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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题% }) K1 r, h- b& @9 m0 d
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS; x! w* ]% c. x: [2 w# f
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.: S* [5 A2 I$ D2 d: w1 _8 S0 S
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! q. u0 V+ _" h
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"/ B! X& _$ b6 m% j! S. p2 V
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.% t5 x- m8 G" _& y- B, [
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential) `( j& Q" u, i+ r
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.& c$ r0 a, q/ [
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
8 i0 e. v7 a- P Vacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
: \# Q$ d0 W# Z# V& w3 E+ otrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) i$ F/ L4 Q; b {% G* ~mats and sticking accelerator pedals.% n- U! k* l' I( G) w! g: @! y0 b& ^
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
4 e9 z8 @6 a; i7 O, o3 Y8 band fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
+ G$ f) h' _+ V0 `" V) y5 hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
* q$ M2 Q v+ n7 @& G' J. C" Zfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
- M2 a2 a& `* D Dnot stop her runaway Lexus.
& \4 l7 F0 d8 }7 d* }9 Z$ Y( U"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,+ G: B- l2 c/ Q% i$ _0 g
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, _& d, e$ K3 E& N3 N: T3 l/ Q# S. W"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
2 }* x, b' [& p Y6 m' f. aTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues3 G* ? X) D: @8 G- J& s# S' p5 u
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
1 M: t1 d# F2 ?"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
9 l7 y' D3 {2 D9 v/ \7 u6 m5 J! _done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway5 n& V; M# N+ s7 g, O: J' X
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
. p0 k# ^0 o7 k/ ninvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
& t& V3 y1 c; Q" K' K" k; nLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 `; ^+ ] k* ?
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: Z) m) w9 p: {' v& pthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a! p: ^2 q6 P5 h, \0 [: Q5 Q
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 u4 l" {" l4 B- v7 K+ L9 w; |said.8 P8 L T- l5 p& ^7 v
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what( P8 T: V K1 Z# Q! E0 u
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
H2 s8 l* Q' w8 ~1 F6 u" r3 |& I+ gabout driving our products," Lentz said.+ e# v' D6 _: n( p" o3 R: P& k
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
, C4 b) Y4 v3 s! o9 f$ K2 zproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has; f. p; K: o$ ]" f6 M1 K; D
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6. Z& G- z+ O4 V) n
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
v6 e+ e7 b1 \1 a- f, Tunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
( v7 A* J! }% s& Z s1 M( dissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering b2 a- i! O; M: N; D: q" B9 l4 U
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of D2 G7 X& x& T1 b& X3 f3 M
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. @) J" N$ j$ {+ K/ ^# Mdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ U4 p- s' {5 g- Ireceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
( e9 K. N8 _5 f8 b# Z% |of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
3 z* a1 V5 M, j9 n8 {/ O$ ?Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
, S U u+ {9 N5 J4 u! {brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
7 _) u$ e |8 K5 g& W6 Runderstood the pain.
% S( B0 k% w( @; {"I know what those families go through," he said.- j. J$ F% u+ y0 b r/ w# |
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, D. C$ c$ N- [" H: g- w; y+ {* y2 pfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.& x' i# g4 i$ t" i( I; d+ Q+ S
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, S* ?- d) Y, e" _3 U! Q8 `Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
: p0 m% M g3 k* |0 Win place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
2 j4 V3 H! m* F0 w) lLentz replied: "Not totally."
+ X8 \9 J# `/ j+ `# T6 M0 pStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
/ ?9 i2 h" Z/ B+ ]- q8 Y& A"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% ]. u7 K, a& F) b% V( T( fToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas' p( E9 K3 U8 `' M+ _
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its, T; ?9 ~3 J# p; d( G
vehicles already on the road.
+ k- d f# ~, {+ F3 f9 H! FMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. j B- N% b3 m2 W4 n% y# g
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 x3 c/ \/ }& Q0 ?- h0 D
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# N+ E2 P: E- L# ]. Y
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
8 h9 K) w" k/ g8 kkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
( |3 ^: W) {1 p. i"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a' J. ^ ^0 [2 | \7 \
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
* G/ i6 @& w1 E" ^# efor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
8 G/ }& T2 R" n6 u* L) F/ t! iCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
$ O& \- |. x1 `, f9 T" rcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
; a% l) v( L. k# xrestore the trust of our customers."
; G' O) s$ M7 wLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from- P5 w9 i9 b2 z) k1 O7 c2 ^. p
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly( Z% Y5 K( O. q! ~# J
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
3 Q: n. a5 [: Q- x( ]- w5 Hshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
, a/ ?$ D+ @! {6 J7 D) \. D+ Thitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough9 w" @1 I1 K- M) |# t7 n( A* {
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and# D+ s! Q) H4 q9 n: p
turn off the engine.) c* P7 k; O" ~ \! a% G% {4 [
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
" E; Z' n& G5 m+ _October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
6 S2 p J4 c# T1 o3 g"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she7 Y$ u1 ?9 o! d; Z. A% M1 @
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
% q" m7 \* c+ l, q% A' Nto her complaints.
/ t9 }! {* n: } Z' rIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
0 ?6 F {; c1 W5 kreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic/ f6 `( a! @( o6 N; O6 [* G/ f/ [
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.( W& ?) I0 q& N+ y) o1 \4 w) t
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric8 R0 q0 h- ?: p' w9 I
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited, g2 c$ \" ~5 s9 \8 f' a$ l
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
- A6 a; J- n% v- ?off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."' W0 b7 c0 _+ |( H+ i8 X: `
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
2 P1 `/ y- O( d; sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were6 o" H; G/ F0 r' _2 }
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls3 q) |1 k! v# d& F) E9 c
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
D4 C, ~2 @7 ?9 o: Q! Zevery question."# f3 z0 h P P ? }: M
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
/ ]7 H {) x9 Y8 y4 e8 S* p2 h; ^8 `electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The/ L, l `" ^- N* c3 n
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But/ T7 ^% c f$ S
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
/ D3 T% ~5 `& ^number of vehicles
% o0 g5 l- W% C( l4 U# H9 Y( V8 JTracking down an electrical problem can be far more B. P8 f' X; e' e$ N
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ R8 Y% ]0 k* W/ X! J
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one! `. U. d8 a q8 b
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.: P& ?1 k) o9 A
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
& ?3 l- E( U: k4 K9 {. \0 D: b5 ?where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* s2 M5 u: b9 e5 P# k" itrace at all.2 R# {4 R- e" F2 p) ] d" j
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
- R+ y w3 ^) Tdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
6 {6 u# g$ u( {* z4 q9 v* A* Vacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
+ F. j3 I, d' _5 [recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.! j7 C N. `. i, \8 @
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," W& ` [9 G! Z& q" m5 K' B W
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
7 B! d" K; R. \1 r5 T6 Q6 `& \other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
1 W: g. Y% o$ H7 z# K& ?6 U" delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
6 E ]' q5 \/ H- \. e6 Bcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
6 _/ G$ s9 F6 V6 i' J! z8 {9 ]such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained6 ?" ^) v# e1 l( c6 |' E
by Toyota's lawyers."
3 p. l( |# d6 z4 @# FLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
, U$ |+ f' t C5 `problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our; k; V! e+ f/ [( I- l* |
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
! F2 o7 K( r! t! H6 q( gsaid.: f$ n0 x% T7 v
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with; M0 I% r/ b" e3 Z/ x
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 }. r5 x- ^9 ?* e0 N
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating' r% }/ F# j" D: @5 S7 i
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
+ \4 j d. S( f1 G4 j3 M* HSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying' R6 @; `3 H/ Q; q; h
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread+ v0 Z! V. M; @! G8 E
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the: A' V4 S% A# B
automaker, at least in part because of the government's$ }$ m+ ~9 }( h" u) m- \% S/ K; N
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 b5 h; }: ~, E
Chrysler.
8 Q& p& n0 y. Y) C( y4 u" C"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
! M2 M# Y7 v. a" Adollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. f K/ s7 n; [+ o9 ]Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also% G3 M: b+ @$ h3 p
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
# m2 {, u! x. b# j' I+ |with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
, U: u. l Q. \+ a0 }5 vtough."* T" B$ C: u5 t( v4 g1 h4 J
---
9 D5 {# z/ {6 x2 H) y3 V. @Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
5 p0 E- \& Z* cRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
Y# W) \1 f. q6 v; pthis story.0 B/ d' L! Q* T* ~( S
}( B7 Y3 }8 S
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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