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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题8 Z' s4 c$ p$ s' O
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
6 \8 m& m- O) Z: U* cWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. c( S# t: h3 I/ @; ^4 L$ A9 u) w7 A
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# B3 \+ d3 ^0 _2 q l" ?" [. nthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
5 t& |9 q( d7 U) S {0 h( X. Nsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
1 s: u3 J4 n2 Z: Y l- l"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; n4 L, u1 B" C* ncauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
+ L) i& t1 c) A7 M* JHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! u0 [6 ^' }$ X' E( Y# Cacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
9 p$ `, m; a$ r( i0 a. Ytrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& K% x P; O- N# f. Tmats and sticking accelerator pedals.3 I( d) z' T8 f9 U
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal; U4 p( W# W9 |5 p: s
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
5 L6 d5 m$ C _" W! J: Pcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be3 A0 o8 A `( Y2 [7 i- U N
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
. [, n5 F+ X: j, g- n8 Pnot stop her runaway Lexus.
2 E% z( D% w% j9 `# W6 v. B"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,, Z( H' y4 D) Q; H, I7 n3 M
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second: ]7 d4 ]. M. V D4 E9 j
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 p3 s( u4 L6 B; [* |
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- {2 y) {5 Y. V9 [early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
4 V, d/ T- Y( z9 [# z0 b) g"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
" R, i- v* N! cdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 Y, J, C: ?* L! a* @% p4 Vthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
$ u$ v6 s+ V3 }investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."8 h- f( p' }! r; [$ s
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an; l+ E. F0 K8 F C
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! j6 j7 d6 c. g ~* ~- f3 l
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a$ k- r4 H- W; d& d
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
) b& x; L4 V2 @8 Asaid.
8 \1 Y8 f! K" s- {* a0 B. |As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
' i& f) G+ d+ ~" Y1 F" @, h nhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
& J- p2 t" E5 I1 }about driving our products," Lentz said.
3 ?9 Q; x2 ~# r7 gThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's- K; ^0 Z% I/ q5 P9 T. u
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
. G9 }4 H. V) d5 `# h; Wrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
' h% J# H% ~' A4 Amillion in the United States -- since last fall because of+ l2 o1 _- @4 v' F
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 w \% W: L: W" k5 o2 I; s. Jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ j O5 ]) [" j( t% @) Zconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
3 y9 j" Q, G1 k$ L' Z/ e5 s, k/ ktheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow o8 o8 [- \: B" H: i
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 O1 I c5 v/ D) @7 Greceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
* a) D" o C e- G$ Lof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
2 U6 a6 o8 e6 g6 I) L* j! ULentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own! H" u; N* a4 N7 a7 S
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
' `6 Y1 X' f( q) L) [ ?; z) f; Runderstood the pain.
$ J+ Z6 y* C; j) g9 r"I know what those families go through," he said.8 X n$ n- J) I9 T" b+ v
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 u* R" K6 W* e' o
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
# J$ p4 L% v6 F5 L" FBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. p! r$ g. o: [; p' uHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
! A9 ?( y7 Q. `( g" f7 r1 [( gin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
2 I$ r- g( O [1 U; j- y2 sLentz replied: "Not totally."
2 Z4 `* R8 n% S. ?0 DStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
g) H3 _2 a. ^' s"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! V1 u8 U6 p, `% P' A- g% K9 WToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
" }6 c# ^$ ?$ @- q7 }( S8 r- Vpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 t7 {& k# ?0 y% i9 h# G
vehicles already on the road.
9 u" \8 H- T1 d, D! ~/ A& B7 PMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
; p) O' u1 A8 i" q' vbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
& J! V% @4 {6 T- q) `- l6 ?3 B+ b4 lresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and1 h+ s4 D+ ]2 y/ q
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
; A% N, d6 {: Nkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.+ s2 S5 o# X) r/ _
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a% ]8 t+ O3 ]: p- C7 d4 i
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony0 t* i* @# p8 u7 w7 [! d `. |
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight. ~. @ ^6 Y6 o* q) s: u7 B' A
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. {3 Z2 h. R# Y: `3 ~: t1 f. W
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to2 q- H) E6 H, ?' \! y" {
restore the trust of our customers."
6 \$ |* [" \* k, ~% W$ ~Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from h. S" s t6 k0 s, E# l: b7 @
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
& E8 T0 w$ u0 P6 |5 U& Y7 kzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 p/ i6 r' R- _8 n0 o
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and1 o5 w$ q& S1 ]/ L" Y+ R* s
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough/ {0 X3 P" H+ C! { [4 f G9 Z
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
! m! S. X. P1 t' d' z, K! q8 }turn off the engine.. Q0 R: L I$ O( l! A
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 `+ @- O5 {2 \" o4 A. Z( `8 e0 nOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ R" s: c. x' D3 ~* o
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ y+ B# M6 ]+ Z& d6 G) Ysaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond( V1 R, [( p8 a) ^2 g
to her complaints.9 S! h- V2 u( t/ T
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
. ?% o. t/ v; i! U) [2 wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic* {( }1 c" r3 D C8 |( k
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
% P" \3 X% v* F: B"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- r7 |$ c% s2 u' lthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. M$ U$ w5 z: q- _3 Y7 m H: K"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut& ~1 i: V( I p1 @
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."0 `' i1 C5 I0 E5 V( ~1 s/ j
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in% f) m ^8 D5 v5 i& S0 k' S( ^
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
4 j, }5 A }4 Cbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 u: k' q: w1 g) r% m5 X3 }
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer& ~4 R3 _' O/ W
every question."
% Q1 M; R+ z6 F# f: W. R+ P3 J1 fToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether& O2 y" H" C8 t2 W
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 k( `: o- V" {7 n" ? _
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
$ Z, P1 B* ?6 f! [1 h1 Wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small0 [9 v' ~3 ?4 A3 a3 G$ H
number of vehicles
( v4 B9 S) T X) d8 @6 sTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; e' }% n9 M% U% V" R" t1 udifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
: w) o$ s! P8 ^7 O( B Pmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one+ X7 @( l e; F2 n, w
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
' \% i% P( t; oMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,1 ~2 @% ~, F6 `4 M {
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
9 r! t" c2 F9 }3 b2 n8 N; Ctrace at all.' Y" c1 m1 \- m! Q
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ \5 _6 ?9 n+ E# I( ]. k. ^/ @
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 [3 D6 ~1 t" c" c% o
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
% V: g7 k0 w; T! F1 J6 grecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
2 c$ S: b& G [/ u) XRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- \( B5 ~* ~, ]: D5 J- F/ h l
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and8 _0 B1 O, d% E) H# b/ m5 C
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the9 |, V# U; }+ D- b5 h- s1 l1 v, Y
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible2 ^* `$ e/ X |8 h6 z
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only0 d, w' t8 p( y# }
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" C$ d1 ~# G. I4 A5 U; H& nby Toyota's lawyers."6 [9 G2 @ Q% C/ f* D/ X
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of$ |$ i# ^. f% v& b* O
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our9 F) J8 A- n3 Z% a ]4 d2 h3 U! f
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
) I1 b1 Q8 d& s' g' r* v" ~said.0 I' j, P9 T) ] v4 T4 E
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
5 Y; X/ [, I( u, y4 ]/ }a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 _! ~4 c2 S3 R4 {good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating8 |% k' J6 V2 f" d' y
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 D4 d4 s' }, o0 h
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
9 m+ |$ b% O0 n [2 q- g* gmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
/ I1 U4 A) L) B2 {6 N5 zrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
& n' R& {9 b+ C* _- w7 g/ Vautomaker, at least in part because of the government's8 U1 }* W& r8 u& e
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
/ X1 J/ t( z# W& ]% W: k: RChrysler.
' b. I7 o1 U w" ~* K"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
' i$ D9 m" i' j3 h% ddollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
2 C6 v/ L+ m* ^, p5 {Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
! u4 {! n& q* f* C8 Iserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
" ]: e' U* z; ~/ Dwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 j. D& t7 `) X3 K6 h3 v$ Xtough."; v% _4 h( X5 x0 _, V7 u+ x( p; R
---
" n! C; h2 A4 UAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom+ E, o' h8 w& ^- Z- Z
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to( X6 U. T/ }2 w
this story.
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. X+ N0 h" @' L) b% w2 R-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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