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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题7 d& |5 G4 Q2 i/ `7 M/ [! ]
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS" n2 f& C' `1 L& T( h ?
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.# o ?* d" l+ P0 b& E8 U
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that6 L* t" n: b! d4 L+ M
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
( ?6 V: ?) ^% N) P9 |9 Usolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.) V/ h/ ^! O6 X
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
4 S4 e# [) b5 R! }* L# v$ \ {causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.: T9 x; @9 T* Q/ G- [& x" I, z
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ I0 q: v1 Q- r! b0 D2 [& {# F
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and9 ^! s0 I$ x% U- l- W/ [
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 \5 L: _! C5 I# X
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 p7 M4 o* L3 l1 d! B+ ~( F( U1 mHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
% X3 y u2 A8 x% G7 i" r8 Cand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) I, l+ d0 T8 ]1 i' v+ r
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
+ I8 S0 U7 k) I% a% yfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
5 B2 k' H4 B, tnot stop her runaway Lexus.* s2 n8 N- g" p, l$ `3 s) {
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,' R c9 C r# d& O* l3 Q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
+ g8 M3 X6 ~, o7 Z9 }"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ `/ F6 H6 a) \. b
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues" p: h' t8 c& h; `) }3 R
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
- j' i* Q; ]) x7 ["We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) Z7 \$ w4 @ s
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway# Y$ z6 D8 R) V5 W
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
, z# }" W( Z1 X" U" Minvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."" G# U+ ]' k% [: N U: a5 o9 Q
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
( w8 j9 Q0 q8 x7 ~! x: q1 z1 telectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
8 m( J) V7 X- b% k( }the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
/ i; s) `! A6 {- ~5 Wmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he7 z+ `; Z5 ], d! {, W" m
said.
' O# J8 T2 u2 z. @As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what1 H1 m4 }; f4 _' n/ a. h6 e9 w
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
! O3 e5 h) b# V7 S1 e* R6 C9 Nabout driving our products," Lentz said.
. t( s4 v: @5 L: f5 k: JThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
5 F1 ?: m, k, bproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 Y2 m1 `9 b: k( y5 u, I1 m
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6, s$ I6 G, F) m4 Q+ i9 v6 y
million in the United States -- since last fall because of5 s+ N/ _! ]9 b1 w, y
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
2 e$ ]" S k$ K1 l( s) ~' f) f& I }8 Vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering q! G4 y5 ^: ^$ a1 U
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of0 U+ `9 B$ F6 q% j2 K1 |
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
& h5 ~) J$ \+ u: u) Ldown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has5 P% o8 d3 M" z1 C
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
0 g3 k4 u2 @ H9 p* Aof Toyota vehicles since 2000.: y. h4 b1 f9 \- z k9 N
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own# J/ J9 i: B+ h/ `! b- M; R- s
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 ]( c/ R' ^; y6 J- Nunderstood the pain.9 X8 p+ a. E% F) N$ J
"I know what those families go through," he said.( L* V/ c% y4 d
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's8 Y @- S' Y: Z( \
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
. _: i; Z# e z- z1 v* ], eBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
* K4 z9 N2 M( q. J4 ^Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put0 v3 D# w z$ p8 _$ |+ d/ V
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, U% Z) z( C) a" H' n U4 F: v u( B+ f
Lentz replied: "Not totally."+ A4 O' E% M( `4 _+ u, |& ?: L
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were2 n3 X& P9 o, f, W& T& v; p0 }
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said+ b/ l" m! [+ ^% f9 v9 Y
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
5 r) n3 Y4 ]9 G9 t) {3 npedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its2 n+ D, a, v- I) \- K
vehicles already on the road.
+ [! F6 r, k* V& w8 m+ v5 Z" c5 OMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify2 j/ x" m$ Y* E3 [. E/ _# T
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full( p* J E; T I2 \8 A8 V6 d
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( {+ K0 Z9 A/ n6 c! u) ~* }offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, B: G: D, J, T; mkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
7 l% |2 x+ V# U"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a( L6 c8 Y5 Q+ X* `9 h
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- C: P9 k+ P4 G* Vfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight X e' L% _) T6 F1 B% T
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
. @# B0 j6 W. o2 `- @$ Mcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to$ Y% e6 m/ |: x) s
restore the trust of our customers.") ?2 @- f4 @0 h0 ?
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
7 q" u' p5 S8 ZSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly0 B7 t" }; E. K9 ~3 }( D3 `
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
" Y) V/ @) a# G2 T& Pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 G% o* o1 V" E5 D. A7 o4 D3 fhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' m, r- t' l9 k, _; \/ |that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
. R# }! Y y" ~8 x u( I3 @turn off the engine.3 R) d) ~; e s; x# j- Q! Q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of% B5 `: ]4 r8 q
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."8 r V" H5 O6 Q' D
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 `+ ^! M$ R" T5 |said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
0 c2 a. o# \+ V8 S* X; M* E' H: H1 u! Bto her complaints.
2 k: W9 v( X& P# R7 LIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers7 e; X/ [7 v5 H& U
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic t, H) t* k% }& ^# \7 J
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
3 O6 k# E! ~0 b3 r! w"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric, Y" I w% t: D a
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited; G8 r/ k. F7 q) F
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
1 B- u" A+ U5 I9 G) Toff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."- M7 T, l0 ]7 @: k
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in/ `6 x# A. t$ v( }
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
* A- j$ h1 N! j& T. V# Q( Bbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
- ~7 i9 U: b4 z: d: R5 M# awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer( |8 c" M4 s; P$ C
every question."3 i4 O6 v* H( g5 S9 @4 U; K8 y
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
' C! \; r1 O Pelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
5 t% n% @" e7 t/ A& H) W- y* d4 qfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
, _1 f' D% j& E- C& Rcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small! y- a1 Y5 P5 f! F5 X" j
number of vehicles
- V/ q. @ C/ h5 v& H* ]/ VTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ @: T; m& y4 F" h; c9 }" Vdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 D& ]1 g" K* E3 Z% ^mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 p" n# B' {; H* }: g0 z1 {3 Nsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car./ e0 j- M7 P+ k: P% n. N
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
. |' ?7 ]: O: q% L+ @% Lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no" \1 A# }$ I4 e7 P; K
trace at all.7 q! {2 L0 m O& G1 `2 G& C/ g
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
7 d. @& |; q& f# M( g3 U) ^7 T0 u5 m; Fdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
. X6 l' r: i& o: ]( vacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
$ [# g3 v, c- D6 S2 Qrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( _' Y9 P# G1 r
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
4 @9 N- X, n' s5 Nsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
1 x( m0 A8 w3 q7 P+ vother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the3 J& w3 T# w, ]0 h
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
% k1 T9 _' B6 r& H& f ucause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only: e( A5 Q; @& f) V: l
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained9 z6 Z/ W0 v% Y& `
by Toyota's lawyers."
* f. [3 o: F( o/ D8 pLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of. a' G% q i' v; X+ i
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
* k; a6 t: G! ^; @, `customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
3 W0 a: Z$ R) w( s- Zsaid.; R T" g# D( J
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
- Q; M* P, A& v7 N. U3 Z d; Ta rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our9 ^( a4 |/ W+ E
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
+ n" \: X: x& |0 j) M6 S# t0 Tofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
& O! {1 T5 Y; ^6 Z7 ^9 p. W% h+ L# mSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: j3 f# D% a" b% Kmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
+ ]8 }( s0 B8 ~ i2 l' ~# hrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the) U$ q3 w# L! X3 L; l- b
automaker, at least in part because of the government's1 H$ \! C* K+ n3 z$ S
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and6 p5 d% A) B2 A" z8 e6 v, D
Chrysler.
" Q( z5 w ?+ {5 L"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& [7 }0 L g" r& {# T) M
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
) _4 o! }" g+ x9 g) V$ _* |# @/ NHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
8 B9 c- d! h8 z- D# ~5 }/ Z; Nserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
h, T! b8 g: {7 K4 bwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty* A" _1 b# G2 M$ B$ O9 O
tough."8 {4 {1 P, H) C. n
---6 y( J: L, `0 v
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) O# F) B" Z2 M; v/ t
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# {; |; i4 x. [0 V. P! ~this story./ F5 w2 _( f. f& u- ~: _% q
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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