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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题- Z/ J0 I4 r" B; C# d Q
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) I7 p/ t; q9 e+ A
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
3 Y- v* y; Q; [- U( hoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that g4 I- Z) l' O3 |* p
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) ~- x4 u$ e1 V9 Rsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.& F% U- D. }# T- g6 {
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential; k {) r" J3 a) w! x! f3 ?
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel. K5 j- O$ K8 R& s n7 i% F0 Q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: J. j# g- s3 N/ tacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and- B# J. _! }- P# F' u3 J
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor0 p3 X- \; V: X5 \! [7 i
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
+ x& B2 o: `- e( |' m3 BHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
% A/ p+ V8 W" Qand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp5 R. t* v6 e4 {2 x. l' l
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
@; r# q+ w& X7 h0 q) Nfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& ~; E+ i% Y! v0 K
not stop her runaway Lexus.
- I4 _- U! J4 h5 }3 n% b6 _7 C7 u"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ V# p% q) K7 h8 x% JTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
$ l4 G# Z _1 \"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& o0 i! c" \! }% G1 W1 x
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
, N* T9 B0 }- v( ]" W6 Zearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said, Y4 T4 w( b8 R* R
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
: i6 M' M% }$ G Ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
( n5 m7 ~8 k8 mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's- k3 s3 K0 r( @9 M ^
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."3 e" k# e. b# o- C$ O/ `
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 a2 `+ r2 G% L2 xelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of# T |) i1 D8 B
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: o8 L, T8 {; j8 ~- y
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he6 S, A5 _6 m. Z3 X2 c# s
said.4 Z- [9 w; p0 e! y+ C" |* X
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 r5 P0 p; p y: j# _3 [& `9 g
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe: o/ d$ N. {: ?# S, x
about driving our products," Lentz said.
5 O: X$ ^9 V2 N# wThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's2 J8 Q0 E" b0 N/ c1 z
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has7 J7 H; ^/ G# x, K6 S: d# Q
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 63 k9 k9 j* g) M8 e
million in the United States -- since last fall because of0 x8 P# ~( B: T! B* F, w
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking" F x5 l# l+ [
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering0 H# C* S% m6 T2 o4 V4 ` g: ]1 [2 ^
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
: g: p# [( O- t1 {. m) R& Ktheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
( Z! S* D+ v$ n$ {down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has* D' l. @6 G+ H( W
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration9 A. `0 D4 o9 u6 k5 d& ^/ ~0 Q
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.' @# V+ |4 _4 a: G- a
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 B2 ^' F/ J$ j' i1 g" xbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 t) [! x; B1 h8 ?
understood the pain.
9 f8 _6 s" d/ v R. @" @+ ?, _"I know what those families go through," he said.! h- C2 x) x# k; g! n5 b
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' K( ^. T$ @7 n/ D
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.6 v; g0 Y' b: p) K! I8 s
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman- H) k* u, P; ^# m
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put; V( n3 e' u7 B ^+ y
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
6 K6 v4 r+ T+ j& G( G& yLentz replied: "Not totally."1 L( z6 T. _: u
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 b- q& z4 A. x6 ~8 y"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said1 s, b7 f' i, h9 d0 r" ?
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
9 t! F) r4 O/ T, b u9 I# [pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its% F: o0 Z M( }1 E) \% z0 @
vehicles already on the road.. `; q! D4 Q, o4 w) K
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
7 n A# f1 P4 @ L% D" w* N# |2 Mbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 k i2 O/ \: l& tresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
/ \% n L C: ooffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were) k# m' E3 q& ]# K. M% q! c8 |
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
o5 y8 u l5 G+ j"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
& N# E% s" h, C. j: ctragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony/ `! u. s" Q/ p: R, K1 h' X& ^
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 d* F% y: v) D8 _
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal; u* r2 ?) Z- M; y
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 |3 P! e1 x% Y4 ^- _
restore the trust of our customers."3 }! Y6 l) r# H
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
$ y* J8 V- U( M1 gSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly$ r! ]5 Y& U4 q6 k, J- I
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --7 }5 {, W' T% b
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
: e: M* `# }$ [hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough- \8 p3 l# `( x& @4 v
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and5 m" q) t |& W* y g9 E6 n
turn off the engine.
& P; R3 j/ T- B5 Q' AFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
9 _4 v, F# _- e& f; o: |- W) UOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
% N2 w; E8 q: `"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
8 _( Y; y. U6 {, t$ H @4 o( k+ usaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond7 U, [! s0 H+ f8 b ~: L
to her complaints.6 }& T0 C) m5 g$ i
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers7 H* n( ~' P; j1 \( Z
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 L6 B9 z$ T$ W9 d% g
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& K$ V1 B( V6 J% M
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric! F$ r4 x- B8 x8 ?
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
% t: h+ C, o7 Q1 V9 C) q/ x8 f"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 p' Q/ M5 ?0 t1 ~, Uoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."! a9 q& L# s7 c5 k
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
7 R6 H( d+ H/ M3 m2 B% q$ j5 R9 F' gprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were( m9 K4 Q% P! j' p0 n5 c/ ^
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls& Z& m9 W" e0 r, ]
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer7 O3 S# n- M6 Q
every question."7 Z: m7 ^3 G# t. [
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
1 x; a& ]. A8 F5 B; N7 z/ O' }electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The% r* c9 J6 H, N1 t6 ]8 {% G2 i
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ I. ?3 X) p2 ]3 H& T6 Pcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small) T U; I. ?3 V6 N* f# i
number of vehicles
5 T' K3 {- w. rTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
9 ?. J- E/ ]% d# v- ]difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ P$ N% p, F3 [. @0 S2 R
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
$ A8 K" _8 c, l- S8 y% \source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 q6 [. I2 ?( Q8 G! o
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
0 \; w$ N1 |, a- i) q% J9 F( kwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
. T) M6 k6 T' ~& ptrace at all.
5 Y3 ^' K& a- I# x3 ~# MHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
) b; D* A1 U! _7 }database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden# t" |1 L1 m) ]' u
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
. `( _$ M% R" w# irecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# C, q' ^, }0 R3 z8 a
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,3 r$ X* d; q" c% [) t
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! G, q U, J* T. G* P2 p$ }other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
9 i# n+ a* }4 T) T1 ]# {' ^ ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible$ P; s/ g' b+ d, ^; x
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
8 F/ q: J$ g" C- hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# _9 A! @2 {2 P% f7 F
by Toyota's lawyers.", n+ h' q! P% o
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
) j# Q$ v) M8 S2 g j0 xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
; Q' S# ~; C0 L! P# \customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* O1 _3 ~/ k+ O/ K% b
said.
. `+ J2 ?$ o0 C"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with, ]; d6 }( X* N7 z& k2 }' y4 M: H+ F2 M
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 i) H: s3 Q( t4 k8 H) ~good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating- [' e; r5 H; D# D# I
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.: {2 Y- W* s9 D2 D
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. A. C& X. J; ?& c# i8 hmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
9 b% h0 l8 m$ B# hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* _0 ?2 C* q* ]5 D0 oautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
* A' L* G9 b/ S8 {investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 ~0 }7 M0 M+ b3 J$ QChrysler.
) S$ @: [1 P' s* H4 m"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
6 K1 z1 M; f- edollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
* a% c# a/ R' j+ H% J9 z7 UHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. f) \# H% S. w$ oserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
! B6 E2 U# s1 L. Q' b9 s0 `with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
4 \: Y$ R" w* A9 [" otough."1 J6 d+ u' a* \0 J" L; E
---
1 C4 j [4 [2 |! u4 }8 L) C; DAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
8 H ?# `1 H4 b2 \4 M0 p zRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to* G% x3 m. ~' h- z
this story.
' ~5 j6 g9 c& V2 P4 e1 K. ^, m7 f: {/ t2 X: l" o
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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