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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题7 g, e% z- b# I0 v0 S1 j
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 A$ [7 j9 V6 [5 G! i4 @Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
$ ]% b6 A" K1 }6 }; eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
) h9 Y$ R6 F% z8 @) _6 c6 k" c) athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ ^1 H8 I' D; ?/ K8 J- Gsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.3 [2 `8 x# x O. m
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential+ [7 K8 _- M3 T
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
. a9 i( H5 @1 T0 j0 `However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: X4 ]; [& {( L/ j( v8 | ?
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and3 g* W2 |; m6 W9 q" q0 p: `
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor5 I% v, W( W+ l) t
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
( ~ d8 a* U* ~He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal! C: ^( g( J! ?1 B) Z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
; d6 S5 _2 }4 \: Y8 ~, I4 U, [criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be, @" a3 J3 B/ ~* b
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ e' ?. ^9 z7 y2 P u
not stop her runaway Lexus.+ Z# v8 l; c ^+ X3 ^
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; H4 Q% u! P) E Y2 e1 |, B$ r J. k
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second' [ t, H) R5 l2 B- X) d
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
% M+ e# O1 o' M! rTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
G- O# `1 s5 B' y' Wearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said9 M5 F7 w3 b) N# h
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has3 y1 |* p2 H0 [- L% P& c* V& N
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' s8 ~ X& k, I. c7 @) wthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
1 b( j: s+ y1 |1 p5 Cinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
; J* h" Z; M" S M* Z; B, i* uLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an: K' Y) I( n$ @/ ^
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% v: _; u+ m- H5 q+ X" Xthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a9 C2 I& X; s- J- _. o
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 T5 F t! X0 q$ s: I. vsaid.
3 e4 B1 H) F1 u# N4 q5 e5 AAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
f) _2 W5 ]1 d$ M& ?. Y3 Lhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
6 k, x, Y3 w- g% [9 Tabout driving our products," Lentz said.8 Y0 r7 B n1 t S
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's2 b' g( D+ l5 s- O. m6 l
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
% K6 a9 W Y" V# ]recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
9 s6 a" w4 W) M, Amillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 C3 T, h, K7 f0 h" w* G$ `1 i! f) V# Munintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking, y& l1 m0 T; `) L6 o
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
+ v4 Q( ]" X2 m: ^+ ~ \0 [concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of b% i' n* t8 k4 A
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow" m6 S# `, u0 o* _$ r H6 w5 `8 g
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' ~3 O+ D% M0 v* b4 E. @# g9 v
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 A5 @8 D2 N+ B6 w# g
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
. E9 b/ H* q7 P- @6 sLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own3 T+ u& I5 l- x# E5 ~
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he2 f) z/ i$ s$ r6 D; S" I; x' M& g
understood the pain.( @3 ~% J# c. b5 O
"I know what those families go through," he said.
6 w* m: t/ A' C% _Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, Q! b- H& P/ ~6 g( s. _1 Xfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.& O$ h3 O+ g. V: P
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ I& ]) Q; R4 J" xHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( {2 ~6 `( c! X( D2 Kin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 S% v$ \& I* F) ^6 `- q* q4 O5 u
Lentz replied: "Not totally."$ g; N* Q' m$ f3 P# P9 E+ Z' Z/ \
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were& f% w/ L0 s4 S! S1 [' X
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
( I/ ?$ t: n! ]" U$ v: [, VToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas/ T: z: r1 u. _1 Z
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ U' m8 M( p: Y& j3 p( Gvehicles already on the road.
5 r) e r6 u' D. I% kMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 k: M7 c% a2 P. B( q' [before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full$ ~, m+ B0 s& k. ?
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
& v% p: r! s g9 b) loffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were1 }- ~/ O# ?* h& Z6 V. d: B, o
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
/ f6 m+ N' r( g- `" y"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a# D2 C& f4 d9 w
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
; R; _3 q! l O% `3 }for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight( S$ \, S) p f) ^" e, L
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 D4 w" v) `2 J6 p( P
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
: D1 i7 y9 v9 S( U- n0 s- Urestore the trust of our customers."+ o; v4 d* w7 u/ u2 C
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
( K) B z3 G0 CSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
8 B8 v3 s# H; [; e) e- G# Qzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --( S2 _, H7 V8 R3 i
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and: P/ s x$ |7 O9 L2 z- }- Q
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough7 o1 _2 ~1 v" k2 a
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and5 K( V6 y1 l+ _5 A
turn off the engine.
% {+ `& d" W3 T' jFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of1 O( U$ Q+ c3 l" H+ n1 K) U. u- T
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
; ?- w) _+ F3 a2 E) T* ^"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
2 ~* M8 c& j( e, Osaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
@$ A+ ]3 Y' Y' y0 _) G" Nto her complaints.5 k' f( g* |% J, I
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, y0 d7 D# t* z! `" R/ p8 q) ~returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
) O: u$ u7 s: Y! m6 @; b5 K( I/ Z, amalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.$ y, K8 U# d% h9 k0 o2 A0 n
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
' |$ W. V9 i0 J3 P' sthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
, E! k3 I+ k9 o+ X9 p0 |3 K* B"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
7 L& h/ I# F2 Z# t6 [& Ooff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
1 Z. t5 Q/ L7 R* L |0 v$ P( HTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in! l: ~. ?( O$ I2 p; u
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ D% H, c5 s8 N$ W' x
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 i6 X% K/ b8 C5 n
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
( F' P. J! J2 C, S0 [9 o4 Gevery question."
! W1 e% a* c$ T' M: mToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
: w' x: D8 ]% G# w9 P9 g5 Selectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The- s8 e% z* e$ y9 N# I4 J- }/ O
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But, V. o; a2 g; s1 A. @
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small* E. u" E- I3 U# b& w; i! ^
number of vehicles
" y% w4 K8 o6 Q2 o) U) R/ \Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
! d4 O( B2 _$ u# h) R# ]5 O! Zdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 E8 h1 W4 x+ [0 ?0 jmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
3 I0 \! h& c" q5 `% x+ usource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
9 u9 _; w9 I3 `0 dMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 L# V E7 t* u2 u( {! gwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no, F. ]" Y; l, `8 u
trace at all.
; }5 e" W/ g/ U' s; J; A0 b/ ]House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call% p5 g+ ` N r; W
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" p, I# o- f2 [0 n6 Macceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" ^" O3 ?5 S* v4 v- n
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
- P' {" Q3 o# X8 \8 K( S. oRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,% }. L0 b3 q! _6 p7 _ a
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and. B, E( C6 S) t
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the* {# D t$ a- l3 B- {6 u
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# }9 S6 ]- ]+ ^, I" rcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
: [0 W* l8 a1 E6 V9 O: zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained! C2 I7 j- `$ a* W) a s
by Toyota's lawyers."
! g" T, B" x; m0 ]9 l- U c' xLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
4 u- Q% }! v$ e$ \. O+ K" Wproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our6 T: J7 u H# P( ] F+ n+ k
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ ~; {4 r; [) a5 N1 s! J `: @said.
3 V; V* `9 H0 S7 Z"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
8 i* \5 Z* I) G( ?a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
2 M2 J; Z% X, l. _$ Pgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating( B& D- [% K% A7 F/ k, R. u; L
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
" d! Y* p* h( k6 [: @5 GSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying5 I. l0 k' I( k" N. u
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
! f2 U' A' Z) C4 [" u( q7 q0 Zrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the4 Z2 Z/ [1 L% ~8 Y4 w# X
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
3 K! C5 u9 } t7 E* cinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
W6 m0 \8 k3 sChrysler.
1 \& f9 X1 `& O5 ?$ K"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
# u% M! e! W4 T6 X( M0 w5 L6 s. Y) ndollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
* r* r; ]% J7 A; _. t7 k: sHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" h5 @' _) {6 J+ x" r
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
7 r( {& `; v. t7 Q. Rwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- s% H5 J5 U4 `3 c
tough."
" R1 W: z+ o$ G: ]2 f---
! n5 d1 L$ K0 Y# d2 gAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
) S% N3 ]- I6 S) ORaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
, _) C$ _8 C7 ?! othis story.
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5 Y- D& J$ {& r& [! v; e-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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