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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题% |/ [$ L# B+ U5 |, x7 V
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS7 {3 ], O$ }' u6 x! y
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.4 t7 e% @9 @' F9 q* ~% ~" { o
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that/ v' F4 e, z v _# w7 i
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
" t4 P) m! k6 H! ~9 bsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
5 Q% N" J) Y) F- |"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
1 X' L \' q6 s4 K$ {+ Y3 y" \causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
6 ^* k7 F" S/ j$ lHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 N2 Q+ o2 h- Q0 u2 {* O4 Racceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and9 {8 `- z! t l
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. ^# s; O, [; M0 q( O8 C, e7 j/ y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.) l- v; j# O, v+ Y
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
6 Q; P3 \0 a3 ~* {and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
( x/ S& k5 e2 bcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; {# S: F% e, `% A! ~& J& f r/ ?
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
, {. E: J' g& i# }* Z: x8 cnot stop her runaway Lexus., M/ A) c7 Z6 v2 Z( w
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
! N7 \3 |# N8 r* q$ E6 _2 RTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 K% X( m' S8 M: k5 ?"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.. F* m8 a7 f; \8 e: r4 b# _
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 F1 M- D( w# I Kearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
8 W# K2 m4 l- J0 G$ b3 [( N8 U"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
6 X" k8 z. k) F7 [) Y+ e% [8 Edone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway8 y8 p: e7 p1 _) R/ g
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's* D# f7 W9 e* g7 T( q- y
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
0 f9 M8 Y+ D" B3 }Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an! N2 b) I+ U5 k( R1 B
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of( I: ?) ]' o* a5 H; s4 z8 p, S
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a' s, }5 X' u* W T4 ?# R, l
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he- Q6 ~6 J+ H; C6 [+ |
said.4 |- t$ ^' _7 A& T: {- J
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
, w% I1 C1 V! F' Y# G1 H* Hhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe) y* h$ ^* B; g1 x$ Z% n% K
about driving our products," Lentz said.
. T/ R0 h/ }6 T1 H/ z& oThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's) L6 H/ q w T' x8 J
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has9 _) Z6 y/ s) ?& l2 P; A# z
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
; |8 k+ v: ?* N1 q% Q; Y& Hmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of' Z4 [+ y. B' \1 a4 J0 K. j8 {
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
3 ?2 Y4 K, W( C4 v( I( missues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
$ O% ~1 q! ~* r9 ?0 D5 @concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
. d3 Q3 [3 |: O. Atheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow! M" O( {5 y( Y( P! ` a% T
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
; V4 L5 W1 |6 o# u" a: Z8 ^* n' wreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
, K+ P/ `; F: Q- W5 e! Uof Toyota vehicles since 2000.1 ] t6 W u: P4 `
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
5 c! t2 o% @ r9 n( G# t& Gbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he8 K! D/ o: o. m( a! L% v
understood the pain.9 N! q5 b) v2 u/ S) a+ F4 U A5 g
"I know what those families go through," he said.; Q1 Q. h1 f9 r$ K" m
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ ?" @9 l7 N3 b7 W7 V2 x X$ C) @ \$ x
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
3 P) N# z% g! I. ~% t0 VBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman1 V4 y* {6 o- O0 `, R
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put' m' c8 N( [$ a) D+ y! f! C
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,3 C1 ?/ M6 ?$ h4 U' M" I
Lentz replied: "Not totally."$ n( z' _1 [7 s! l# @7 d$ O; I
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were$ h2 o4 J' w. f/ L5 d. M- ^
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
! Q* {% k; A! e/ E/ h! ?Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas+ U5 q$ q. c g
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
& c# o! [% R! L( z2 u `vehicles already on the road. Q0 I1 x3 ?! S Y$ ?, N' I
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify" ]* a0 V+ r8 w: t
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full7 ?: A, l2 k. a' r5 u6 H1 r
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and! ]' U! G" y' `: v, F, S
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were2 T2 s2 s) h# H0 h `+ a$ X
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.5 @, d1 [0 Z2 y# Q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a5 @: j" {" ^ `7 @" K: V
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
7 ^, W! \+ i! ~4 G& _for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight, N. B, y( l/ ]% ?: u/ _* ]
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
# M! _4 {0 j8 `commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to [ O, m. G! n* V
restore the trust of our customers."
! b( l) L% o7 E5 V. K, ZLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
8 F# Z. f) s1 H6 A6 x+ u2 ISmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
. X, |3 \8 j" i9 [4 d/ n! O, wzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
5 J, Y: N0 l. Q# U9 R" Vshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
& \+ J8 A7 D4 y( {5 Dhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
6 ^8 Z$ _# A' j v: d, |4 Bthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
1 F2 u* ~; U' p+ ]0 U; Mturn off the engine.& o3 c0 R' R# l+ m
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
, {" c t% _" H; U- u+ q( POctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."/ Y1 W1 k4 k2 U* W5 ^! }# x
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
7 S6 R9 e; Y" X5 N8 f4 Lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond6 @8 r3 k5 U. g* i/ |6 b
to her complaints.2 E/ `) u; |6 s. t2 X* u5 z
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
% E- G- \, I b' ^* A) w Z/ R0 C% breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic K" e4 Z0 B! C3 W' c
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
% i% o! d' M) g: C& o6 V( t; O"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, p2 `; X% J6 T( k X
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. E* C& \( \3 }* E1 Y6 O"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% Z% v& p' N2 P8 ~/ c1 c1 G
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."9 u( a. T( e8 D" M
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in# n/ t; Q) X7 J# e' G) R1 M# ~
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 z* i5 T2 l. nbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
' }# f/ D) G+ G; T2 l/ H8 Y# uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer; ~' o3 N: e3 ?1 y9 r7 X
every question."
$ |" g/ H8 F) O: t0 j* D! k: JToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ }* Q; x/ S5 p0 [. E' _/ N5 z: kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, |3 Z& k% g& V" h* B$ [
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& N( `/ ~! t/ v1 s
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
2 p5 L# Z, ]* ]" N( jnumber of vehicles
0 H- P8 m6 V `3 ~Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ r2 ?( s3 J5 r
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 B! U! f+ @& N/ H) b8 n
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
' l. {8 _& ]6 B- ^% a8 Nsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.+ P2 \0 ^/ P$ `: }
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
& h) k( U$ E8 J* awhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
- X3 ]5 {' _- otrace at all.
N. H/ d; s+ ?: t9 g1 I- H6 A# LHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
% G) }7 C( X- B5 k& q. }# ddatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
! y1 Q7 {: z0 s% V+ Lacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ l. ^# U- D8 W6 @3 E- A orecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals., q4 @. }- J, {, o; C1 J
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,' G9 i" J/ }' i& p
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and3 \; x1 v' [! ^' t# t3 B
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* i# I4 x# r0 g: C- Q5 W# Qelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible% A% B& H5 b6 B2 @; f$ s
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only. \5 @* P4 p/ u( ~! Z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained: P( }5 h( c- D# H8 r% Y
by Toyota's lawyers."
& {; _* W0 \, ~6 y$ uLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
4 W* Q* [6 ]* f" N0 T2 A6 }# q* Qproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our$ V4 ]/ {4 s' z2 D* O& J$ y& V( B
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
" A, _. F0 b* Hsaid.* X& X4 W; d7 u" ?& `( @* R
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
% v/ a! T w% t- Ia rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our5 V4 j' i+ p) I2 ^; j' Y: f
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating" r3 H7 Z% n# Y8 [
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
! U5 }" ] M" ^! t; tSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying/ S. b8 G2 y. ~2 A+ t
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 C7 |8 m" J' O \+ Grancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. }- r5 L5 v1 R" Sautomaker, at least in part because of the government's" A% \5 ^, f! ~- O: S! ~) A
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
d) y2 J2 ~2 E H" {Chrysler.
+ r. u) c5 Z! p/ l: @"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax3 K2 z4 D% h4 `. F! R5 Y
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a9 Z# o! O0 ~. Z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 r; c: Z* r3 Q' W- E- Xserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
4 t+ \$ i% {2 C5 V/ jwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty' ?; E% ]% ~: _. R6 e
tough."
8 G% S, r( u- m& s9 E. a. V' H8 j. m---! g$ d8 O2 e, j. y9 u
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
+ Y( F' g8 T! g/ G& v2 H# lRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
7 N% g @$ Y0 p3 K* qthis story.* X/ k1 Z) t$ p5 x* ^
/ Q6 G- u0 ~! Y' d-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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