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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题- m: x. f; p+ e* U5 }! n) a
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS0 N6 I7 C* _; l3 \) N1 s! e: O
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.8 J5 r: D' E: Y( m4 S8 T- U( ~
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
' O- R8 |2 W# z; G6 q# R1 othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": r9 d. R; b T* c2 O; g( p" S
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration. p& G$ K" f+ i9 U2 s
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential9 o7 l7 i/ _9 E% T
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
- b3 ~$ e0 g0 MHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: ?* T( } Q) T2 k2 U) [
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and6 v8 {: G$ d8 H& t C% h8 i
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor7 A' b( m! j" ^& w5 k0 O3 b& m$ A
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.0 I4 r5 O* S: z3 X) L/ w: O! }4 P3 g5 U
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
+ Y2 x( R) x. N; Z; O* J1 o4 n; Wand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
! Y3 B4 _9 N1 scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be7 I- c, U6 v, j* H4 t5 |' V
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could8 N4 p! A2 \% r
not stop her runaway Lexus.4 Y" R& n& Y- K3 j
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
S$ ]4 c) _& f* B% j! {4 T& @: K- a7 dTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second8 F7 Y) a, i1 A( O
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
) u4 v- z5 T5 t3 h7 F$ R% x$ w( ~Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" R; j5 p4 R% n, A4 Q8 L
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ z0 n8 y" h! t) y"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 G0 D/ {9 _# ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
; S- r9 S4 g' x6 y( Vthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
6 t/ r1 O$ r# X# c% G; m8 Jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."0 }# G5 |% I# ]$ y1 B1 a, [
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an; t2 c4 d7 c$ \3 A$ ^
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
) l: t( Y1 l8 _# \3 z2 y. d- ]the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a( |- q; l& ?0 ?) B3 h2 {
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he+ z; x: J+ R+ e, {
said.
! m7 a4 v# H3 m9 k% r9 EAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& y' u/ F# |5 C' G' }
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe2 S, O" e; B$ J; B
about driving our products," Lentz said.
* }8 N0 K! v3 X2 i: j/ q1 l2 B$ vThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" I: P1 F0 _% `8 K
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
5 _4 w/ N4 j4 v/ N3 nrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ R3 ~( m; G1 L' ^1 u
million in the United States -- since last fall because of, p# o/ S* Z: p, h
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
1 N1 \9 Z) N0 q! Q' Pissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 x: v H. q5 Z* x5 G4 @# pconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of' z+ X0 u+ x) C* [- z" m
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
" G# B% U: a$ v+ i: m4 Qdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
4 u) n2 ~& B, t* kreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration- }# ]& c* k4 N
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.0 l: H2 M1 y) j: e! r" m
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
/ w8 F. V+ u" [' gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
: D1 s" b- i4 [# M7 Funderstood the pain.
" Z+ x- d, O; r8 x1 R, G$ ~) A"I know what those families go through," he said.
( n% x8 v3 C; w- cLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
# m. O- L$ v* C R2 ~9 Z% r1 Xfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 ?" y; b/ K8 yBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman: z: H s5 k# O; F6 T
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
2 ]# b3 A7 S1 L* ?in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,3 {- l. u x- Y/ }" M- c4 p
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
; `& K$ R; s5 K7 H b: cStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
0 Q) E: U( K3 j# Y5 e"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% N: q! ^+ ^5 \% V1 wToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 ?9 N1 q2 y9 q, b/ }pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
3 ]1 [! _, \8 f5 ~ O: A- V" [vehicles already on the road.; N/ G, d4 N. Y$ ?; h$ x& k3 U
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify0 `* y! p2 S! f
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full# c; J7 n, Q% Z. c* \3 k4 `$ m
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' I2 O& u! z9 G; s) N1 b5 B# X& q) B* F
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' R, [, [' T) }8 Y6 g" A
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.- [2 w4 g1 C% Q8 X7 m
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
1 {: {# o( U9 ~tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 g" a2 u" v9 T5 ~8 K& r- J
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 ]+ c# f! }( T8 [2 vCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
- \6 w. c# w5 `6 b, Y& c# Ucommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
& |! F6 u- {6 g4 X) u) C5 hrestore the trust of our customers."
! _+ v/ K5 U1 O$ z. [+ ILawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from$ d9 y0 y2 Y; I7 I- _/ [3 p1 }
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
$ S- l8 j( u& [# [zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 q8 R8 {8 m- t- t1 b
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and A, H2 D& Z' |4 X5 m" o" }* L
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
x8 {1 X3 p: A! U- dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
% i% ^1 W1 r0 s+ _6 |/ {turn off the engine.3 _; p" Z7 b8 Z, R) r
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of4 x6 I% k0 H% }* \" \. n- j
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 M/ X* y# u$ P$ E"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she6 T# ~+ Q4 P$ s1 p
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
+ L2 E9 Y( a. v/ G0 L5 ]to her complaints.( \1 @6 P. a7 E- n7 R6 D
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. R8 f! @( M" w/ {* J/ dreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
2 Z# K0 Y3 N4 [! t( M. Z2 t0 ^& a. Emalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ ]! \+ P- f; M" L8 D"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
; G! n6 d# f) {3 w! @" e( _throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 l( h) I3 l+ p"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut4 _- [6 O4 Q1 _3 d
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
: u$ L" G$ r, VTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
* n0 C8 y( h# r$ f. Gprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ u% |& E& j& b# Ibeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% v9 H3 d3 i N. D8 Qwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
' o+ ]3 P7 f' [5 f2 k6 `3 c( Q! {$ Bevery question."* c: R/ j( y5 O
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether: w2 P& [+ j/ G! e' Q) U! o
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 e3 ~6 y% _$ H& O) r3 B
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
5 \* J* |9 e, q& b0 } Z( Ecommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small1 T# R& K! l# b% a3 u u" s* p
number of vehicles; Y$ |% g0 V# t) _
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more, E5 Q5 B4 O& b( c! _
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a7 {6 H0 ~ } e& ]; f. g5 S
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
7 z- r5 a- y3 [$ ]+ a& Ksource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.0 f2 Q3 } P g
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
! A( K9 j5 c4 Q4 iwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
! {2 x2 c+ Z `trace at all.
* h6 |" k5 f8 gHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 p2 U! U/ ]; s2 h: t# H& G
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden* r5 k/ F/ X0 Q$ E9 o
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( M7 f# ]: u' q- l% A" V
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
/ w7 C5 Z( u0 [' n4 d7 l: vRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,9 y" U, i* x k8 w. d8 b& b1 [
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and4 X6 D- U5 ?0 y! }$ c) Q
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
2 s& t. B. u0 ^electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
0 c/ U& h) ~; X% U ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
9 d8 {8 J$ }) z `such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
) L$ |( Q# n6 e4 \by Toyota's lawyers."
V# H% t C8 `6 Z# q8 CLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
% J1 }% k* f F, l' Q/ z' i, d9 c5 S! Cproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 h4 P2 w. A; K" i$ F0 v* P3 v
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
1 m6 Q9 Q4 U5 U. ]2 ~9 Dsaid.
9 [2 Q& c! X2 Z# e# C"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
* `6 @+ h# f4 \+ o$ \4 ^, Ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
- P! u" O; k v- |* {, @good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! _0 Z1 |+ J7 j7 @8 B2 H# @officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
2 M; b: H* X+ P2 `Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
8 Q* b) G" n8 \ ]/ H# mmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread* _- d: _' g, j4 w% ~
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
p# u- H6 A3 E% F4 bautomaker, at least in part because of the government's: A6 E @+ a0 i/ X, q2 }: g: k
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
1 A$ c: M* ?: h1 ^8 `( ZChrysler.
. y, k2 x$ `0 E8 y"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax! K) |! S4 S( C: Z$ y# p, r
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
0 B/ O Q+ x9 C: j5 QHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also9 W, k( Y Y1 ?, r
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete6 S t0 H) J# C$ k7 x2 e& p' o
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty# o3 }! V4 w& p& t: K6 g2 C, M6 ?
tough."
$ x9 M6 ]/ p; K2 ^---
6 d) {/ |$ }, O/ t! U' E* H5 x9 XAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom& m5 {, G$ c, t: @4 D$ _
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to/ C0 ~( q7 _, b" f/ M" X' x
this story./ d9 v" a+ C- S) T: u4 N
" g% o0 z4 z& O: c( m-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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