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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题* E0 Y& S1 I# |
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 J" g; s' [) X/ J e. ~Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
9 |9 S' A4 v v) K! r( j( U7 toperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that2 y9 Q2 ^- Y" G
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"& a2 j. z6 A; ^: C' G
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.7 C8 O. F% P" V/ j- f
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& j* B0 `. Z2 C4 Y. K
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' ^/ v- z, {3 i2 NHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, e4 N- M- ?4 q2 w9 H# p
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
- |3 I, b$ I. n t$ n) V* C+ mtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor" ^- x0 T# E5 w* b7 S
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.5 x7 q0 e& y6 {# G/ W
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
+ f# {- W# L; h$ ?. C& W* o8 _and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
$ `6 `0 W* n* b$ T# f4 I2 ^criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
$ V) h$ ~' B. O" A' G0 v9 w: ^further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could: \* d: |6 ~ y/ w `: x! N* j8 I
not stop her runaway Lexus. H7 s6 V+ n! [0 o
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
t9 y; V% i) ? G7 vTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second7 B o( b' ~* i( L8 ^
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
1 f H. Z" U5 G2 ?8 LTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( C& {. Q# u9 M5 H
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' V1 V/ C K! j) S2 ? f- K9 o"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
! f, z O" L0 ~( h4 [. ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. F: C8 ?! @% S1 A% sthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
1 i& C0 z. A8 y* R1 p5 _* Jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
6 O# m5 I* @% fLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
* C. l* b9 Z/ Z. n% j% p( s- F1 V0 jelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
1 f9 `1 ]( P0 } ]the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! o! D$ O$ t: ^ }
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he6 I9 ]) B. ~2 D0 K
said.
! W1 I; _! a9 Z5 B+ p4 HAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what. h5 K) u, N) B8 b, O. F) I
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) k. b9 J# j% O8 ^- v1 i" E; e
about driving our products," Lentz said.7 D/ |5 |: G4 n, a* l
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
! o. O n$ R- t2 x& Qproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" {) @! G! v3 A g& Mrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6& y) |- F* l4 A% y/ |
million in the United States -- since last fall because of2 U/ W( s- d/ L7 w& e, s
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking" W! o' e3 p4 K" B% V
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: O2 Z" v7 m& A2 N$ t) O9 aconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of5 Y9 B+ @" z# f( P
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
+ }% }. E5 F2 v$ k6 t+ Z# cdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ x) P& s8 [' {3 {) q/ Zreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
" u" \/ U! x. O- Qof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& D7 s1 z+ u# \+ pLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own/ J3 X9 N2 |, b) ~- t3 l, V
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ [, ^. h4 ~2 K
understood the pain.
) J% F& }- A3 o6 S$ w( E4 o"I know what those families go through," he said.
" l( X7 @( d G6 D6 W* }; TLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
p! s9 ^: M4 u" \6 U% A9 cfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.. L' R4 P+ b( U1 }
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% Q# t# K7 W% i. a' a" uHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
B. C3 V7 M2 F+ P- o! Ain place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,; H x% @" D: b, W7 f2 u
Lentz replied: "Not totally."0 _* b3 J. z+ Q5 Y3 o- x
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% _" S; o$ T! s, L& Q- J( A"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said; h$ d* D! M' R( A, R7 |* x
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
# I) [; Z5 Z, n7 {pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its+ I D+ H1 x* e+ C$ R4 a
vehicles already on the road.
. U6 \- F. D. _% B: J" @" B% mMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
' F# d2 `1 N, @) O; qbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
* a% m, m, A/ \8 {' Q6 i# Hresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and4 h0 Q! }/ t6 v; V
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
- o" t4 g# f" v& G% v) p C3 J# Xkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. ^, I6 M% J) x! ]# D/ C5 d' T
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
) Q8 S y( j' {5 Btragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
: b- }% D B- \5 D5 b$ ~for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight! I, W/ H: b2 E! p
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: F7 B( P( i: @4 A) M) I" Fcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' b* t% c: I! r( b- Orestore the trust of our customers."
/ w- L2 F! h& d* R+ [: NLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ J! U# {7 u6 q
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly( k: B/ T8 o9 |- V
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ s$ k& o% B' X7 ]: J9 w Zshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 J( J% v- Y$ t2 {hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 @: S4 f3 i e% T
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and- N4 ~- [5 S0 @& j- \0 Q+ \% C9 R% u8 t
turn off the engine.' g7 s/ T" Q" J
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of: w/ ^& Z" i9 x
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."1 X d; m* H- H
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
- n4 D1 h3 y! }* \- Y: C; ^5 {said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 l, H% P% C" J3 [: Nto her complaints.
9 H0 P, t ~7 i9 Q! d" F$ k; ^In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
! a% o2 x8 W8 q5 X% m, x- Creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 R, N- L+ l; q* S, c" x J
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
: \/ c0 F0 L: u7 f' c X"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- i( h0 \! @0 q6 I kthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
1 |0 F: H! d0 d" N"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 }- `3 ]3 G" ]3 h& I+ t
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
. z8 H i t1 m3 |, y. H/ dTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
4 A" x+ E" \( u1 Sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
, ^% X' {3 u h" A* Cbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
8 m3 Z+ Q/ i3 g* S- z j& u! e$ Hwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer# ~0 i. P, m/ b } i
every question."
! \2 U2 W4 i0 m) }3 Z/ kToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% B1 A8 {; C% Y) a% `5 n
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
" `8 A- t9 G2 dfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& U) o: R8 B4 R* L
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
( n8 a4 r- E: o$ rnumber of vehicles
. ~ l8 D! `7 \% N2 Y9 HTracking down an electrical problem can be far more% I: z! U" x& H" j; K
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 }8 v7 O7 L! [( U2 \+ Z2 n- P9 smechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' S* r" U% j& r' t
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
1 o8 y4 q V. @' G4 fMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
9 {4 L' O9 ~ ]; o0 x5 ^where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no' X4 e4 P: [. B" e9 Y
trace at all.
% k% P* i3 p, g. r, B* XHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ n$ ~) y$ A0 mdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* N1 O( ~* w; T8 N1 Q3 p2 P9 o
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
8 ]3 A$ X! K! c8 Z# q3 Wrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
8 y+ _' N! X4 o. r/ N3 NRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
) D$ i2 Q& G3 i6 a2 h1 d1 Q6 Hsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and1 l% ]0 b$ ]. A4 l n6 q! W
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
8 r3 {0 ?- R* f. J" x' Nelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; S Q1 t6 L+ {) \; X' h
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
* r' B h1 T/ G+ u5 usuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' e3 A" r# ^, C2 @" rby Toyota's lawyers." j% n( e8 u# `) b F0 U
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
; f/ k# K' _0 `7 o# k' f& g2 @problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our- \; Q, {9 J3 w. n5 @4 S, o
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
, Y# [: }# X5 Ysaid.
, m8 Y' X' w$ u) `$ Y"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
/ ?( m* N& r, ua rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 z6 u. q5 s" v, s+ E6 C9 s
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating# x+ q1 r! O3 ^9 t) ^
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
8 O* M0 M' u5 M1 o1 f$ [ iSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 s0 O! G% P! Vmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
7 G7 z# c% N# ]3 x3 Prancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the3 y; V6 H" \4 t$ h/ Q( I
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
# H$ q G% v" K f9 kinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and* F" e4 y, L% l; x! i! g
Chrysler.
% N: u( ]% c. _7 Z) Z- |. K a9 z"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
0 @# p8 D" i. F8 sdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a, I) @8 i C3 |: b8 A
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also) e7 v, ]* q( V( I, V# M
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
. N; G& V: v; o9 uwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty* z" K! r& h/ e4 `& M/ V
tough."* D3 e2 F8 F. l2 s, f) e6 g
---+ b9 b: n& b3 P+ v+ D7 H$ s1 A
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
6 ~& `& t; U/ F, n; S' _Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
8 X) `5 s* D( }this story.0 G: y) a, @0 @
& a# p3 |, ], ^ y-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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