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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题" l0 x* S5 `$ A. d* H2 w$ {1 u
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS$ h8 }9 e6 V; C# g/ X
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
1 j0 C$ ~) C; z6 |operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that) k/ t4 b! ^0 _% e [, x
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"0 n( ?& R9 }* m* `
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
/ d' V. X4 X* g) `! W6 V. `"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential& Y2 r" ~2 n7 v* K( V" F% r9 e5 G
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.3 p( z# `5 u- j4 d' H* q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 N- u& N& ]8 Xacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 R$ I- S g* D3 Atrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% Z) r" j+ @$ z0 B; bmats and sticking accelerator pedals., U4 H. b) b: F
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
. U& h3 M+ K. q( l1 _9 \' Vand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp8 A' J& M0 j7 C8 f* l
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
. m4 ?$ [" s, `1 X+ U+ [, B# V. Afurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ a& w$ K' Z/ P* r
not stop her runaway Lexus.
# {: a: f+ W0 ? O. Y"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,( i& z- R# z7 F/ D6 e# ?
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' f1 R5 q: {, m: n( u9 l7 r! O) j"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 \9 k. f' m0 y% ~! c, @
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
4 ?. [) g$ g0 B( i4 b. Learly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said3 P8 b2 x5 a0 w% |. j: C: m
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has( O9 x$ ?/ S* M& q& `
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 l: J1 p. L/ v8 p. zthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 W$ y3 n. E- l0 ~investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
: o, G% |1 l! f4 K' E- hLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
# n5 ?# U$ U2 c% K2 P, L0 Nelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 O! G% ~, l( L! ~
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
; W# t, Z$ p- ]" u8 E. C1 I6 [malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
( V- n3 J; `# d2 L8 J( _said.
) R7 W- P6 @9 T5 s% t, N) JAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what# H& s' e, [% T3 s+ U
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe6 {) W1 ~8 ?/ ]4 c. s7 z" U
about driving our products," Lentz said.3 B! k% x+ W, d) O6 G) I6 A) w, S
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
S. R" a; U/ D7 _/ ?' Y) n) ]problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, E, t1 e9 c' t& P' Wrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 64 [9 C; Y% G, ?& r
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 X+ b) |" S6 a% [/ hunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 Q7 H4 a! m5 G! L- m0 I. u
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering7 u v" [ j1 A+ U
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& a4 g; w! P+ B5 F* _2 j7 Z utheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow; B) j9 S7 J8 k; H/ R+ I, \
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has, l. S6 y3 n- V3 x/ |1 S# _& ~
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
5 J* G4 P8 a3 Q0 w! nof Toyota vehicles since 2000.) k- c8 Q% A0 l$ t+ y
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own# @9 {( `# [0 x
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
8 A6 b2 |/ ?. O: } s2 ^6 Aunderstood the pain. t0 V6 S' N0 w1 T8 r# X
"I know what those families go through," he said.9 {8 A0 i. h8 o' x
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's5 u+ e/ R- F# A( U, k3 N, \
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
& D& F2 c- r5 w$ K0 q. z) UBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman0 C3 u7 Q. @) W0 Z
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
; h5 w; ^6 U4 t' a+ C3 g, _in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,- }8 x/ }5 r. Z
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
* m( J! b9 f* o; N* Y4 cStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were; J) h9 G0 T0 u9 D
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said) Y/ A7 k8 c7 [% e5 A
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 H* X# ]/ N6 u5 z4 [! @pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its$ D) b) s. X6 u5 ]( V& [
vehicles already on the road./ f- Y( A; Q1 d- [5 _! `; K: W
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* n. p: z" y' s7 |; J
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full6 g! P; V9 n# s
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 H1 y4 u+ _: m5 R/ D7 N6 @
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
3 f! N# j! Z: |9 U: Wkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
, m. b5 h. w8 i* M' U8 Z"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a8 p8 q7 m* n7 }+ C
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
3 t3 }2 q' P: i* j& o8 R0 I! x1 ?) Ofor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
. q( F" j/ f6 sCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal! k1 g% u9 ~8 J5 j- ~
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
3 h1 q# l) `0 I2 L9 p$ e. v6 B9 K) I2 V' yrestore the trust of our customers."* a0 C, f$ n' c& Z }% z
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
: x. J% a- w5 b7 d3 X0 u- U" pSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
w- [% j$ {; B3 vzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
4 s' L+ n& U+ V) h4 ^. X# U1 xshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and5 E$ y1 \5 N N1 N; y4 M
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 ]5 f* f& [5 U9 U. e% n
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
* v+ z; l8 |0 c1 f! O& cturn off the engine.* a* s1 _' ?. g% u+ F' C
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 |: Q; K1 g$ t$ H, @* v; [October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."( ~+ v% i# E9 [1 @) S) x
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she' |' F" n. d! F2 C4 H
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# M3 Z6 y3 @, d8 }1 V9 @6 ^to her complaints.) |# d+ s* t5 J# @
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
6 Q+ |2 l- E e7 c! Oreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic) l# p$ s8 R7 O6 L% Y
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
# R2 ?; K+ \, i"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% f9 [6 @3 t4 Z( Xthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
& f: _( d2 Q! N"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut+ K6 e! b Z7 q2 Q2 P
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
5 _/ d7 X$ X3 W+ @0 sTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
7 H$ d4 q% i7 G% tprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were9 Y2 S) |! s* i. h0 }, x7 a
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls* b5 i) N4 \& E3 _! X- ?. t: m9 y9 A' @
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
% w/ \1 ~# E( Yevery question."3 a9 m, D9 R; t; k! W& b
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether" |: O) d# G+ @ N3 L. J7 S. v( p
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
9 f, p5 T" ~" _3 G( @+ j- Qfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
2 J: g3 N% j0 X% Ycommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small. a, k# X6 Y$ |, A. s R+ D3 _
number of vehicles u1 Y& T7 f" M! e
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
: t2 ?/ I9 S+ u8 M" z1 X n; P8 p% Ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
1 y/ ? i- S1 W4 {7 |mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
. U: Y5 l t) R' l" F( [5 ]3 C. I1 _- rsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.. }8 ^5 z8 T7 p1 `) O; a
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
* Z! ]' k8 f+ H/ w8 b: k j& uwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
- l* I! n1 @$ w, C1 m2 _8 Otrace at all.
, r6 @2 {6 t7 v$ X2 e! XHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call* r7 H3 I) A4 N# d4 w5 f1 h
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden& A# [5 v' o9 l) g$ {- b4 v+ A
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
% ^; I1 s; h4 B$ |1 c% X0 Nrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.) X1 A& M' g4 r% R" R
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 ~* ]- Q6 |/ M! \( @
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
* k2 i; v) {- O. Oother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
2 _( X: b3 M. _6 Y. D/ u" B9 r1 gelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# E$ y$ Y3 H: e/ T
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 j# }, O$ N( Z2 b( ]) E. t: O/ r* jsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, s. ], H; `2 `) ?7 z& |( O
by Toyota's lawyers."
8 H. t; U3 H' C5 h2 [' ~1 dLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of, z7 c% t* |* X
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our& G3 P% u7 }" ^
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
. q5 S5 x0 O n$ ]+ x( F. zsaid.
$ Y& D3 A9 E9 `+ {0 a' E"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
7 }2 `) H( L8 T7 w8 A( k3 Na rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our: I! t3 Z3 f2 I8 U+ s4 I- b
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ e! U% _. k- m* J
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
- J# Y# _- E C4 m9 z* t! c/ ?Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 j6 C1 z$ v4 z1 _5 Mmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread6 Q& [' s, Z; P v
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 i. s: P; P1 v: h
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
# ?4 J" f1 m9 P6 M& Ninvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and- ?; L0 D+ e- @) w
Chrysler.
: M% K r: a5 l6 D5 v+ O1 ~"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax* p8 n/ t& E7 U) \
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
8 l2 j" v4 Y0 k6 W2 _Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also, h" z) |/ M* u
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete9 j; h: `, Z! d3 w( N) g9 R. k" }9 G
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
' L3 \; | w5 J8 ~0 ^' e- Gtough."4 a" S R) Q4 V" E, w' g& ?7 s
---: o: J) h9 m5 P, U8 [
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom# h. P; p r* N& {6 Z ~
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
) Z! F. u3 [' h% `0 p; ~this story.
) E% z0 n: ~8 k: r+ p! p6 @+ M' K, k M$ {- r
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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