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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题- g, @- z+ D6 P g* Y ~
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
9 x# ]% _ `3 V" V' DWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., N4 G5 V2 ^( ~7 ]9 y" Y+ Q' n+ s
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that3 [2 C9 m! P2 d
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
" r5 v( ]+ w* _# g' |solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) p& n; X+ ]4 t, i3 m7 }3 S; D6 B* p- N"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential% t- M g P) H0 {2 r' h
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' D3 ?1 l9 X# [, |2 _, P3 \, tHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 D& t7 ^* c/ C1 Wacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ D. S% u% I7 o4 Y; Ktrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, S2 x, u0 M; M0 y7 X1 [) lmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
, n3 `7 Q% C& q, A/ M Q- HHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal" R* @* d1 t9 Z* C
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp. e3 ]) E. e$ w' Y
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
9 Y- j; W) L8 U' g- F2 vfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: q/ P/ I/ U: T4 D% O0 inot stop her runaway Lexus.3 g4 y( ?) W7 V/ O4 Z
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
& D+ a; y* i+ ?4 fTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second6 @1 F& `$ m" y5 ?
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& E3 D+ H% \1 h" Z
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
* X+ M" H1 m+ n8 cearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
/ P5 @7 t+ m N- j* v"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' D$ b! t& v0 o2 ^1 _4 x; b+ H
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
, c0 ~! [- R- q4 J7 `7 F& fthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 Q% i; Q' A# o: u" X9 |+ Z! Jinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham." p. q" \7 W2 j
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: b ?2 E7 Y% T" ]1 U. z
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
" z4 G! p7 C1 W f$ R$ }% Othe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! ^8 E! W4 U) E# c
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
! |- U9 B% }2 t' v# [9 fsaid.3 q+ X0 u2 E4 R9 D# m
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
2 L: l* o! R( hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ h& Z- f0 ]5 e, O: ]2 Wabout driving our products," Lentz said.0 E5 y, x5 h; q1 Y# U; l4 m) Z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's2 u2 P/ L: \* j0 N$ `: i
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has6 c" c8 w7 c3 I
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" f6 \* y% `' W: Q) k" n
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 z( T, a5 _: t+ V: D- j- uunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking( i( ?. }! H1 D
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
: N) q' A1 {; f% d0 Bconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
" _0 a! L) Q0 A, V& Ztheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow- s, K) o9 X' k" d! g. T+ [# E/ W8 K
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
' X" y* r% f) N9 ~8 wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
1 T" V# G6 w% l, @of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
+ g9 [1 Q4 e1 Y- FLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
" K7 T' C' X8 ebrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ J! C* Z2 E* _' k; H# `
understood the pain.) P2 I: f9 ]% o( y9 g
"I know what those families go through," he said.( E% a5 A( P2 D7 s# A
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's# S$ t: [% \! m% K* ?. d
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems." @, J, ` s3 }
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman0 {' w% g; s2 j
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put8 X' C9 e* q! b4 P" k1 D
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,) A# |! G" k0 D i4 }
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
0 b0 \) [7 p' e, w( V6 FStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were( T- O* f; F9 m4 m$ |9 P4 p
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% y3 O7 H$ @& ^% c8 F0 OToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas' D9 `4 O& v! |, K8 I- `0 j
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its; w( i& \* ^& k& `% D3 Q
vehicles already on the road.
& B% n8 C, J7 _2 aMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
# @/ S! Y! ?, W: ]6 |* t3 {) qbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
) d9 Q. X, Y- r& h' g9 Rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- D3 Y# E: s& b$ y, l5 k& v0 koffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were' R4 l( r0 h9 e$ b; F; F
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
& X6 D) }! U2 Z" Y# F- R# J1 w"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a9 I, S; J: V8 S
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony9 w$ _9 g% d3 G' f
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( Z# u5 g) j* ~3 Y$ O6 U% s( P
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
% g* h1 s& Q; R9 W8 i7 A# ~5 {commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
' J3 \1 q8 R7 T. y3 U) Hrestore the trust of our customers."2 g4 q9 w* U, j' \2 k
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
: q1 ?7 A* v) R Q: N3 xSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
- F( L; O2 n% v7 L+ ~- r$ rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
$ _3 ^2 W7 u( h pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and; A( d$ g! p- M: \ F% j' q* W
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
. }" x$ i/ W* Z! T9 xthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 Z! D8 I: b" ~; H2 I: cturn off the engine.
; k( c" D. c2 {# h7 e: vFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
g: }) j; T9 B9 wOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."" B3 L. z" \7 B0 Q9 p% L% \# r% y
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
; u! v1 ~2 a5 s5 Y7 Xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond. D3 [7 B1 J4 N: w# Y$ w
to her complaints. u: K" `; Y" v
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 y! O3 w% t- |! Z0 b7 y- Y3 A
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
% Z5 @9 ^# W4 v7 k7 B" wmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
( ^9 _ q. f- k# @% L+ |"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) X7 V6 S1 X z9 o
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited: u: m8 `# d* L" h
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut: G; s. m/ }1 [7 D$ z
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", j2 w0 O0 b: O
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in* }7 S* ~3 k6 ]) \9 N8 W
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" Y1 [. |& W8 ]0 A
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% M! h, W+ G. q" P" d: C) v5 Twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 x$ d& S3 w! d0 }+ `every question."1 @. p1 |$ [; |
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
H, K) F# T, N& Y/ ?! l% h) a a4 Gelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The6 d% Y1 f- l1 o$ T* r
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
- l) |) t3 V) X0 a% X) ]committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) o& J* a$ v& R- Y7 Y3 Z. Lnumber of vehicles' {0 g9 n. \/ ^' r9 J9 X6 k* V
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 E6 [2 b r! P5 Z* Bdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
1 L& o# V- U) Z) w9 o) xmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% H9 p2 D% o5 L H0 w) Dsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
4 |6 U" x% B0 {Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
2 T1 J6 [/ S: {/ bwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 i( @0 N4 e: \8 Q$ t
trace at all.8 x+ m" H3 k: u
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ l ^3 r' W0 g p
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
2 Z: L7 P+ u$ D* lacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the+ H3 l+ t" O' K
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
/ K6 I' G. m3 U. U' X' u( u- fRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,+ M2 [+ Z6 p3 ?+ z8 ? n5 u
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and# h" C9 K6 n# h7 h; p) y. K9 M
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; J- ?2 {" U0 U0 r, l
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible' N- i% m Y9 P
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) e% P: t5 L$ E4 c2 f* U) [% T$ a
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# H3 W0 [) E8 q
by Toyota's lawyers."! [, D! P2 G9 W7 c( L0 A
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
& X1 v9 P# d' ^1 C1 U6 cproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& s' w# F$ \1 l) Z4 Ecustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
* L0 r k; _3 n/ [said.$ \/ V% U5 O; g2 r0 `" j, X
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with; R/ D$ i' }+ K- i6 r7 w' K
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
8 ^$ l7 O8 n7 H5 r* _good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
8 H7 v5 h) @2 }$ ?, dofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.4 t5 |, y4 M' o' k! j% J4 N% C
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
5 [& Q& n7 D1 c: M. nmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
4 c( N0 ~: p3 b- Trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! ?1 }3 `8 N7 g: I# a9 b6 l. Aautomaker, at least in part because of the government's9 X5 J/ Y) y- K) K/ w
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
f* ]3 r% ^: D+ t1 X" T, [. M- `Chrysler.
6 s- t% ~7 d2 x1 E' E"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
: o6 V4 [+ b6 O0 [. m/ d% ~. qdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
' E5 P& V' ?( J2 E) yHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also$ I: [( l n, N7 E# T) D
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
7 b+ e0 U; g! u+ }; D& Gwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 `7 ` m0 A6 l0 e' @tough."
# h+ ^1 m5 N1 Q# ?: y1 k7 E---
9 A- ^& D2 A0 C% Z$ sAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
, G" m8 F g5 H m* X& m; V2 MRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to* n# m. r( Y; s" k
this story.1 c, y9 g( }: g' e8 t: T) Y
9 q+ `/ t. ~% I9 Y* X& u
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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