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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题8 x( U1 I9 E5 a; R
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS& f# z' J' n/ [7 F4 u: |0 w# _( ?
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ h( U+ g" G r
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
, g. R9 C* I9 q4 I% Zthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 x& P; v3 G+ b4 ~5 b
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.5 P' p! D& D, U; X& m2 t
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
* B6 H& B( t E& ^% k$ K. Ycauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., o4 B% [# k9 i4 u7 ]
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected; m7 ]( M4 G, t/ ]6 w
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
& G; J) a# O+ F+ G0 Q. h2 r8 ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
" i* X) G3 z' P; Smats and sticking accelerator pedals.9 Q0 V6 b- n: l
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal1 U5 M/ ~: T7 `
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# b- U! S1 J8 G: o* ~9 L: Icriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
& q& m* g9 w s. Gfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
9 M4 |! W! g, E; a snot stop her runaway Lexus.+ e4 h# l# [, s! \. n9 c
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,& z+ A$ k( O9 v! V
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
) @* S2 Z$ b0 ?0 `+ g `"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, f: J6 o* Q6 Q8 Y: ZTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues o( f) C4 D k' @: J, k
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said; X. E# |) r4 N B) [" G
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has D, [! E$ N$ K6 M c M
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway, O3 L/ m" z! W3 P- [" z* E
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
1 y: h7 ~( q* g4 e3 f- g* uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
+ J, y4 w- h$ H; ^ }' T4 R$ Z* p; YLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* Y+ Q Q$ M9 I% p
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 N& r1 K$ M* W
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a0 `* ?) ~+ p8 P) n
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
" t1 P, {* i+ Qsaid.# j: D' E, N' }1 l7 x# C( O6 X9 V4 z
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
2 b7 I2 ]/ N- E2 ^0 m) w# T! yhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe w: A, a, X5 T, x3 p, Y
about driving our products," Lentz said.
& F0 I# J6 H" u& [; Y7 pThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's6 L5 s9 {5 a5 n
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has0 o# [7 s- _0 b6 |
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6# e2 Y- Z# q6 X" X5 r
million in the United States -- since last fall because of1 z" }4 ^! X" P0 T. _; F; F
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 g7 y: S9 T* y5 ^' b' Bissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) a- C: @8 X. {concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of- X8 y' Z u0 L3 {
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
0 l- }2 J8 @( s- A- I: ~6 Adown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has) P7 x2 O: y$ ?+ A# N
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
' p, W# j! z# o) G) f6 p6 M! tof Toyota vehicles since 2000.1 c; {4 ], ^. z9 n7 E, d% t
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own0 k( Z+ V& ?) u- z; k# U
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
* m9 I, _7 U4 N6 e1 E/ ?9 Cunderstood the pain.0 J/ { g: f9 ? I6 @, T
"I know what those families go through," he said.3 P. q( D1 _& d9 T
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 m2 r% g4 p. B5 v2 qfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
Q; u. P' \% Z5 @But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
* M& M2 C4 E: \1 l) L- O9 aHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put5 }; c7 A2 O) L9 b
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
/ n/ R4 Z S7 t8 MLentz replied: "Not totally."6 ?+ K6 x, n4 I* A3 G+ D
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
$ D( X0 U3 A' y3 U; n"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. V3 q ~+ h, S9 _Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ U8 O( N' R* F; `5 Epedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
, \* `3 H$ N0 f7 C& L7 N6 o+ ~% [' zvehicles already on the road.
3 b) e; Y7 \1 ~5 a, n4 X+ T* a. MMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
; @! U2 q8 b' M) P8 ^- ^' C+ ybefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full5 A8 U2 |6 K, M
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# B6 J4 |! l9 a0 M- I8 I
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& s# b9 p0 g" kkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.2 v- v+ \8 a6 }3 @$ Q
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
( \! ~' t* I$ b1 ?+ @5 e8 ktragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony0 d |. I8 x9 x: f1 Y' N9 U9 V
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight# u5 G+ _4 _+ X6 V
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
$ K; k2 b$ M% }9 c" J8 p4 W2 _/ Jcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to, ?! s4 x& n+ V/ Z" a
restore the trust of our customers."
: Q$ A' h' i) U0 C0 X3 q0 ?Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from* }- p" d2 }! z4 v' U# H# h
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
0 h0 e4 r. W$ I' Azoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
5 F; f* @, A' X9 @) {! rshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and! I% U, ]$ m7 M) p# I5 ?
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
/ k) [8 ?( y7 ~: b0 mthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
* k3 _. c0 j! D' @turn off the engine.: [' ` g# X' V/ X5 y4 ~
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ |& l+ b& d0 P4 f- A$ YOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
) _ d) r' k" i6 q"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ l1 l. k. t) [' lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond+ s: L' i9 u; ?
to her complaints.
+ d+ _7 q% ^: B' D- j; X0 h* M5 wIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" U/ H+ }3 c* @% `7 i: R' r. z: Zreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic- a+ J+ D0 _* ~7 w+ f
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars." T: ]" {" j* [+ O" X7 G
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
7 w" `9 S" T) M0 D, P9 Hthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited5 [' P" \& ^2 |( d+ q/ B8 n
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut( q2 j0 i9 s G* V# J( c) l4 v) F
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure." T. {2 H; Z. m: c
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in& U: l! m# E [- ?& `9 w/ g
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
- D1 i) |' N) M7 l6 Fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
# v$ ]* r, P4 m2 g, Ewere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer( A- e5 s6 s A/ \
every question."( \7 @" K& o$ r, v
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether, A% r7 m5 d* l# L" N
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
2 v9 e1 \8 E1 r6 |4 Gfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
7 b" }0 T) l* e2 Q+ F/ ^committee investigators said the testing studied only a small0 k% A5 H* k- v2 @" y8 v
number of vehicles
' e! P- s7 S7 `Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
' P0 n7 f; G/ t) [2 X. w; rdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
) s4 m6 R6 \0 |) |2 v/ cmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one3 ~& Q# L4 T/ j. f5 N! Q- L4 O
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
7 s0 E4 Q5 F _Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,& o; m: ^0 s& q6 W% x
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 T$ N3 K# g' I% G% A+ o, M) [. Gtrace at all.% C) t' e/ i9 _# a( J" Z
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 Y( z; ]& Y! R( \' b: jdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden# o, d5 W% Q" G+ W1 I
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the& j# ^/ F: d) S9 K" V/ [
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
, f9 V# h1 y2 L0 \* t; ~1 \. h2 h1 hRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
6 U7 x; {) h+ r3 vsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 V# r& \# R6 ]4 J- f7 s" V
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the% Y/ f- t$ @! M, W# Q/ a+ } T
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible/ e( k. T' x& H: g/ f9 }7 O
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
$ Z2 c; k% z% R* z6 ?: u) \4 p+ Lsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained" T, d4 x/ c4 \1 C/ E, _
by Toyota's lawyers."
/ J3 @; k6 y- a5 R! S0 J9 n; R; E7 W6 VLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of% d7 c* n: O. E' f# P2 m0 w
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
4 a9 a5 O" }2 M: O( {7 Zcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he; _6 x8 W8 Y# n/ x+ J- ^5 G
said.
* ~5 I& a9 c$ d* O/ y0 D+ } g( _"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with Z* d6 R5 ?6 z, n8 O
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
% V9 L! i' L A/ Y% n; m6 A8 Sgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating* q, }8 v' B) m4 W- u
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
# k) U W) ?! J% M' F4 lSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
0 a4 @ t* I6 _& B# @/ Jmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread- b6 c' b$ N8 a/ W/ I2 C
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. p2 [2 u1 Q' hautomaker, at least in part because of the government's9 C/ A1 N6 |+ g2 u
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 _- n0 J* z3 h* X: X. P& I" H ~- l
Chrysler.& S; m$ Z. g" z7 d$ b2 D
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax2 C6 A& e6 I b, d
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
# ]- Y4 u0 @' @3 dHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
7 d3 D p" R" |3 z5 _6 P- w4 ?served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 O( u# r! }* M" j3 o h
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty$ H1 G6 o8 G" h0 p
tough."5 w7 ?9 p5 g% v
---* \- L! u x( \, F
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
( D' c8 Z e. z5 rRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to! S/ Q% \2 x& }. m. ]/ u5 Y
this story.$ C S0 P# l) k. Y0 o- q
/ e3 J+ d; y7 i; K$ n& ^-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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