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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题2 `2 M$ n6 \2 n" n0 o) A
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
& l. b* F- |: @/ R1 M$ FWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.9 y& |0 g ?4 g$ e3 @5 p7 V+ ^- b
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
* H; ~1 T1 g2 J3 O- nthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"7 [* O0 [; f- i3 R) S6 X
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) |4 V3 b9 V: |/ F% C3 W"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* C$ x" i) K" O$ dcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.3 p0 K) X) f, y. T. }0 Q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected1 x/ S7 Z( |( h0 G2 B2 @( z
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and9 d: Z1 p& A. A3 r/ b- b
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% j; A2 f7 @. C N# @8 X* ^mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
) t( ]& k2 S9 R3 P, K- g- Q. yHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal) K) e7 W/ d4 F- c* M; b" z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp* D( D4 ?8 i- S6 s. }
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be [$ }+ Y5 v! G: A0 |# t
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
1 x% ?; V- @3 V1 Jnot stop her runaway Lexus.
2 \3 f* ]/ v6 f" s5 u"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,: j9 y0 x9 j1 C. Y2 j' r
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second1 G/ u- E- }) P6 v* m0 A
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, E8 Z0 v( u/ KTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues b) y( f1 M7 h4 z l* X8 r
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' ]2 ~+ M3 u' C1 J o1 P& G, H5 L* ["We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has- J" p9 P1 q; e" D9 Z0 _
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
3 T8 i9 { `* ?3 t" p6 Wthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
/ O b, U5 R( r' j. P {) W, Binvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
+ X2 G* U( j( ?, {Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
. J9 H; o# v& M9 L& H, |' Y4 l8 welectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of! Y7 q) F K# e: }0 t+ B
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a* g' y T* G7 D/ S4 T* o
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
) H% L5 L1 z$ q% U$ r( ]/ |6 Zsaid.! S/ U, n: J) x$ J' A
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what n" Q, d2 r. k4 W
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
# H ]$ r& U: \$ h# c$ H+ Rabout driving our products," Lentz said.
1 |8 s5 `' z% P& {7 DThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
4 W- `8 X: v* M6 Y, Oproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
" [* |8 M6 C- m1 Irecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- _( F: ~ J/ K# [/ Xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of& g: z4 N3 ^; r" V
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
" C* t& l2 Z. ~6 s$ ~issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
; x8 r; g+ H/ w- S' D4 Xconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% I3 ~/ v( |) @# w+ p1 Z, A
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow5 g3 T9 {3 I% y- ^2 D* d# D
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
8 M, o6 M# w: h& X/ R/ K. rreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) |1 c6 L8 b$ Y! N4 W+ ~% dof Toyota vehicles since 2000.9 L5 J7 T g q8 {2 f
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
6 B+ q/ Y& m+ Hbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he# s( k" |/ @7 K$ l
understood the pain.* _: }$ C; r# i* i& e# [. R
"I know what those families go through," he said.
% @# g- N/ R' Q; \5 N E- t. `Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
1 J# A7 a& P) c% j# }fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 F! O/ I b, a2 I" }" g
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. W& X4 d* C- c) I, t, wHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put0 c* x: i" m4 }. b1 X
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
( S' ]$ O; T2 |" k DLentz replied: "Not totally."
" _ c4 |5 T4 p3 \' w5 j1 a2 f4 nStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! V' N2 M& n. e$ I+ R" N
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said: O2 [- p/ s2 L1 M
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
7 O/ i5 |2 _) j% v7 {3 }pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) B- X) q# ^2 K3 Q& s2 H! ?
vehicles already on the road.6 k) h/ |. W( P b" x2 T
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
" L# \* B# v5 j) P- ~( K o( s/ hbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
8 L8 N5 p" Z. y* Z h# G6 T( Qresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- b# ^/ v8 y- ~; h; P9 soffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
/ R, w, P# H( e/ }) p9 h( Qkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.- R% |. ?+ ], g/ E E$ |* `
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
1 |. ~- v5 T; \3 y- u% X) c4 p4 ytragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" `8 b0 O, e( S7 g" \0 N' B/ hfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
* e$ X1 P2 ^3 m8 |& A! ]8 WCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
, w% s/ U6 @7 b# O# k, hcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' c0 z6 Y7 i! w& }7 g) p$ \restore the trust of our customers."6 d# V+ q$ x7 `$ S$ J; i
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
], W; `; F, o/ s) F+ TSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly2 s/ S, n: [3 A: q# z
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
' @6 C8 y6 \+ U6 @shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
; L0 b/ ~; y! u7 ^hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough: S+ C8 G- H% q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 [/ G6 i7 D, R, ~, H4 Cturn off the engine.
2 F5 g, X, V* Q# Q9 A3 TFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
y6 r5 r9 q$ T" b7 BOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' w; u2 N9 V) O
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
) F/ b" l( M0 v, V# Z; Wsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond G6 W4 h* X& L, Q$ E0 B9 k" I, |- O
to her complaints.
; L6 s- J. n' f: y6 P. IIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" Q7 j, k9 n2 _2 \7 [+ Wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
; y; ?- p( m% h* I7 Bmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.0 f: _& V$ V4 P+ ~4 {: P
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% n" I! ^6 I/ f8 b m) E( v! j$ d
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited0 Y1 |5 S4 z3 x3 O& B/ s6 M
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% i3 G! W; I5 {+ `% |! ?: T! D
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
+ ^3 ]6 j& \( W2 W8 zTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in K) U, V( d! A
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were4 v+ A4 P/ z' l: F4 f W) s1 l
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ d+ N/ q8 P" Pwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer4 N4 l& Y2 n M0 N) g( b
every question."3 V1 L; N* d7 u+ K1 o
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ F# L/ K- q; k9 Kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- s$ |& Y7 `3 Y" {/ B8 u5 |( Lfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. `/ q& G! l! S9 rcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small: e& N0 ?6 h9 b, u2 {
number of vehicles8 n r3 W" ^! n. s c' C5 t; k }8 R
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more6 s7 M2 G( ~4 u- w9 g
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a k8 C% G2 v* ~$ c
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one, U ] Z* c5 I# ^# p* R- P d
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.% x9 S `& l0 d* c+ @; H
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
; ?' E% V& B: [( J& vwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" d5 B0 L+ p' G& f, O( Utrace at all.
3 A# R. b" ]6 p6 z& F; [# JHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call% k' k+ {6 Q1 S+ _2 I
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden' a$ w6 O5 W2 p$ w: i
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the# _/ A# ~$ x* c# T! _3 i0 V* O% W
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.0 X' i6 g) r \4 t3 a' `
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,% K+ C3 D8 V/ J, ?
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and( h8 x: }) J4 _6 {1 C
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& g6 X' I7 U3 M. j# Belectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
$ a: u7 ~0 ~4 A0 ?! Z1 ~cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only, S8 B1 k2 W8 v6 m
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
2 v5 G0 S- C' Y, P% Wby Toyota's lawyers."
9 t8 D3 L4 i: m7 G8 f" I# H% MLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
5 r, W6 y; z) ]9 Uproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& V) F( s$ C4 \: e( qcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, S, _) e8 ^: l7 X# t# Z
said.
) D4 ^, ?+ F& X4 |"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 D$ n4 T% ^" v: v$ t* c5 ca rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
1 c9 Z- M0 A3 j# Z3 |! d8 W# M7 vgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating2 N& d9 j- D) P3 a$ y) U: s' \' P
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.: {0 r& L: e& E
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. Q6 }9 U$ [8 b | [members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread6 o: x$ _/ a5 c. D) M6 g
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the# A) E/ [0 E. d6 h8 e: c
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
' r7 D2 r- [( r) D; {, f6 Pinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 ^( F$ A1 U% }: Z+ b
Chrysler." w0 j# D/ \# g3 f5 [) q+ `$ O8 s. S
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 L) Z' n1 H3 e- }% P' |dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
% M* Y! J4 h# pHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also& N, [. ?: W. S1 V% I" p; H
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete U7 _0 F4 S0 V% p# g1 r
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty" k' W+ i5 Y8 S) _
tough."
* e7 ~4 ]% z& W+ i: T& S! @---# e x! B& A7 T: E- }9 f3 p* u/ H
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
' V5 I0 P) O W# v% yRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
7 \ l1 m: a9 H( ]% H: ithis story.+ p, q3 F* ^( p' j: C _/ h5 |$ o! u
+ ]8 @! r& ^+ N& E
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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