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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题8 f1 ^4 n: D; x
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS/ r: q9 ]$ M4 f* T( D
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
* |2 r8 {0 u& Eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! l- ~, t$ J5 H! d( {1 cthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
( p7 m; Z7 C9 _solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.1 l) X, D4 k' ?$ F {
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
1 O4 Z' y! o/ l: ?5 Xcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.2 V5 j" y- `1 \ A5 w
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) z3 Q' W8 I2 c& ~* _acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and) f, {! Z& c h$ o8 [' V& v7 H2 r
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor' C/ a7 o5 ]. Y" Y7 L3 F
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.. d) E! \( r( I3 V0 n; D$ f# q! F
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
) \. n2 r1 F9 rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp2 K$ F' ~+ t# S# m- D9 @
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
8 }/ F& C0 q" z5 [: C' Tfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
$ M! v# d" S5 n7 n" X, p" `not stop her runaway Lexus.
& N; n5 q# T p1 I! R( _"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
& ~% y9 Q) Y* ]# A' eTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second( }- m- _; c* b* g
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
' r5 r8 C& L2 e, }Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( d! Z& W0 ?+ `" \
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 y; e% m/ I5 s2 z! j- b
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has4 n% e) Q* n3 p% O' l
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 c6 n7 c6 n: T7 g& M+ Pthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
1 f4 r3 h% r k4 v0 Oinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."' l0 o- |( L5 A# J
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an% g. R, L$ F e0 {5 I
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
% ?% P! q3 H' d( d3 T: I, ?the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a8 a% b+ ?8 O% p% D7 J
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he7 p5 ]6 c r9 e4 t2 ^8 r* d
said.
* l7 \1 y& }0 _' r, a2 FAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what5 {. }0 M) W4 J& ?/ @3 _/ U2 [
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe9 H- ?- `/ q; ?# y' X
about driving our products," Lentz said.
) @ g+ x( u# {- u5 f+ X. nThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
' ?/ C; Z* j% F. A1 j( N' qproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has$ a* g" x5 q9 K, ]* J( O+ e
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
0 G4 K+ |# w& q8 |million in the United States -- since last fall because of
4 |: a( I- D0 o ?0 ?, D8 @7 yunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
" Q2 l: [' l7 l$ V$ Iissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering+ s7 z- \- m& Y- |
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
9 n$ D# q. H( K$ [ Vtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
9 H" g. H; u6 ydown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
) H4 z: x. i( H& w" A" ureceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
4 X1 n. M! e5 J5 ^of Toyota vehicles since 2000.$ `3 k9 U7 h1 G+ Y9 @
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own7 f$ e' ]9 B9 D0 }( d
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he7 x3 ?" q+ c7 K$ f- u8 b
understood the pain.( s# L+ _0 H: a
"I know what those families go through," he said.
: f8 B. p1 F2 ?$ V4 m; R- b8 zLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' x3 `, O% m0 l: j+ A& Vfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
% f' j2 C) x1 d! A% w! } |But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
) y6 N3 @, K" x4 d3 y9 aHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
7 ]4 P" M9 d. \3 M. M& din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
& P! I) g. }9 K+ I: kLentz replied: "Not totally."% o6 k I @- f0 [% K; n7 d( F& G
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were0 d1 m/ A# H9 ^
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said; [: W& }" w" {
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas6 J! W% Z% C" h! F. N
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its7 x7 a* G V/ |; @- L) ]" |5 w
vehicles already on the road.
/ K9 o$ z+ k, vMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. |& |6 ?, M# k9 F3 G" I# `; c
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, a7 w. R% R. m" yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and1 A9 g' G2 |% i+ P8 I( b
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were: _ k) r0 C- M2 k5 l/ b; w; E
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
N$ l% y% Q3 T4 G5 X+ a, P: Y% K& w"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a7 \# t4 t% [9 {2 L+ Q& P3 V( f/ g
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' K* d+ e/ a* K/ Xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
. }1 x% o% ]/ x) @2 z9 C# vCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
: {$ L9 l; V/ ~" Dcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to- N5 e1 s g* t
restore the trust of our customers."1 i/ W/ X7 C# u: }! k
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from6 D8 @$ v' D [% t
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 g& [7 ]1 x* \/ a" M# R, [
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& A: a1 L6 O4 l* m/ k
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
* q( ` n4 ?1 ^2 t' k; Zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
. M% T8 f G: T" L8 K7 cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
, g F7 ~; k, z9 Z9 T4 m1 bturn off the engine.
+ S9 b* }# |* V6 jFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of- F+ J4 z, t& l' `1 s; L
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.": z0 J, c$ `5 P
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
+ T& N9 p' N' o0 F) n+ fsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* Y3 R! M( T9 S, Y; Y: \to her complaints.' m% R; H# I7 f& i5 L6 n$ B
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers5 l! c0 Q2 S" O
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
3 n1 l$ q" Q+ Z" e$ Z' g) Zmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars./ m4 M" P+ {. f
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric. ^5 K5 a: B1 ^+ {- S
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: K7 |- H+ [ L9 {0 O"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% K( S# I! D6 r' L- e- R
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.", }; _7 X. [( x- x0 I
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, L9 G L. ?2 B, p; qprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 E# @+ _' J2 q t1 K a2 |being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( J9 n: M# F2 T' f6 ^
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
. n5 u5 p6 l9 Levery question."
) r8 f7 M, \6 i# K2 rToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% f8 m4 V8 _2 V1 T; b* z& m) l$ celectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
5 N6 E% E5 g2 ufirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& j% A/ `+ x2 X* E- w8 ]) f& w
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, a4 Z: I+ l4 V& e/ }5 E) R2 _9 Q" Bnumber of vehicles
( `8 G5 L# X. Y6 STracking down an electrical problem can be far more
' \- l! w# E; L* Kdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
1 }" v0 H: T7 d, Z' t" imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
4 `; E( {8 M4 Csource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
* {4 I6 F( U; v6 _$ ?: X# h1 B9 nMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
0 v: u8 z! {2 c( Twhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no) z7 t2 j* U- b; v5 x
trace at all.
7 {5 R. s9 a9 z' J2 Z* G* H" Q/ kHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call |% C% A! b3 t9 U% ~3 v
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
* O: q4 r* }" a* C' M( Sacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: p# T) Z2 o7 h1 {6 u- L2 I
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.% y3 z1 t1 P# P8 h1 ?
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
: M# K; u. R& i5 X" u" |* D2 xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and+ I! F E% H3 E
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
8 J% N L) P9 \ ^% n' {! jelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 e& q% U2 j& P% T" Q4 |cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only n; I% Z" e* W0 V9 }8 l
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained) h- \3 \. j1 y* y/ S8 I# X0 ^ Z) z
by Toyota's lawyers."3 f' G1 _# ]4 [
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* a0 P& ^" N+ ~# q3 C* T+ o
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( {! W0 n' c% c" ~) b2 W7 Z0 v
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
# Q" \ a4 Q9 k* A7 @said.
4 m3 v% U/ F' C& [4 u4 o' Q5 b7 Q"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
@$ r4 A; U/ @; j) m6 d, Z- Ca rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# O( {: A) B" ?! h5 f6 h# p
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% e& {* x- q7 W q. c5 i7 n" oofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.1 y% p- c5 [9 }- M- ~
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
' w3 F j. Z6 ]. _members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 d% l% ]+ S" S/ Crancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the2 I: g- u1 E" l! \# z; H2 L
automaker, at least in part because of the government's; [# J, @4 h1 l/ ^. U9 N) y& }
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- T/ ~& i* `" Q, Q" E3 aChrysler.
# _7 q E M, K# V% C"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
; s" X8 ^# O I* M! _4 odollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 s+ i1 Y! j$ SHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also2 x9 Y' K, Y* d# T
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete' z/ v& I# f" e6 l- b
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
* J/ @& [) \0 K- Y: ptough."2 g3 ]( U/ O! e8 ?; Y) o% J
---
# } j" l; ^2 L# \5 OAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom/ M; ]1 T$ x# T' q% D/ a
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to; f. e0 h. q' u9 V$ N U
this story.
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5 [. M" K& l5 p4 X; V- G9 G-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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