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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题7 v- {$ v1 |$ `% o
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
) P) J* {& I2 j5 z. \" _( q& }# LWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
& |, J( | G+ n& [1 ^& w- Boperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
- A4 o" A9 {6 Y$ \; S' [& Xthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
" Q3 _* w2 E+ }8 _8 Usolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.1 d# ^2 Y% Y& v* u) Y$ N
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential# S& L* k/ b; F4 t+ Q8 j6 {6 i
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
% Y; I* g: \0 f, x8 o6 N- LHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 o8 d" `/ z2 \, ]) Z! d# E
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and0 o/ _$ n; C$ ]5 `% j; z2 }
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
* v+ m! p5 h& B. J7 D# R' ] Vmats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ r' \; O( k6 E/ i
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal$ c0 T2 r! N* K) e
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) f$ k; m! k B# r% T9 ?
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be, {- d1 Y9 D# V: b( D
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( ^' P' d9 ^# B9 Y- W
not stop her runaway Lexus.2 G* J; h, J, C; R! h2 ?- r' m
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,8 r5 Y9 ~% s6 Q% o( C t
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second" \) Q v; `" \8 B
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
P4 q/ y7 ^% iTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
' f& ~. L% f; t' X$ T: l% Jearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said! x: M$ x G$ Q9 @0 o" m
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
/ ^2 V z6 G: ^+ Gdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 T0 k1 X# @ l, Nthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
" j7 m& q& O, o5 N$ J* minvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 L8 [; s+ ?) V5 U) Y5 l, RLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- Q# _! V$ P3 n8 r
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 g2 H0 @7 E5 p5 {
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
/ f$ w* e; _- {. F5 h" Mmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he9 P3 c" C8 K0 A% d R5 G) Y
said.% s' B x7 W/ [7 @( ?
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 u s# c8 g! w W1 r7 o8 _# U
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
2 N* Q8 ]# ~6 A1 I$ m6 u' C/ Kabout driving our products," Lentz said.
% H, f) @( S* m" i! [5 |Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
* ?+ @, q0 N- A& Iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has c: L7 s! E% c2 {7 `
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
, H# y! H$ z1 J1 M. s2 u6 Xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of( [! u$ \- l+ e3 m$ l% Y: J
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking9 E7 e) G3 g! T) q' R( v& V
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering9 `8 k+ S* y+ `0 G; N f! i: A
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of( J* l' J% k3 d1 S% `, Y4 r
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow; T0 b6 n9 ]3 h- }8 t. ]
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
& M4 X, n$ u: H/ Q6 }! V4 breceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
) b" d3 j. ^; i9 I/ ?of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
5 S# j( i# w: r' n' c9 W! TLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
& p. P) q/ k. I* u9 Q9 n8 jbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 x0 v0 i- I, V) S+ \7 @understood the pain.. b- L' r# U! ]# L# _9 h7 ~4 B
"I know what those families go through," he said.& a: ^6 R) m0 L/ Q3 l/ E5 A
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* i- s+ l' x: l! j) G% @3 efixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.2 l$ r8 L# r2 k5 Y) p* D
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, W; I( y$ n5 P) q1 b+ F
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: m0 P3 G& g+ o% S
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, \5 X% {0 {% ^$ P# p* ]
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
% n: `5 r2 q+ d. ~8 @Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were, z0 H' q3 C+ y: o, D* x
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. _* q6 \6 \, G4 K8 W3 Q; S$ V( sToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas9 e& L1 l* v9 m9 P# e/ d) u
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its q. \+ e8 O6 |8 p8 t. W
vehicles already on the road.
- u% Q& v0 i& m9 u8 a/ \Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify5 H6 A& F: M, R. o) ]
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
0 c1 [* {9 D O+ q$ l3 ?) }' Vresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and$ N0 z" I# F6 d! n7 g9 b
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
; \, E. [; m% T2 z2 p8 m) f- `+ okilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.& X2 M/ {( G- ?% F) j: c
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) J; \: U5 [* C( m
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' `! \ p$ B j" R' h5 h1 @for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight V, m* ?& s: w( x9 r9 f# {4 P2 {
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
# d& M5 c8 e" V6 }) g6 S0 Scommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
5 H& k$ {4 S6 `: f5 b- trestore the trust of our customers."* o4 y; C0 Y* u1 T; ]- V# E, j
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
1 C/ E4 R# z( p3 z) OSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
% t; m( n" f' S7 v E! k' Wzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) f e, G* s M7 d1 f% s
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
$ r4 G; {' o. _+ r. A3 Y8 Dhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough4 g: y7 j, }, \) K Q
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
) I8 L+ c) f0 ]1 T: E5 y& Oturn off the engine.3 ~9 V' E% c7 M# H9 E
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of! \2 @+ {: M7 r1 _. D
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 G1 Y1 C# o7 q1 \8 n' g7 { J- W"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she7 r+ ~: }$ w' w# a) X( e: ?7 ]
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; W: ~: {4 A/ M/ I X' u& }
to her complaints.8 G6 F0 A$ H4 x! g- `
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
3 T( @) e* u) r+ z7 z5 kreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
6 q3 S6 J2 M0 }2 o5 R9 U8 y# Z5 j, K$ Gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
3 J5 G2 g4 x8 n"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! a# I# d$ M7 J1 }' @8 Y( Pthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
% D5 W1 ]/ e$ t( b! I( K"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
/ ^, Z0 b' R- s4 hoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."$ v7 C7 H: u S: W# e$ T
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in$ C+ g( A' k; H7 E! w2 x7 E
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# b5 N6 N) U' y; `' J$ Bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
$ v: L* s) r# w- S# \( Uwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
' H# {" u" F9 k, n7 C; B1 Revery question."
- F( N6 } y* S8 g1 gToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether3 J2 F" Q' b: }; t) z
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The5 N( @0 m9 k! F; f1 d" u# f7 z
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 ~$ p, B! g) R* r0 C. Q
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
- z, X- f6 l2 W( d! rnumber of vehicles. r. N! ]) X' n) Y$ Q8 `9 h; M
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more% g( s. T7 Q4 R+ @; k- R
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a4 z) A2 j; i5 `. E4 e% z9 ^
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one. n- k7 a4 k2 b0 c3 e: @
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.. S8 k2 \ ^9 f# ]1 Q4 T
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
5 w5 D2 T( w, V0 Rwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
4 W7 c8 c7 ^, Jtrace at all.
& e4 J, l1 h! @House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 D# O) s9 y. G, o# p$ G. D
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
* L) @0 A4 G( Wacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the; S. q6 u# }9 X9 ?+ D. y6 o7 w0 D8 H
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.: q3 R. Y7 L: j% h' E& B) i7 h
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- B+ _3 Z) |) J7 g
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* a* j' z# q0 c5 R( ]9 b
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* i" g% t c, C, e" Y( a, A2 Lelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
1 s1 E* \: `8 t& t/ mcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only& N* m1 V% d) c4 `8 a+ j# s! c9 I
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained% o# |9 @- _, {6 @+ h
by Toyota's lawyers."9 d8 l+ p+ F: M
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of6 X; P# x" \! L! K! P+ S4 ]4 u
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
: f; R1 M. L' e. W; ncustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
1 W! s. G0 p4 _" _# ysaid.( b$ w* I( d S. s8 U/ Z7 k
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
' ^' `; Q2 r2 p; s d+ pa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
. \$ t" P3 s& i7 }4 Sgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 p: b4 e1 F' }. Gofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.8 N' V9 G$ M( J
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying1 i; U. W. K: Z- s h
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
& F" F7 j+ `" O& w+ `. c! lrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 l* m. E& y, ?$ pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
& Q0 I. w: p. q! z2 l0 O' n: Ainvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 Y# |9 L9 O R0 u1 n y- w% Y
Chrysler.
# l: k0 f* l7 L: `"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax9 I( i/ p; r0 j$ R1 l" E
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a! C8 ` v2 W" y: c, B) A
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
5 A6 N: R: T0 ^, yserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
+ o/ M p: ?! m" {+ ^( }with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty% [' ^( i5 S1 ^* k' N5 t0 b: h; U
tough."1 p# k4 ?0 p0 p( r: n- O
---5 F& l, X8 j0 Q- l r- Q) k8 b
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
! j& T) \* v, ZRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to V9 c7 j; y! {( B, @( r
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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