
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
- i# C( S7 K5 U"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
! q4 Y; b, W; \' v" k ~causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
* \: u7 ~3 t4 W" F: FHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
2 v; K3 v9 g v. r3 R) M9 j: Dacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ u$ b }7 `$ e% ^8 |6 T' x M* A0 ~
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
. Y3 g/ E2 B- f& ^# X+ O9 emats and sticking accelerator pedals.
) {0 a& j" e9 R/ |% C. [5 }' wHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
$ H& Z) P- `4 R9 Q6 c) C2 band fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; Q. K& v# f6 _ `5 _# W xcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
/ W" G1 W! V9 v, x' N) a# m0 efurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" ?. D, n# c# x3 ^! w7 }not stop her runaway Lexus.
* j) m# e7 `* ~7 E% I"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
) @4 x' \# k2 l; f( r2 JTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second- \" S0 b; w, K$ W2 `
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
/ q% K/ _# ?) R' X: ETexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 J8 _& {, |0 V2 B8 x. eearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said# X# w2 ?, \6 p( t" o& N! @2 J
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
2 _/ I H* q& M* N4 e1 }' gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. k; }6 q+ k) f5 s! tthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's# H6 g0 R6 s$ [
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
2 f0 L$ [4 L( Z' M6 tLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an+ ~( D" q; |0 o% Z* b6 Z
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of* K4 Q$ n4 B6 P. p% Q
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a8 Y! L( \- d$ K% P a
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he z- K# I( O! E' s
said.
9 Q; w, d" m3 n7 K0 y7 wAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
: U! ?4 Q1 [1 h: u- D4 o( ]happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe4 D& V- K4 n: q9 d7 M- I" o9 l
about driving our products," Lentz said.
6 q; x5 Q c' b/ v9 F( r; Y L5 TThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's0 ~8 s6 L, n/ J1 H: W
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has# v5 y) t4 o/ m& E2 c" x
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 Y0 z6 C! i, c' v1 U% zmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of" Q4 ]; I* h9 B
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking8 o+ `: p# }4 `$ c5 m4 l
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# d4 w. R2 O" f5 Y' w) m, B" p3 zconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of E' J7 ^ a T @1 N
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow" u4 f- V* ]% Y W( }
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
% L+ E0 K( A7 ] t" F; n' [% Kreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) I0 R, M8 ~1 J% Aof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
) H) Q5 t. g# ?Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ O; ]" [* w( n* F. T( `8 vbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. ]% n$ t( C" l7 @& Z
understood the pain.
: g5 `4 g# R+ c"I know what those families go through," he said.
0 x0 [6 F b7 ~% {; t1 RLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 |3 L" L2 Y; p
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 T8 J$ k- g9 O
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ d# o. p! p6 B. z' ^9 SHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 d. i3 J0 d% N& q8 U6 m5 S3 E
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ e% l. ^- r" u" H3 q# j2 I
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
) _6 o8 G$ N! tStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
1 F ?" A8 H' F- A6 H"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
' D+ A: d+ T# b2 V! lToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 D S% P, l P5 O8 T1 v# n Wpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its9 _7 }# G" o2 P! x8 c5 y; B) u
vehicles already on the road.* |4 b- q H: W- v0 L/ G
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify1 ^+ k( ]4 {8 W- F( ]; u! m5 `( `
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full( e$ q3 J M* e
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
4 E8 K$ S6 o9 E/ joffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
1 N( m, R9 `0 _) {; Gkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
# O; r, e1 Q$ S5 ^"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
8 d- o' z" F& G6 `tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' |$ R# Z' {* q7 Q1 V* W5 L. h8 |for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
% E4 S, T* G" \! k1 t! PCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal0 Z- R6 j; w. _. d V
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to H+ a5 `/ Y I2 c& o7 u V
restore the trust of our customers."
8 K5 Y1 b/ |) n( i- hLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from, x# @/ T' U. v9 P. e+ u4 p
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
- O) w y! B* c: R: m' M1 I1 szoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
. G8 X( V; p0 f3 wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 U0 G6 Q4 |$ S( i1 `) g- ~hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough' m: ]! y0 s9 x$ T/ v4 i
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) f+ \' ~4 c4 {" ]6 @turn off the engine.) O4 @! w; u4 ?. T* Q9 l4 F
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
0 p* v$ }+ Q5 {$ Z, uOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
3 Y% w# s( O/ n% u: x/ x& J7 D"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she4 A* M% \1 g3 _. v: {! O
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
) W7 |' J9 C. [& b% ^, xto her complaints.
0 ~8 d ?- T( g0 T5 L% `/ PIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers. U2 L+ e5 q w- b, }. ^
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 i! f& L8 {3 w$ O' s/ L0 _malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.3 t* k& O& N5 J
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
" W' q$ L/ a: t$ A$ K* I! B2 _throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
0 s# [# [% v' z"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
: G* |5 [3 J7 d6 f4 u E6 z6 Xoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 y3 x3 z, p; nTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in- G; e5 e( G+ j' m. \
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 [! Z. _* t# l/ obeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls3 X/ G: _% X' g/ R
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
?4 I/ e4 V: a% b' U5 @every question."; ]$ e9 G0 L+ J1 M7 D
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether1 H2 l l. ?, T+ z( ]) G
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The( c0 j B8 ^2 M; G
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
% D& S2 a1 ^( I8 Hcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small V' p7 m; ~+ Q) Z, D% N
number of vehicles
; v* u* S2 v o, NTracking down an electrical problem can be far more+ a" ?$ c& X9 B
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; r L/ `% Z# R- q2 o A( A, {
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one# `5 n- k7 v+ ?4 u* L* M- r; [" S
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
- z+ H9 l& u0 v; r& tMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,8 N8 N6 W7 ? K4 p9 X
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 y5 {( H; k* B- b0 O5 i. ]
trace at all.0 J v, d# N2 G& w6 r
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call1 m& m) a) p0 D. ?; c9 M6 e- i
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
- v$ v" }- V/ S2 Nacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
) A* i D3 Y, r; n4 u3 K& Grecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.8 M* l" s0 k, f# k0 ]3 v/ F
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 ^5 u2 z6 [5 b" L- D& ^' t
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and5 d3 }' i4 j- R- f; H
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
- n2 W$ s s) ]1 l |1 Zelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# u2 c4 ^% s; ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
! e, H9 j+ C& ^9 Hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained/ ]2 y4 f" q! B6 J# r: |
by Toyota's lawyers."" O' Z% { e0 I# \4 V7 q
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of5 u# S- z; u7 g; ~
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our2 j/ M# P( n; F. T( ?
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! a/ V, V( q+ Q1 |3 i8 p1 e
said.- n. e% C& I4 z
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with# I) w+ C( j. s+ m
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our3 t, h5 D) b- j* w) F
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
" s0 _3 C0 @8 ~4 U* Rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.7 v: N; }5 y3 q/ |$ T+ G( m
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying/ P& k: f" N' z4 Q i0 n* l8 ?
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread, `: L4 z9 F9 K7 z
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the8 d* N. q# ^; _6 R* n, j
automaker, at least in part because of the government's" p/ S( I( R* w4 w
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& f" d+ Z- L/ T# W+ M* j8 z
Chrysler.
3 p; s0 P/ R, l3 x ~"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
9 d6 U: f5 F c7 h( I& M5 }dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) h+ r% N1 [ _5 r1 A2 I
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also3 }* S3 E/ y/ `3 @) w6 O1 E
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 ]6 H% X& t7 I1 g. l6 P# z; C
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
8 O, Q. A' G( f# z, F8 {tough."4 S5 i- o" X+ E, |% U
---
7 ?" W0 J4 n6 lAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
3 y8 ~# m' J% d( Q0 F+ jRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; c& }$ B1 O" dthis story.1 M) v5 l7 J1 q- u$ g% d8 r
" Q5 { l6 y" J7 ~7 E5 a: C; ~$ W
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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