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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题8 S$ `9 a. k' A3 _ _( Z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
' e7 p/ y u" B$ C" J- EWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! G) X6 h `: ]5 Z8 k8 q- p
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that$ P8 C& E" V W; m& n+ }
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
# s) v7 J3 t( W: ^0 R: R9 Z0 ?solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( ?0 p2 L7 f: A4 I, m0 ]"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
% u" v8 ^/ b* t! bcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.0 F0 v1 I, m5 b& j, ~: {# v$ @
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected) D: t$ ?* `4 Y2 P6 z
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# B# C$ f. b, M* N; ~
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
4 q: e9 u, N4 \: Rmats and sticking accelerator pedals.; Z- M- I J, s- x, o' @! O
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% u( t7 }- e* Q: `. Q u( O! c1 A
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
0 X' X, k/ J8 n+ d% q3 Vcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be, u) g) w3 u C' [
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 e) X/ p. g n8 c4 Y( w3 l% o; n
not stop her runaway Lexus.3 n/ _ \; Y x3 ]/ d* w" t
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,/ U, g. M3 f' V% g' V# k
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
, j- H- `9 i8 G/ Y"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators./ X5 N2 {/ X3 f2 F
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: \" X) z! I, u. P% S
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 }, \/ w5 S G# F
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
4 A. B! ^% F3 ^* k& }4 T+ A% pdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway1 m% r1 j' _" N4 H
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
: E$ o% L( V3 u* z4 ?0 V4 e# Binvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."( _/ V3 ^% a8 @4 o* q
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
`6 O4 ~' b8 v9 q/ P) e- Gelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of: @8 {5 n) Q5 ?; [; _- G2 n* M
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a/ E3 a- K2 T" F, c7 f! c% G
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
, Q1 X/ O* x. O0 W' M2 Psaid. x1 V8 [: P4 l" _
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what3 M! d P" d; P! i6 H2 F' F
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# Z% I C. X* m7 |- |8 Z
about driving our products," Lentz said.# A$ W& n" K; g/ D# n8 C
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
+ N6 j3 N. A/ Q3 P: Rproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
: z: C1 Q/ X0 P+ [" p' @, ^recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 d. j& O" |( [8 wmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of c2 I# w1 {9 a9 X0 \
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
& j) o9 Q( |; K5 {% `5 m/ Pissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
( Y5 L0 K7 X/ t Hconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of# ?' r+ t: x% D8 F
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow* \) H0 C Y5 l3 y% a3 v4 s
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has# Y; X- I- ~8 `0 M9 u# Z% r
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
0 p1 K' Y6 A) Iof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& ~3 S/ A1 S0 j% h; D9 A9 z0 QLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own1 u9 O" j2 Q' E
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he6 }: m9 c6 v: f0 Y/ C3 C
understood the pain.( \9 V( \4 T2 ?; d
"I know what those families go through," he said.
, c* T5 w, a* E: n' {7 n* VLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
9 i4 h' ]. H2 N; m$ \) y9 pfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 ^+ b5 J. ]& kBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, C. t U: T( R, V- ]: _
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
* P+ }& |0 l" v1 cin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,- p# d. N1 @1 |& y! y, U ?: a* V% @
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
) V& Z+ N8 A. a3 k- U9 T5 rStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
4 f; L U" N# P0 j4 B i"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said. N7 A# ^& E2 u* F- f
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas- z0 w" |. n! s" L0 q7 R
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
" [0 o+ [$ D* c0 {' _0 _! Lvehicles already on the road.
& I! e5 {7 U h4 O" n- K! x6 R8 ~+ qMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. T0 f4 Q+ J6 j
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# W4 b7 G8 f9 g( `responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
. N2 o& T9 v& V5 H8 @0 _! Joffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 r4 i4 i( a4 b! a; Kkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
; o5 P$ b# ^, c0 \7 S"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
0 r b' O7 y3 c7 V& ?: ?. otragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony$ L& B9 M; A9 s
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight7 h3 t" J% R( o( @3 b2 Z+ K
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal! t7 N9 o2 ]! K5 V
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to x9 \. k6 r" Z- R) ?0 K
restore the trust of our customers."& ^/ j4 N w3 r& c5 w# l K; l( K
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
- H2 ?( B! B1 d. @' p d; KSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly) u3 B0 t2 o9 y6 B3 ~0 u4 l
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
5 E7 \) D2 a1 d# p' l4 V+ Vshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 F# `0 {0 R8 |8 P5 z- F7 ^hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
3 ~$ j" T! z1 G8 h; Rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
% A9 `/ h: T" \) L+ i; s, ?turn off the engine.
' t: T3 A k4 O2 D5 gFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of8 N$ R% n. h, E0 i* U! U$ w
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
+ e/ J; e3 x1 E/ r"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she { m, E, d1 _1 | ~& |3 m
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond9 C( \/ r7 q: s" z; C
to her complaints.
1 @& B6 A+ U& u( z C% V, xIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers" i3 r1 j8 t* Y
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
1 p3 w' r) O3 A3 cmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.3 g3 F- r) H+ s
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% P# ?# `! m/ [. M. ~) h' U5 P$ f8 Q
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
9 k7 B8 |# C: O+ X9 W# ^"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
' W3 V: ]* y- d6 f) boff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
; T, n4 {7 e F; vTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
7 v% x' `& k. }8 A- Sprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were3 [3 x3 g5 ], o2 ?% T' z3 q
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
& A0 y! x( J* K' Xwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer, x9 F& X$ N# p5 p8 r9 R
every question."
. [. t8 t6 B0 g8 PToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% E# a0 ~- D' C- a8 z, P/ Delectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The4 _3 \$ G/ q2 x; W5 D) y( l
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But, w# ^; M8 h4 \: _ X4 p$ d/ |
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small% o7 D8 M4 e' Q
number of vehicles9 E/ \2 M2 S. F1 S: }9 C3 h
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
* F# |) M; M# U. C' w' h7 udifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
! T1 o$ c* r6 z9 y. r$ Imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one7 Q+ r: p6 [& `0 b( P& v
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.0 C5 k ~' _8 [' F+ p7 u! z
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,! N* `9 @* F% c% n) `$ u( b+ ^& [
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
* G, s8 r( E. ^3 a9 K- Btrace at all.
- D2 D! z4 i; _5 fHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call+ R; n6 j& ], W% Y, |( C7 i
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
8 h, T$ k7 F- o7 }acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the- k; \3 x, O# z
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.' W+ j" [) h% G3 Z9 J5 o
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,) O: R4 `( Z/ J. f# p% V- f
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and. ~& j Q* B" Q- C
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ r+ D( U: b/ U- }' g% ]* q
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
u6 k: ] v: g! D h( ] @- ccause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ @2 z: T: T$ V1 F
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained; t" }8 M4 d: Q: A
by Toyota's lawyers."" f" C& D% m( W9 h3 s
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# o5 z! x# n/ q( y) zproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 Q* p- P: j+ l$ B. W7 Y$ ~# Rcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
( D; t& u! d# c$ [0 Osaid.3 J0 f" y8 P* H$ {7 x. i
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! ^9 c; S; u8 y( z- T$ u! l! G H% }a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our" {; }( x/ g( P+ k1 A5 J+ j: d
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
2 w( x$ S; r. H- b/ G8 @officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
M+ y Q# z1 g9 f8 d3 hSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. N) C& z$ T4 v/ r4 \5 p* ~members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
1 o: A# S% {' F9 a- v# }rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the* N4 B9 P6 a& v
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 ]! G( U2 `, e) \8 P9 X) Tinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% q- i" t4 }9 a8 R8 |8 ?
Chrysler.
( B. J- c# {/ I"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
* q- [" r2 d) y2 T8 gdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a/ T( s3 |" W* V2 [, j) L- b
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
J1 B- g+ ^& j$ a0 i1 {2 n" fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete! I# O0 z. R: E( C" I
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty, J8 T0 u* m3 Y9 B
tough."
% r- a- z% V! G. _. |7 S; v9 K' Q( T! ~---
0 Y2 ~! ?, Z7 h2 O% ?& x& [( CAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. G7 b4 U; ?; P$ w. |4 A6 U2 u7 H
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, G7 f: p, u9 d$ k$ w6 V
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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