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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题( N- y$ x; E+ ?, e4 x* Z& k, U
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
/ H: z) c% S% E! q- s' e& V/ n1 aWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
7 K) s E* a9 Y2 H) Z0 _- toperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that/ u" X9 V5 Z- J+ f
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ Y- l! m f( i$ ?+ B: M
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.9 a* `5 @- w, u' @# O9 J$ K
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
0 x* l- M- V) y7 Scauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.9 A1 ~& ~ D( A' O1 l
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 N! x* s. E& |2 z$ Cacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and' ^6 F* n4 ~4 }; s
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor3 Q) v4 e! u' k8 C6 R
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.3 I8 [- K4 p6 e
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
# _1 |) D% c6 n6 Xand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# W! M; b; G# T1 x& H3 ]criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
+ T3 _+ \5 R9 Z/ T# `7 g8 }- r5 ofurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
F2 n) Z5 S! }- tnot stop her runaway Lexus.
. P" B; i! |3 y, m2 a"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! Z7 C, u2 A5 T, G# w
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second. }, ^& U5 |& h6 U
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
& E# c0 I( n. f1 ETexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
# ?5 ?* T( t% D8 Y" |* |7 ~/ }early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
) }% ~/ h/ W) N4 Z"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
7 l2 i# j/ n# f( l1 e2 G$ Udone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway u+ s- z. B. H& c
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
; H& n& Q, u+ V( i, j0 Sinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
& g9 n6 s# o' r1 C4 E+ _Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an0 E" \3 V+ L. y, O# K
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of: u, H( j* L3 k: z
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! o0 f8 T; ?6 } K1 X
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, ?, |, \% ]# x' s8 p/ `said.3 L' |7 C1 H0 w6 ]8 L+ [) P
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what! k; u! U6 R4 `4 T/ N" ? A
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
- e3 F q% _- Dabout driving our products," Lentz said.5 {# j4 S$ ]: |! l
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
1 I! V7 v U$ ^; L9 I' \$ u$ _problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
0 o1 g$ X7 O( c \% Z j( ~; Rrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 V( Z( f$ R5 kmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
+ k; }- b$ Z4 P8 H" X; Dunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking* a3 e& R0 R4 y' q1 Q' J7 r+ ~ x
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 g" `" o/ r( d& x4 O7 l4 a
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( z' m* E5 h* n* {; x
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ d R% F4 B" Q2 {9 L0 ~; y5 @6 y
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has% m$ {* E/ [& R5 ~/ a) J
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration4 |6 c Q3 g# B# J5 s; D A
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.) O& v# D \6 E7 ?3 b7 i
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own& b. u) e) O3 D2 `2 }
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 V& q2 g( P7 d5 F$ M1 cunderstood the pain.
7 ^; i. `8 o h8 Y+ ?"I know what those families go through," he said.5 b/ s5 F$ r' V2 P
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
5 I/ C1 R( R. U4 `$ gfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.( x6 ?- f# e* \4 @
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: N" `. L3 z% d9 I5 ^1 P P
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! ~7 h* e/ t- q$ p2 lin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,; H' t1 ^" R- [; l, g8 ~2 ~
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
1 v \" B) @+ V- _+ d) gStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! Z; S, N# z% X5 U- t, z' \! q
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
6 Q+ w: R( [" P$ ~8 F5 f6 | ZToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* X# z$ D+ p, u' h* k- bpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
! {( L/ K, D/ E# Dvehicles already on the road.' |2 R5 p9 O# M
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
' ?6 }' b0 N8 ]2 h% x5 N$ z: pbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 {; t+ U2 z9 d- Q
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
+ s$ F$ p. [! g6 E, ioffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
. v, v1 I6 `$ Q: b( ikilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.7 Z( t9 Q& Z; ?/ x$ n& N
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) W( b/ g7 ]# v' C# e4 ^3 h
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' Z' ?; x1 S g m( [% }3 Gfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
- c6 E3 O+ ]" f$ ]( g% }Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal1 A# ^6 N$ ]- ]* ~8 }
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- J. O$ Z& Z2 I; Nrestore the trust of our customers."6 |# P5 s E1 d5 C3 X
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from# t/ p* H7 Y% v ~+ d* _
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
) T, L* e3 s% p) }, D' xzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 G* q! y/ l$ {3 C! ~4 x: G! eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 P: k4 {: o" t! ^: h2 w
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough" |" }# k, I, ]! R" x/ |2 t
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and9 Z: `# W. g/ L8 b6 f% {8 z; M0 X
turn off the engine.
( u0 w4 C) m/ L: D" k4 o4 UFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of% W+ n9 x0 f- `9 M" |% D
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
; w4 c3 ?# V, ~"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she- S# i0 W, G* [: J8 J! ^) b( J) W
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& R h1 N2 O/ p# S5 e
to her complaints.8 ^+ v- M, }2 A0 S
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
- g% l. D, u# M( b7 A' hreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
- e, R3 ?5 F0 d) Fmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.( A6 A- R( f) o$ a+ @3 c4 S: Z4 E8 q
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- ]6 w' ^& o* P( E9 Z. C7 |throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
% [8 d2 r1 O8 q3 D"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
. ?& D* A- S/ s# \/ F; D6 Eoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."# f4 T9 h+ H" @
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in6 G8 k* t8 {6 p |/ S R
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ W& \/ A- E8 Q O( J Ibeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
; H+ E e( ^) K' Hwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
) J+ R1 X4 m- e1 Y* Cevery question."" A& a/ W+ V" T y3 ]
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether, |' p3 t& O9 D& d
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The( Q3 Q& E* h* \. D [( M+ t
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 s; W! l7 M; s' u( u' K+ _! I4 S
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 {/ T3 X _5 J( E c- F/ znumber of vehicles
& |8 M( R# x- F. wTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
" { N" i O8 X' R3 N2 Rdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a/ A8 }/ G6 Y: p4 X u) @
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
* @3 V* a( F. `0 @- t h1 Q& ?source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
1 _9 u6 b& b, {Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
( V- @( \. r/ O4 V9 R: ]7 P6 H( nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no ~4 s9 @; w# m& H; o' h' [
trace at all.1 S8 G# i, b* ^7 i- ]3 `
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
8 u5 g0 u! k3 T9 B0 Z6 S3 n3 M! xdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden/ A3 U+ P0 Y% Y* ]
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. b% y, C/ x, t/ L! W2 B" Jrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! I X4 i& j A
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
( X5 T" L1 \" z0 w. Ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and% E* }4 K5 F* ~; G) `
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
. {; c% D$ b4 c9 ^& j+ g; Kelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible' _1 r: ~5 w2 ~- K' r- W: b
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( ]: m* h! _, U3 n9 ~& w8 {2 S
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* ~8 o' e+ n8 u4 r, w( l# S9 S
by Toyota's lawyers."! |. G: H5 n- Z0 ?* `& E2 R
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of# a* u* q3 m4 z" [3 J% V$ \" W
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our7 }# u* b7 Y+ h" C4 R% `
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
) G0 l2 j& u4 E$ l( W* Zsaid.
. d t$ x/ v$ Y7 L! g/ _" K( S"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
$ f; u9 J, L; D$ d0 s' La rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
G0 w! r, F2 _+ p* i, Ugood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
6 S! p8 R+ C# D+ W) H" q) `officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
/ K p' y9 F0 ^8 p# [Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying: f" b& @& H, l! U' f+ |
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 }4 x, ?4 ]+ W8 e5 ^) I5 Urancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
0 C# S9 x: ?; R+ x6 C3 G0 \automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" z% O5 N! p* C; F) L A1 @investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and' Y* }7 N# p4 A0 m
Chrysler.# f9 b0 K" G/ a9 R/ a- S! c
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax K1 a8 Q# D. N; R! J+ y) ^
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a- N) S' d5 Q, P9 l1 R; F! g6 ~8 g/ e
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
1 `; D: `; g% D2 F5 V* v# Z' sserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 N5 Q P p% D
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty9 j# ^+ C; X) g- m: Q* y
tough."
% P% {& D. D( A0 A---
* i) N1 d5 L( Y, }, o% F; G" NAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
1 I* [* k Q% Q; ]6 ]5 l: u _* {Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to/ E" p8 E( U/ ~; V
this story.) d/ ~2 A$ i. H) [7 B3 x p8 d
) F. e7 c3 L& T; |. i-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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