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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题9 ~) v2 P* c& ? |
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS% r# T* P; V; @ x u [
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
: Z$ D% V/ o4 H1 l' J4 o; toperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
3 r5 @% a! z3 ~. u) ]the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ c. N" K% p6 ssolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.% T% T0 v6 j! J- o+ x
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& _- J3 w+ \% E: C g- c" u5 K
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.0 D2 y3 D4 Y) {. f( n' i
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ E- T9 r& n2 M) Q6 P: t
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 i/ t$ N0 ?' m0 k" utrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor) E( |5 }7 _$ L( v7 d* w
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
/ D8 d/ H4 l2 v$ {) XHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
! \# M6 H7 D3 ^2 C |2 o& F9 O- pand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
% u& v* I+ ?- L+ }, Jcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be" A$ `! h8 w: t( x
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
! y8 I0 ^) F* O( D; D. Qnot stop her runaway Lexus.
- D' A* n5 B' f' {1 y: y"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 ]* I3 N9 S r$ N
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second# \' _6 L: c6 r- K5 b
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
0 {) a# D: [2 @. P' HTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues7 ^2 x. ~0 G$ M; P% ]! [& W$ U8 ^
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said5 C2 h1 M% d: Z: C! u! E
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has0 P: \4 r6 R( _0 n. r" v
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
/ k- D4 X0 F1 s0 c4 ^% d- qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
$ u5 `4 o# L* I3 yinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.". T7 x5 g. v+ {+ J/ z; i. P) F# ]- o
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
9 _' ]. n4 e( F' `6 \7 k0 r- Selectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
9 Q4 ?& \* z- e) A8 b; w+ |the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a& D7 r) `& |6 @
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he* v$ Z$ L& ^( {/ Z( D: m" I- ~* q
said.4 ?, W+ h7 A% e& y/ x: f: e R, t
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what6 f6 ^) M3 j( L. c( @7 V' J1 {: }
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe/ u9 ?3 i- ^8 d6 J- _
about driving our products," Lentz said.
# d! E3 \" B6 ^8 CThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
9 p* Q# f! P' N% E# Mproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
1 m9 h2 I9 i" F9 M6 R a) D. Yrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 }4 u% K; I2 h# Imillion in the United States -- since last fall because of% _; J) E- N+ r- S/ [
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking$ D/ O% M2 W0 d* K. x
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& x' i% B5 \( u ]7 i3 J0 kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of' n/ G1 c X2 T2 @3 s+ X, T0 M+ R4 {9 Y
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow& F+ Y( {7 N5 w1 D0 ~0 k# L
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has7 m" }' j) r( c" c6 f# U4 v6 g3 k
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration% ]# q/ f2 i" c8 D. s5 X5 _
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 l* j# q- f" l
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own! u% @/ U5 f |! d
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
( v" q& W' I7 w9 n% M6 O2 `$ Lunderstood the pain.$ U) y( l7 ~/ t# ^
"I know what those families go through," he said.
2 u6 ]5 I8 g3 nLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
& f- I+ L, o: e2 Gfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.8 W* W* N% E5 C6 ]( |$ E r
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
' d3 F& ?& ]# u) i9 w# [# OHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
2 o% O7 t( J+ l. K0 }in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* L/ T# ]1 d! i. r, W( ?
Lentz replied: "Not totally."5 @! k3 U) n q: c2 S2 S* M
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were t8 s, ~' C) ~: r4 g' R
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said, j% |! s6 s5 c
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas5 M* b [* ?' P2 g' Y& t# H
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
8 r8 X! D! ?+ e. ~6 ?" I' ivehicles already on the road.
* r6 o; [+ F+ e( QMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
+ J, C, \) @ s5 A0 Xbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
r j X9 J, \1 f; X6 @$ B6 Kresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
2 X. @$ c* I9 P2 X( A; Yoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were2 ?+ V6 @) p4 O' Y, P5 q. O
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.3 K6 S3 H! q/ g% r& `% V
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
. B w2 ^" J/ v/ h- h4 d0 [tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- I* }" _4 S9 H# d6 @! B5 B+ xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight; ]. p( e+ b) V# x; v8 v# b
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- {& |, s, T+ _/ i) s
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to) X$ j ^7 C( F% `2 S+ k
restore the trust of our customers." E$ `- E! s2 f$ U
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( B" E2 u+ ]4 ~2 b5 L
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
3 e- M/ ~% F% l, t7 x- ezoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --" [' }9 T2 T/ a2 b1 k; e: v# O
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and" L: ^ U. A; z, S/ G& c, o" r
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
7 r3 u( e0 w3 ^* F) hthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
2 {3 y7 t4 g7 X) b9 H( C0 Aturn off the engine.
! n! c/ `% k. n# g* I1 iFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
! }# S! F: {. K' d$ m# S( eOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."9 n5 v; [: s3 z6 H
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she" H* b' L2 I* [" G e+ _
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
( Z2 V' {' t2 V1 D# cto her complaints.% Y8 l% J" O$ n
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers2 e' V/ Y7 k7 f [# k* P
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic @4 w V! L' K- e6 f
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.% s' Z; o( \7 ^8 p& _: Q* z1 D
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
' K0 g7 k$ E8 q3 M+ j' W; ~throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited) ^5 D# u4 z9 R; X6 ]" X2 h! Y' B/ }
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ {* y* u; a: boff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! `) w& _& q9 J
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* @5 s, u9 [! K0 S3 d
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
3 Z0 J8 X6 \* b y- Xbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
/ c" a; o% A7 E# C8 s& cwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 S$ g: ]: H5 G- Revery question."
H$ X- c* k q$ mToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
! D' O: @4 U U9 zelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
6 C- `6 R2 ~3 tfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
7 M! t5 @* |2 g9 O! w0 {4 o' S% [# Jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
/ @, O5 ?+ s: \ U" vnumber of vehicles; a! h! s: U: H
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more0 k6 z) T. T3 _1 z0 o
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
* w- _0 l& u8 K4 o' i; t* ~( Emechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one- R; u! ]3 H- e) k
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
" l6 A" N u7 i* R, vMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' W" c o @- p) R1 e4 rwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 R4 L" k: u" R
trace at all.7 U# ]* D) ?& C4 x4 U0 C
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call0 X/ i! R( |* N
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
D% v& j, s! c7 m! }4 aacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the, R [. _0 E* x( n
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.$ F8 I4 L6 M2 i) a( P
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,7 c) X/ r( D" K
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and5 D. |/ Z6 J! T" }# T+ I9 ~. n) z$ a
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
, \. J0 Y5 o/ R* Xelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
: g8 R' E% v% H j lcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( i D6 R% j0 v' Q# z- n P
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
3 n9 r" ?: v' Q& Uby Toyota's lawyers."! N; N' k( g4 ^# y5 b9 U1 d" s8 S) y
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of: P7 B& c3 W: y( R% w9 ?, x9 L
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our, C6 X' Q* \8 L, G5 d2 r
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
8 O; p R* q- ?& osaid.
1 u- E6 U7 }+ b' j% K"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! R; f0 ]" X# ~8 w% P+ t# ^( Sa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 N/ A( `. V( J8 y5 m( J7 Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating. T4 m) ^7 W5 p
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
3 _ E" u7 d) {7 ]' }# ^6 FSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying* f. k* H/ ^% c, Q- N ]+ t
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
/ V% Q! z1 d I; W' wrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
P; _; U* ~" ^8 _automaker, at least in part because of the government's a4 w( \0 L- w& U
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and2 e: ]$ C. `* U) v0 T9 q
Chrysler.
, |1 J0 G6 B( K+ h6 W2 e# h+ [! v% ["That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
: v. @3 a; @' R% ldollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
% `( G) F z$ Q, c6 Q. m& }Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: R' X+ L( Y* r7 t2 P% nserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' j$ g# E% I% }% V! zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty0 |$ }- A- f, l+ e, e8 e+ o9 {
tough."
- F$ \, _; ~: \1 d7 T, \8 h---+ F! z8 G+ }- }
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& J o' m6 w+ W' S- e
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to7 J0 y& Z$ y% b( S- |% a4 T
this story./ B1 w% @1 a, z3 b/ h8 @
( q: l$ r% [3 I6 L
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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