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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题" K8 L; k9 e( s
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, H4 e x) ?0 b1 o9 U/ A" p
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 n( R8 t5 G. \1 { a+ }3 Qoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 j' R2 f6 \0 n& u! b$ Wthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 E# x' \, Q' f. a7 H- n2 i
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
4 ~# w! |9 A8 n, i6 p. m# c2 S"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
. X+ N# N; Q3 M3 Qcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
. I* C% K2 M4 X6 ~; LHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
8 \1 E! e- v$ L" zacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and) p' \- a9 X& d! I" v$ a
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
+ C. G1 |; [ G& \. f2 P0 ~$ qmats and sticking accelerator pedals.& b# C% y, t E* c' G8 G' F8 M4 _1 {
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 L5 A9 {; N8 `% a; I7 Z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 S* }) f& L5 w2 n- ~. ]4 ^criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be/ t. X( A% G/ S, o7 ]
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could, L l2 f0 m' B' I- W0 F
not stop her runaway Lexus.
1 i1 Q: ?/ y: _0 g9 o6 P' z6 }"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ i. g* v; m! R4 c
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
* t0 ^2 g; u, @1 {"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.* E U. p* Q9 P( o
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues% ~+ c" q+ ^/ a, N: _ X
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
; g1 ~) {- r7 R; ]"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
; v/ D1 H" f; z Y! h; k5 D9 }5 c/ Odone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 {6 k2 C! a, R) qthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
4 N- p: S* |( f, u6 Winvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."& P0 K7 O; D4 l1 [. |+ [
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an( w0 t: B- O- h. j
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of7 ]6 s/ t0 [$ g
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
- g* A5 r8 H6 Y7 F1 b: h! [malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he' t, w l6 l6 ~3 c9 _( C
said. F2 o4 E" i7 e
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what0 p4 A. T) z0 D1 s
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 m/ B! U4 |3 _+ `) C+ G, a2 X0 Nabout driving our products," Lentz said.
j8 L, q" _7 K, }2 d6 @& a0 ZThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, H5 V4 p+ j9 O& L- c6 D2 G
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 [; a% S4 |5 U* a) l+ S) `recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
1 ^, h; q" H" G2 Q4 j0 c7 gmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
* a' o( y* c! I- J( vunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking+ Z+ ]7 P- ?3 N$ q. C( g( [" F5 y' [
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' p$ ~0 \! t- T5 @: E0 j' ]6 {* {1 J$ [concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
- ~5 F% s, a- N# Xtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow: P, s( F, }& y( |4 X% R+ D
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has* a v- S) n7 {
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
7 j6 f, G [0 s6 uof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
* c, Y# I$ b( p1 u& w' e. _Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
0 E! b$ d R, q" {brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& r. H, S" x$ @- n
understood the pain.
% V3 [) Z- {- k" L ?. [& _"I know what those families go through," he said.& } i3 E5 S4 V; k& U+ d/ K
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's. B, R- a: S4 U
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
1 [$ N8 B# t l! mBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman/ w0 c$ d& V6 W
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
4 e! }! ~0 ] |0 |+ m* |, u8 C9 |in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,) v- d# ]$ r- ?) a r2 `
Lentz replied: "Not totally."7 M$ P \0 V! C3 x V' G) ]; p
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 g2 ^+ r1 j! u$ v4 n, P
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 }- m+ h; F: yToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. u* o/ }% g0 j/ H2 X! u
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
* K: ?" X( M* z% xvehicles already on the road.1 i. B* h+ m. @
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify0 \+ j a6 X- ~+ N8 w+ ^
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
/ }, y4 Q' e& |2 K. Oresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# N/ I" Z% S$ `! \/ a& [
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
$ z7 O+ C( A: r' X" u# W3 ]( Gkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
7 I( K) N0 i# \! I( |"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
. P* B2 K$ Z8 {tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
& x) n2 s: F. o' I8 s" yfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight& k" m: R, |/ n r+ j
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal+ s0 @& `+ [7 i# c% w
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
, V" J; J- [6 z* E8 q* Crestore the trust of our customers."7 s h- X. r9 r" s2 j
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
8 K# B. G2 i- J3 lSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
` B2 Y% _& L* |. ~+ q( d% Qzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --; ]3 J# M0 ?' `) c% S. z" Z4 f: u
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and& H' C: u5 m* g/ Q0 U0 q
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
3 Z8 h( [/ B! I1 z6 k( T1 pthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and+ b+ T/ G( o4 X9 ?( [; j
turn off the engine.
# ~7 R& k) x( n _1 w# mFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of' @- g# Z4 r0 q! g+ C3 L( I
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."9 R+ I9 d0 X0 ?: `, Z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
7 @( _" n! K! Y; L- A! v1 isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 e7 X: I1 Y, [4 F2 ~to her complaints.& m+ `1 [! M+ a* U- a' T
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
2 w9 ?+ G) \+ u2 p& r7 V8 Y8 }: `returned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 ~3 d( v4 t, B' t
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
% c3 p8 P$ I2 D# Z8 c K"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric$ n4 N. C; t1 k9 R. U" V
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
* c; n) P* X, [& R! y" v"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 c" X( r5 Y# [) J noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: ~1 l! l& r _, t! WTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in$ Q: U( Z* X f+ h
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were5 B9 C- U" S! s7 i6 E& n+ K
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
2 V0 \9 M( @; b, n) i; b# bwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer2 z1 ? A. u/ e3 ?
every question."2 |5 R; n- b0 x" R
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether" V- S7 g3 G; {4 S( F/ x2 O: s
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
( m1 {7 p( B, m4 k) Kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But% c q* U7 q y+ C2 h- ^
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
@ g# j0 f8 P4 C2 o0 Mnumber of vehicles: q' ~- Z4 f! f
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more4 D' [* Y. H9 ^: q7 R1 ]( o
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a, ]2 z5 o2 v# c/ j5 [
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
+ T/ F( Z* `! F% @0 W/ Wsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car. d, @* X1 P4 y0 i
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% s0 L* V$ L( d. ~- Y1 vwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no$ j* }0 W7 D" i+ S0 T
trace at all.' i9 w) U* X! n! z
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
8 Z) P, [. d$ U6 O( j6 Q' mdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 I" |8 j) O" L! g8 O
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the! p- m: E# B, s4 b% R
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.* j' W3 X6 q" ~9 |7 h9 ~9 M8 Q
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
7 \/ f# J& |: t3 a0 isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
: Z/ N1 W! u- y+ ~" |, Eother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
2 h# S1 s X% Y+ x7 U, ^electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ p. Q+ N. b. p, I) S8 O
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only/ P1 E. h$ j! e2 \1 n5 n
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
4 \1 D# m0 N7 c% f d. hby Toyota's lawyers."
, J) }# ^( K, u, k; e1 BLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
3 x0 W2 x# |1 }( b% t- Kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
9 U' V) H/ d( K. X' c+ {5 Qcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
9 s5 _5 c O9 W) R, t$ w% p. h& Qsaid.( m( B% m3 ]/ x- o
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with& A5 u- M; Y! k5 W
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
: S$ {4 q$ r3 r C" Z! Bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating) ~2 x( A+ U2 y V5 g7 ~$ X/ V
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
# P* |+ b* }+ n6 s1 VSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying* y. G' h: F9 r8 i
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
; a% s1 t! G6 Wrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* u6 ~. ?1 T% `automaker, at least in part because of the government's6 M* F5 @, X- F; y, C% a3 X
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
$ Q) t& E6 M- pChrysler.
9 P2 E! A& o8 _; n% q- ?+ A"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax: x9 w/ O7 d" k0 E
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" n& ], u+ g' `# O$ HHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also1 Z' B/ p( U; C$ H, k2 C; P
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 H" H& w: A& o
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty& V5 z% j1 a6 ^0 k; a, r. W
tough."3 m$ R( u! T% z2 c
---
& b5 z) g# c- N3 X, ~Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
' i- M5 D4 t4 b& _Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ ]1 D7 @5 e' S! l+ k
this story.5 b) o( d8 ]! N6 s0 m: A; v
- s. a O U$ x3 v S7 m+ x-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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