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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题$ c; \8 C" E2 _& K; B
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
; G3 ^, g9 B3 c' u! [$ JWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.$ l- x6 u% H/ P$ o" W
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
" @' S. {7 U1 r1 ?5 D; othe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 u' V" Q; B* Z1 D. jsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.$ Z4 y4 I5 _2 H' m. n T* {
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
! {# P* p. W6 M( [. l- K! J% H: ~6 kcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.4 P! J S; L& t ?
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected, d; g5 @# f$ p9 K4 ?
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
2 P* p% Z5 O# btrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
4 u2 ^ {5 C/ u6 X" |4 Pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
( k7 M' g( z) ZHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
7 y9 L# R. N' n% Jand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 {1 J- H6 k$ fcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be* i+ [0 `/ G* \4 m
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could) O3 t$ h! n5 c, B. K& P
not stop her runaway Lexus.
! ~% z. r. \4 U1 X"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
# | q& N" e; _% J7 j& BTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' a& v5 O: I! ~"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& |! x( l* E- O6 U- |% u1 o6 L
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" y& y+ e. r3 i1 s. [7 y: v
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
4 \6 {6 J& X: X"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 u/ k7 t0 i& F! a' @- ~done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway; T1 z2 ^9 o. ^! _& `& s' @
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. B" b' u8 R) n- q) j* [% Iinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."8 |3 p9 S6 ^2 z5 a S4 q- Y/ ^
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
T* u$ s: G0 Jelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
1 c6 k" {9 K3 I& t. [the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' B4 I$ c8 |6 K0 S% f* J: {malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
4 ?& H C: R- |said.: k$ R9 t4 Q$ k4 |, K
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
J6 [2 Y, R; ?0 i% V5 O- Q7 i; Ghappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe+ p6 s* q7 x1 ]) h0 _. o1 H% l
about driving our products," Lentz said.6 T( w3 F: Y1 m3 b; Z$ ~4 t+ r
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
0 g, a: X! E: H/ X/ o7 T( w7 e- M: ?7 Dproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
( y' A H! H! J, S% S3 k/ V, }recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
$ @+ o! U, h$ ]3 f9 }1 j. p, d6 Vmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
- P* h/ X1 e; U3 B2 Y; Y* _unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 [8 h' F7 n$ k' o6 l% n/ oissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
' t4 V, e D2 p7 `3 B3 f5 Z* dconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of7 b' R. P- Q7 t+ m+ r7 ~
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
' S0 ?& ? C9 E4 g4 B% E: T: ]down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
7 q8 H& \7 b8 c- K- _, C- Kreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration6 f7 }* ?& V/ ]; Y# @. Y; u
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
( H% W* }* e0 @; q7 ^2 v7 u$ p9 {Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
; ~$ I& N% H+ ebrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he1 d. A# o# J% w0 j3 \$ u
understood the pain.
5 A% J1 S. R2 k1 N7 u8 e"I know what those families go through," he said.
) U9 T" b8 D' o4 @" f+ ]Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
) I' G/ @" r5 K5 F3 d! {/ Nfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
7 A' x0 U+ U' KBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
8 m% D! A$ i+ ]# j) s+ i9 k( @8 T' yHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
. r2 j( W6 ]3 v, m# F+ C& _in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
( V1 k: _ l* a8 H" ?1 ^Lentz replied: "Not totally."
- l+ S; U' ]- Y" h% iStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
5 T. M9 B$ j; {0 o3 W; r"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% k) ~6 @4 L! b. {0 H0 \Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ I* {; }! k9 j+ w. P bpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its- {3 u: A. S% o' [7 ?
vehicles already on the road.; [& @- i) W) `$ Y5 u% a6 u
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify$ {2 H7 e# G* ~
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full; ?$ g0 j7 d) g: N) p, X4 M- O
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
- u5 i( a& S6 R( y+ S$ i2 Goffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
7 N2 p8 Q1 E/ T2 w( l8 zkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems./ U5 E- r& R* i/ ~$ ?$ i& [- o
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
, r$ E8 ]( }! f2 c1 s3 Htragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
/ S& K0 `" I, c0 {5 k7 ` b Zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
! h. g7 s' l- F6 m/ w$ n- UCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal/ j) [5 @6 f* @( N* J8 m
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to5 X9 N4 ]/ X% r1 g0 T- e
restore the trust of our customers."
/ b0 M: B. A, C/ O" sLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
3 @ D/ ]# n4 G- C1 i _: jSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
2 m% W3 k. B* Uzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) x! x, a& q# p, N7 {
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
& ]. q3 h- j' b9 s# d3 rhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough6 D2 e+ X7 R5 S- P' z! X
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and7 t5 L1 G6 H1 @6 q7 U/ n
turn off the engine.2 ]- {3 ~* i+ W& @4 h
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
b) Z, f; A/ i3 W7 A; POctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
0 Z: g$ D5 m6 N/ W; Z- m% h"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
, D; r: V' `- U" Tsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
- S: G9 O4 l) p5 Tto her complaints./ f+ G1 Z6 Z* `# n3 U2 o
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
8 v! i6 \. F2 K5 X0 s6 m9 dreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
' t/ `8 x1 \7 }, ] H* \malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
6 P& p+ G) w/ L. F; j! R"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric# l' T1 h- _2 I" I
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
6 y5 ~7 U% x. e& t"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 w3 _1 k# d# \( w. ~; ]4 I
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
+ J9 {; d9 J1 k0 ETransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in, Z: `/ b9 H- W$ q0 d" H" J
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
* R' Z) v* ]7 Xbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls4 p2 V& c+ u% F; L$ t. h$ ^9 t
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
! q2 {) t. p5 {; gevery question."
, h$ N7 ?& N$ q- O& b! z L8 gToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
9 {( R: T9 n, ]" p; Helectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 Q2 @% Z; P9 c4 W8 f
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
J% X" r5 [0 R% p9 tcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) @8 `0 q; Q) O fnumber of vehicles
" \* G9 G7 k$ g6 LTracking down an electrical problem can be far more- ^- c0 T2 n* X" Q* u, _
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a, G" j- I1 m' p- s0 i! x( D
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
; T5 ]- d0 Y2 O( p0 I4 c5 M. Nsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
4 p# w. J- g9 y( GMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,5 B' v( @! N* f3 J8 i
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
) ^' O/ `' @; @# Y7 s; _2 @4 Dtrace at all.
0 N( s- V4 c0 KHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 s3 L$ M7 W1 T8 M7 N2 L& n4 X8 F
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% l9 M @5 o% s1 ]; F5 f
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
0 q+ `6 V8 w5 Z' z5 mrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
% |; s4 b- O2 Z1 y1 F2 ARep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
* Y t9 f( p, Bsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and/ W$ _1 D O3 p
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
3 z+ R$ r8 {) a" o& ~electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible7 ?7 K+ p5 ?: |
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& @. Z* u6 l# R4 wsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
2 j- E( a8 [* iby Toyota's lawyers."6 z. v/ @2 Z8 q2 X& _$ Z
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of$ X0 e! E* Z6 g$ E, ]( F
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our3 b6 m8 X0 Z2 T ~
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he, A' N6 I# M1 b5 w' v
said.6 p7 o2 y6 {5 G$ L
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) C7 @9 ], Q! R# w; T% g
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
! C% Q5 M. k* s% o7 V3 Wgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating1 G( K, W7 X' B& o+ d; q! }! ~5 u
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.' k& p* X2 e$ p' r
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# x ~) I' O' l. j* x
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
% ` m: Z. n0 o1 q4 v, E$ |rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
# Y5 p& Z% E% h7 }automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" r1 U: E+ t( _6 ?' minvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and3 w* f& r1 W7 @4 w) ?
Chrysler.- r* h V* f- `; H
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
' w9 F/ \' y! Odollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a) d E6 V5 {, x
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also2 ]7 @0 b: W5 ^7 B, L0 @4 ?) l$ k% E
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
) p5 `3 N) L/ o4 R7 q. p/ Jwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
h t7 r2 b7 u( y& ^! ]5 utough."
6 g8 {" q( I( L m, J---+ V+ { }& c; J
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
9 s% l5 A _7 n& t) ]+ iRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
. e; Q: h% p. e# c8 ithis story.
2 V* s# b0 U: ^8 ^. T4 k" A" X8 c9 F8 J
4 c( F& n6 F" ? s, s4 }-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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