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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题; N0 ?& @* h$ e% C* U
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
/ B: B0 P% o9 m7 vWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
) s5 H( N5 C" M5 L) U/ woperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! d$ o: m5 f+ y4 S7 R3 {
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"+ T/ A( @: N+ I2 |* D! Z
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
- K& Z0 s p( W* m2 Q/ b"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
( `& G4 D. F U7 Q' Y; Tcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
4 u( Q, p* ^" UHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
& l9 E! @9 r1 u0 h0 Facceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
2 U; F# E) _. p* L: E/ ktrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% X% |2 g9 o5 N& {- G; Wmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 T6 w1 F* c4 W/ J5 x* J6 ]He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
' ]0 A& s J- S4 u f1 R9 a+ Hand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
( V9 X0 f0 E2 V8 V V0 mcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
& r& n( X4 b- @2 j+ i5 M H. Qfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ X4 c: E( m h/ [# t5 C
not stop her runaway Lexus.7 b. f/ _8 q; b9 ~, t+ w, X! I
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! o* Q2 i: F8 ]2 H: A {' ?) X
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 b8 e. {/ s5 C& p
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: b8 |$ x: w* ~" k/ y# iTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues# x3 r+ w, E" H3 Y9 k2 v5 E
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said9 O- _; I* n1 p& o
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
+ h! ]$ b' ~ H# bdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway* O- k) p: s, Z6 J2 M5 a
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
) m1 a$ O9 }3 p. {, H* Finvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."' j* d; s1 C1 A9 E* }9 M3 y
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. o6 R/ ^( |4 ~! R4 Y/ _electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of, O e# ~+ \ F9 E! x
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
$ Y9 z$ { P: d& L. h, z6 f) umalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he q( z3 S4 I _3 ~, i( `8 L
said.
6 ?1 A% w0 M# s9 W5 ]% X) AAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! e( M8 }4 R2 yhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) i# j) p& H8 M$ g- L+ ^
about driving our products," Lentz said.1 ^$ Z6 U, h6 V2 K3 J9 |
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
4 D2 h( Y8 e8 \ @8 Y; }problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has1 @3 \* ^8 a& Y/ |3 E& w# X
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 G& s8 X+ ^+ c; v, amillion in the United States -- since last fall because of i6 z% a/ X& @7 q& z
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 L# I. [5 y, M9 k( v s' L
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' h$ }0 S+ ^3 @9 Q/ r. ?concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of6 T( _( _' G# w! t6 g: S, n: K1 b' v
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
* F) H" K- K( B0 e5 jdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has) s0 G$ a" ~9 a! \; D: ^$ ?4 ^1 L& N
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
; g. I/ T, @4 y2 ]- n0 gof Toyota vehicles since 2000.7 m/ v2 B; j0 c) _, l
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
/ U5 r1 k+ P) A/ m6 Ubrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& g5 @, y- A* ?3 q9 x1 W) tunderstood the pain.7 ]) V6 x) M$ s$ r% n u
"I know what those families go through," he said.8 g5 @: ~5 j7 k; \
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's: T6 A( V5 H; s7 t' t% _ f+ n9 J
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
8 ?, M) w! m- D3 `8 i, Z+ _8 _But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman- B- s1 f$ j" b
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put1 p9 Q- s& N+ M1 O3 a4 F
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 ^" ?( l! |. }# R- ~# ~& \+ x
Lentz replied: "Not totally."7 n6 ^' q% j1 ~+ n: z$ E% v. ]8 P+ y
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! U. v; A. E: m3 K* [- m" H: {
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
& W% G/ p1 A7 e& u; m) \Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
0 f7 N* W' A- }. J* \ y" o X8 lpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its( b/ b. f/ `6 q3 _, S
vehicles already on the road.' S$ `, ^7 x' N9 [
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
3 w: ]+ N6 w; I5 Bbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
' I- d7 S% P6 f0 W% P+ ?/ K& Oresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and* F! d) v1 @; q
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
4 n9 _: S2 q& N. k$ t& skilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.4 U/ U) Z; Y2 M+ u% V; y
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a+ R; `: C, N: L; z( ~1 [: S& ^, Y
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony0 a% \ N$ K0 j1 Z
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( R4 c6 y$ q2 T4 G0 bCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal% B' P5 t% a; q( s, O2 Q- B$ b
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
! `2 Z3 L% @) W2 C' h7 v* p9 wrestore the trust of our customers."
: x9 m4 T1 o: V5 M, d8 P" ULawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
, K% O5 Y" V( H |8 ^4 H( j; E7 pSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
$ t# o* j* [; X( _" kzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --* ?& v& O- X$ H+ j. G$ T
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; S$ H& ~) P/ s( S# b& u3 ~hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
( k% S2 ~4 @9 r9 m+ {- \1 _that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& U& V& R8 G- m5 aturn off the engine. }- N5 `2 w Q n. @1 k3 ?
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& ~1 M9 \5 ], o- F+ v: C+ UOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
; V( [0 @6 K( N"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she7 H8 S: r0 k$ ]: n
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond( {7 h2 I& e. j! K6 A$ M8 b
to her complaints.4 A6 r7 H/ Q7 a/ T1 t, a, k
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
& ?5 X# ?3 U8 ^0 m6 \returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; L/ [7 C, Z5 V" ^" Fmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) T; k4 D& r. F$ T- ^
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric# T) e# ~( ^; d1 T8 X9 Q
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
, E8 L) Y6 p6 |5 e: y' k m0 X"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
7 k3 Z* R. D: g. Q' a0 Coff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."$ V7 C+ \5 z/ \: U! `( o! o
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
- h# |$ }! f& I$ aprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were, c% M( u3 G+ R" I
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls5 K" C$ `! T/ {' Q8 G. g
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer6 }) c' [) K) i7 K7 `' X/ j1 t
every question."3 x3 O3 Z A. j, O
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
! Q! M8 p, v8 U- selectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The! D' G- Z" m9 I9 c
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
]9 j" _' W9 Pcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
; u+ h3 r3 t# m2 X8 H, nnumber of vehicles! n* G/ v, k. Y4 y3 @4 O
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more* Y" x* Q1 t* O }- y9 P
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; I! _7 m" t+ v; n
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
+ y, O t1 W$ y' Y Bsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.( B7 S' a* M' F$ m8 \
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
) O9 v8 K- o2 R* V0 d) bwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no! }( r9 R& `( V# i! Z& T! J
trace at all.0 r: k1 r% j* N8 D
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
# ~3 @$ J' \6 c7 M% n- Qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
* f- ~6 l6 k" a; uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the$ \2 Q2 L& l' z5 U6 P3 r
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 s" q2 Y8 T6 X z% X' WRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,; l! @) Q) E8 t! @3 j- |* ]8 C' [4 Q1 X
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and" G3 H2 R2 u- X$ @5 A- U
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& p$ l" d/ E {) Felectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible; c) [# B3 S- y" X
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ W; |6 t) Z! ~: d6 n
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained* {' ^1 e1 Z9 R9 u
by Toyota's lawyers."
2 Y" c8 S8 q3 V- z/ { p$ N q3 uLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
& n( t3 `: ?3 Y0 S$ Oproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our, o% U9 Y1 }; n7 e' l- R2 ^" C
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
2 D% {! s3 I2 {- s( S' }) |+ isaid.: g. C3 P3 o+ S
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
) o1 j0 v; T9 Y# |3 u1 Ra rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
4 E8 C' B- G& ^ J; H2 E( N$ Ygood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 u& |/ g$ z; Y6 e: d! t1 [officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
K) b; z; z+ e C: xSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
2 b9 E: K) ~, o0 A2 a- e7 G% T/ Kmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
+ A" P/ }) |3 I* D2 c9 Erancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! H$ Y" f4 o& y2 G1 ?2 F9 pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
8 B: N" e( E% a, Q# t+ Z6 Sinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 a7 r @6 m% I( T6 v" Z2 V2 J' g
Chrysler.5 a o+ M8 `/ u H
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
9 v9 g* w4 U' pdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a$ d( C& Z" ?& o
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, J! M7 K# D* f4 `) c8 ]: _, ^
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
) I# K2 m n* V; Xwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. ]% v" g5 i7 \* x2 ~) Ptough."
`2 h# f6 X7 W0 ~: t---
- \5 |2 M& d4 X: E4 J0 d/ VAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
$ D+ C3 y: T) H4 J' XRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
- l8 @5 l; j! v9 o/ d, G q5 qthis story.7 a7 N3 C' f$ j/ X' R& I2 o
0 V3 z/ ?5 c" l# t/ }5 j$ i-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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