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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题4 ]8 j$ l- t' B" C0 G9 i9 E; H$ D
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
4 o+ _" S# o5 i6 yWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
+ `4 \0 H3 |5 q1 L, moperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
( ~: t1 P v) b: i3 C$ h& a; qthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
8 w& M/ D" V$ P& q( e# Zsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration./ H3 K* ?; A. v& ^6 d& W
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential l$ Q$ C( U% b/ S/ A( M) |
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& R$ |: W% t! BHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected' n$ h2 Y# \6 w3 E2 V$ d5 q
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and, B0 {% n6 x& T. I4 ^, c
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
- Q. e8 n) J6 v5 [& w5 H) Hmats and sticking accelerator pedals.% D& w) }1 s! _- _2 W1 w* Q7 \+ u
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal1 A* h- G' a- l% a9 ~5 Q y
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
2 X8 k$ b6 t% H, A) Rcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be; D6 i8 k/ i E; g( L6 w
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could, p( a# {9 H: g: R$ _3 z
not stop her runaway Lexus.
; ?/ s6 u2 u- V/ }9 i U"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! k) v& p, N0 t
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second4 C8 ~4 \9 m H
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
% w; B' f& F9 YTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- K( n' _" O. A8 {: w4 [* nearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
! k5 J" o( v0 r3 k7 ^"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) t1 B K# E! T9 ?9 k( t
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway6 i9 F7 B& I5 T5 ?8 r( j
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
+ {( w% {/ C# g! Oinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."% C& A0 b, z5 ]
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an9 C% u; u# Q5 k3 F9 @5 o/ e* y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 m2 v% Q/ }) u/ K5 n
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a3 R; N" h' I: \! R
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he) E; ^0 m- S9 p v& g& b X
said.
( x/ M+ ?$ K \( f, L8 K4 z, E9 qAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. T1 c0 a6 Q* k4 d+ _happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
9 D5 t- S2 T5 o! ]5 G4 E) Habout driving our products," Lentz said.3 J# d' x$ N6 c6 a
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
8 m% m6 \% O2 L5 P$ j1 t o; Nproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
0 e9 k8 S- q# ?" G! Y+ ^recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6) I( C0 n7 h; A9 @7 V! s" R2 p2 O
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 V( d2 {% H6 C9 N4 R! C0 `unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking& F+ Z6 G% q" x9 q0 P& |* _
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 [7 E$ f2 H$ y5 f/ Z4 k/ zconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
: ]6 r* v: A, L9 atheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow! W6 C7 g, ?) w5 e
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, f7 \2 M8 h) I8 treceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration: P* \2 ]2 k( [* ~# ]* h! `" g
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.) ]* O( E1 w- }% r
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own$ W0 [' V1 U2 z5 z5 l' |9 }5 H- k x
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, M8 j$ x# o" d7 A
understood the pain.
: F8 c1 y9 x5 a8 p"I know what those families go through," he said.1 }1 b( X8 ^/ A( w' i/ }) C5 O# K5 l
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
- K3 i8 k% i6 c/ x: v: qfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
O! |& F' t5 @" w; q* d) o- xBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
( K2 H7 x$ g" j6 ~8 I" p! ]; YHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
" l/ r: l0 c+ H4 Xin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
2 o' ^; s3 o# a0 Y% |5 O3 TLentz replied: "Not totally."3 V' z7 s- c) n" I! Z. t. a
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
+ k7 S6 O, m5 J6 S) D9 u e+ s& V5 A"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, n4 c2 Q7 _1 A% S: p1 wToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
7 Y9 p. F% z' q! |pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
6 W1 o$ i8 R7 c tvehicles already on the road.
7 o4 [1 l& Q9 p8 J2 A/ T) uMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify0 R6 ]( v4 _, f' t l h2 W* {
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ p ^" l+ v& N q D2 T! B yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and: t9 {$ q. U$ j t. q
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
- w4 w5 V1 X2 K5 o* jkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.& O7 s& G' k) W. M8 V; M
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a! V3 o. l. f5 P1 Q" e3 P
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
) o& X; ?7 P ofor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
4 v1 x+ k# @$ X6 N* }! ICommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
6 _- x; b! R* D! a3 acommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
1 X& [! V6 b6 Y1 | Hrestore the trust of our customers."' D0 z7 }: D4 ?
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# i/ w8 D( O, x4 O0 I: Z9 r" d6 FSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
6 T2 w% z% x! j/ Y. L7 @ l. X. {+ ]zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
, [& Q# N* j: j+ D! ^ }shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and( {8 O* y, T& l- e% P$ F F% T
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough- s6 I! `" a& }; B0 L- n! o
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and3 V/ p+ I8 |( V% _: R% q& F$ E! q
turn off the engine.
. ~# j" \* a+ z: q) c- b1 g1 Q3 @Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
- F6 N, g t4 `( u9 t- q( UOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
5 l4 J/ U* Y9 }' R* N"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
" I. g" O; y" y3 q* o5 g# p& Nsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
, Q9 B+ y+ Y, G% w/ w7 `: } a6 sto her complaints.
2 @+ Q1 \# D; v4 P: t0 cIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers( [7 V- F" Z4 d
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic: G& a$ g. Z1 a
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
9 h# B: j8 F2 d( a) C$ X"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric8 w; l s; d. F+ D( X; A8 E) x
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 G. { ]1 T+ f0 a R# R* D"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' O9 I0 X+ o) R/ k1 u/ Roff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
/ S6 e% w* A! g! Q& zTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in, r% M: ^ D4 ~+ S* a' h: z
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
5 j! E4 b( [) N) u& P3 Rbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
/ Q u$ U6 \. k: |; K d" iwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
5 [2 C% D4 l' ?3 X: ?" _5 Oevery question."
; {/ J% @6 U0 U. h$ u% d- ~7 ZToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
; p- r5 f Z; z( n$ belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
7 v7 @$ A* T+ R+ s rfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
. V, ^" g) Y* ?3 jcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 O% D: S8 ? A9 _number of vehicles
; |' G* v& V/ x Q$ ^Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 @) o4 _6 t/ a. ndifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a+ t: K+ E- c; O' n" M8 t+ F( {( w
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one' L9 z6 f6 G( f5 Z* n! W
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
: Z0 Y! {7 y2 I) A. sMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
# `6 V# m2 E$ r- z# dwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
' K5 e- u: _1 u% Ctrace at all.
3 ?7 W- d. ^5 z% C( ?8 e5 sHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call( t, {" h2 p, m7 e8 y7 ?& M' p
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% j- |. q' P# E3 b
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
P* [5 a+ d5 u8 y9 C( ~9 Krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.3 h- o4 o. w2 b/ s. _2 s* F) l" I' Z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,8 ~+ \# A; T' `: \8 ^
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and# D% T' X( q! Z1 j8 r( Z3 p
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the, u2 T3 L1 A {
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
! V0 j6 [ w6 Vcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
$ R$ l# U% x, V9 zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained2 D ]5 o4 O5 [7 C: D9 ]
by Toyota's lawyers."
+ u. `0 B$ g. c7 A" pLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of/ ^" M# U' x# v. V4 T
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our0 w* i0 }- n' r" L" p* h
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( M2 ]) k0 x' u+ F9 G5 }4 n
said.; Z( r# |% G! U& V; e J8 E
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
' d7 A+ u+ a5 ba rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our. _* n4 z# w2 J* y8 ]/ C* a
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating/ N. p6 w$ L6 f) f/ ~6 M$ Y' G
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc./ k& g0 X( a2 U6 N6 N! _3 K* t
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
7 z1 C( `% z% _ e) p' H4 tmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread+ n2 \" w2 `; h* o3 {
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
5 c+ [: V+ K' Mautomaker, at least in part because of the government's8 O5 T6 r. o1 n% V7 G
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
& ^3 i/ m6 i. U' uChrysler.
1 w2 ` B6 m! Q& r; G! ^"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax' s1 @* L% F" [8 F7 E& t m' W l
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( |1 y) x1 v. W
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also' H/ `' a4 ]; L' d" m: R
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete- Y9 Z. l4 \8 I$ t3 M
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
( x2 F. N1 |6 qtough."; J- G5 W) i2 m# ~$ y$ c
---
, v* L3 s5 I& W( H9 e3 V! [2 O, mAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: ^3 N2 Q4 w4 o" n" cRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
7 L/ D+ ]3 f) j1 Y; S5 T1 |+ Cthis story.
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N. B, K w7 z2 x-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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