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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题: U; t" |9 I+ |* a; G" T8 o
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS- S: H) Y B4 S: K8 e5 P2 g2 d
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( f) X$ N+ I2 }+ ]& u2 r$ toperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! n! k# Q; r" w/ L8 a0 U# pthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"$ s- I& F5 `3 h9 N
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.- Q+ Y$ R) v. U2 Z
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( `3 }" @2 S; T- w1 O
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.- x- g- w6 S9 J7 A1 |5 ?+ s
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 p" n6 U- x: h$ p% u
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and; r6 E/ K/ o0 Z( \8 u
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor# H& Q! V5 A/ q; d; z" M- Y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
5 V2 K5 [7 h2 \8 `( c0 i' OHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal- f# `" |9 o+ y. E8 L$ o
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. P* I# P5 j6 y( F- F5 {criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
" K; E1 D1 ?7 q6 Z m$ Qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
3 b+ F% e- G" g5 f* jnot stop her runaway Lexus.
5 m: t+ ]* N0 K3 }8 N"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,% i: L4 S4 ^$ N6 c! R7 |, l- A8 ]
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second; }$ l: m- t" b; q: ?
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
$ J+ h8 _9 S* p4 i. e1 w8 z8 tTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
6 F" P% y' O" V$ ]) w4 r& mearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; n. N% @1 F U- O! P. k9 K, W a
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
5 U) H7 Y) Y+ ?: jdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway7 C$ [& w; G" J% g+ N) l
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's3 a; O" R& H$ d9 t1 S9 _
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 X$ x0 U; Z9 i) }0 p
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* H' ^" a0 L' z& B
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of7 \3 r7 m! B' a3 R
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
: I9 l6 q9 ~5 G5 J+ J- Mmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he( B4 I1 M, R3 k
said.9 D8 F' L. J4 i
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
6 _5 w* E* D/ fhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe/ T ~% R6 E! C. B% g/ s
about driving our products," Lentz said.. m. _3 L. p6 @2 p4 Z4 e E' h
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
: T1 g& I; f" o$ |5 i! }6 g/ P6 oproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 w% n0 {8 L! r. b# L
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 61 u9 w9 d3 [1 t
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
! R& p- Q" h; B# D* xunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 G: e/ K& y% k/ O7 d Wissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering! N2 r; l! @6 K" g3 [) V9 L! q; s
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of: U6 g' ~) R: H; }
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. Y; V1 z, X4 W9 ~2 f
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has! S% F5 F; s; l' V) s
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration1 d# k' \( e! P. B5 O4 u
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
9 s7 d5 b3 x) O" t- B/ p) LLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own" l7 N0 Q# W$ U3 t5 E: c, Q3 O
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# M: N/ n- ?+ s. G% L& g9 ]5 ]7 U
understood the pain.6 h7 l# g. }9 J: l
"I know what those families go through," he said.
" Y8 f! S# z8 f. g/ T& x. yLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ _" r, B4 ~- d8 L0 { y
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 W* Q% X: u( oBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
6 R k6 v+ A, [1 HHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( k. o8 y, ]2 h- v/ Z5 pin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
b' q, o3 ^3 `0 R% s0 g# lLentz replied: "Not totally.", x" `: s+ z$ C/ G, k
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
" J6 s D, g- x# o: z. c% R3 A"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said8 J2 B' h- P4 ^ }
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. K" C$ u% m; ~: V2 U+ v D4 w
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its. `: r6 U a* s i. h
vehicles already on the road.6 Y$ i. g g1 L6 Z; g( r
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify( N8 g, F4 U( ? [1 ~
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full# b$ V; w) M/ X/ m
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and5 t! o# n9 o$ }* [% V- T2 B+ w
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
) a& N- r2 G, |2 e Y$ `* ]) ^( gkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.0 m8 l: k9 X6 e$ G0 Q7 } X: H
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a' E2 H3 r" ]* V- u" t. t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
5 P& x% W% L( s4 T% q% u6 Xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight7 Y% ]$ w0 ~6 f3 Z
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal$ b, |: E, U, K- l& w0 {
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
" a0 {3 ]5 }! trestore the trust of our customers."" v1 W9 ~& a( D8 u7 ]# f/ V! I
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( l# [. p) F/ R% ]2 z# A0 ^
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly3 l, p9 X ~3 {/ b9 L
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' L7 G) m( ^% d1 w% |2 Gshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and0 l" ?% x p$ C2 |; q
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, {9 S) @$ i8 a
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and, ?$ O+ O- _( ?
turn off the engine.; c% t1 I7 V3 ]# S6 f% E% @
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of# [2 j, U: C7 y( F, _+ @+ `8 p
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."9 {! m; H/ r/ M
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she# X* N0 c" }8 V; f$ ~
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
' ]) u' [3 ~' bto her complaints.
9 M; c4 f6 e& d/ YIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( p. @: \& ^# Z% ?8 x' `' mreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 j3 i4 D% s, `. {malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
6 a7 y8 E! }) j% g) ?- z"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
. q! M- U+ ]3 b4 jthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
9 {+ [! O0 u* H; a' w+ t+ y( X; H! |' p"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
5 Y- O4 D' l1 x8 k# z" \off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
) o* L( @7 W" C5 Q4 ]0 STransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 P C+ Y% S$ U( V2 y8 ~
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
/ l! N/ q# k; ybeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
, k% H$ `1 b0 ~were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer- d6 N/ q8 |5 ~7 e0 w+ o
every question."5 y! [, g! W5 a. g2 m7 E
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether w" U* C- b% ^4 F6 f3 \
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ N6 \/ h5 G; Wfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ h' g( g$ I% s+ b" Z. b) zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
7 t G5 `1 m* |6 znumber of vehicles4 w, L( k0 H( R0 M9 s- m
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
, j- d8 k7 ^" h$ mdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a6 F* N2 h( X" j9 P1 {
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: R/ w- x7 s. ^0 L& s: T6 S8 i( C, usource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.) D9 e. I3 R& q
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
( k7 U, W: S0 P, Nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no# n. h( `% }; x0 W4 q7 S ?
trace at all.
, a" M* ^, X" e- h6 ]House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
" v' k o6 b& w. ]' k- D* Odatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) o( ?6 f( s% F5 E* N& d8 D2 Y
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
' z3 T; `6 l3 j% X q1 ]recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.+ G- J0 a" `: Y
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
# X5 k% t( x1 W [" csaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
2 Q6 [/ V! V2 {7 e3 Eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the8 q" k+ ^4 O4 b7 o
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, L- ~( z, I$ q% R! t) H1 gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only0 W& G3 X* v. Z1 K: h6 b
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
2 y9 U T; G& M! D, W3 q* ~by Toyota's lawyers."
- p% {0 f4 k4 g' t ]+ N" e6 ^" x9 [Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
9 r5 x5 J; P9 A+ ]7 X0 Lproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
) e q3 b2 O% J' Ucustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he! }' Y- J) N. w: n) o
said.
0 H* K5 \7 P+ W6 O* s, }6 c' P& Z"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
$ [4 B$ y" L9 U$ i% l Ga rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our8 \* X* O' E4 z" ?2 C
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
( F% u, u- n4 v7 cofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
3 w& w0 |$ H! M* `Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying/ d9 e- g o) R$ m0 U" V9 {4 J* {
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
I! o- Z8 c# p! K7 y7 zrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the: N9 U; m- E+ j& d. J" B2 {2 |) P# Y
automaker, at least in part because of the government's, |( Q/ s/ A9 s/ f+ f% j$ \+ j
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and/ B; E( Y3 I' E: i: F, K" {
Chrysler.$ l. R6 D' m. @' ^
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax) l+ G5 M& A$ L0 [# ~3 I
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
+ F, F/ @* \3 c9 NHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also# v* f0 y5 |2 E8 ]7 V9 o+ T
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete- d: g! f/ ^9 \4 e) |9 F
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
& X- m! C2 m% o) }. n# btough."' n- F V, k4 H2 I( |1 H% u8 D, j! l
---' n, W1 C/ v/ ~+ n4 E
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom; ^& O% O7 F9 P+ v; ?3 u7 c X
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& m+ N1 Y. J8 }9 @/ N6 m
this story./ |/ p" ~+ ~: n! B
" I! y& g* u% i$ N4 B& T-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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