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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题. g3 A5 ~- m2 A: K
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# ~& J- t, Z' k' V6 d3 R- GWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 Y3 v6 e3 o5 d! J6 I# X; ~operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ j5 k# M% u l: k& xthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
4 I' c7 d; K. i. S: Ksolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration." F! e7 @" a1 L- O+ b
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
1 S+ X) I4 @3 l p! b4 ]. zcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
8 d! C5 U A+ u5 |3 N. wHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
4 l9 R7 g2 w! {( R4 r3 Uacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
1 L% y" k3 X" ` gtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
/ t3 e. m4 B$ w; omats and sticking accelerator pedals.
# ~3 |6 j+ v5 m1 QHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% _, c% }/ U& l- M# L
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
# ^% t# a# O+ Scriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
& U( v( i/ t) Y$ F+ `. [5 q! `further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could7 M$ F6 i( D3 e6 z# S$ I+ _
not stop her runaway Lexus.
/ i- L# |& W5 O6 N) t9 c$ C"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- m& U j1 G: R, m
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second# Q$ p2 A% K* j ~6 X+ h
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.& u4 ~3 F. _$ u% T
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
3 _: o$ \2 i* K% u" [early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
$ P" e9 }# w: A. ^0 ~, V( W+ G" j# q"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
. U" ^- o9 F6 s! I$ b3 `done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
" {, O* k; B7 v s/ [through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
' k! s- e: s5 }/ finvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."' n! m) T+ I/ L! a2 L, j. y3 s
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- k1 Y) k+ @9 h% f! I3 P0 v2 Selectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of5 m- w1 ^# R+ R9 E% I
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a" x& y3 o# E" ~" Y2 d* G J3 [
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 B& m) f6 m5 Bsaid.. F. _) V- m) [# L$ W
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what( r- ^1 _3 W+ H/ F
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe5 T! u9 X; A9 ?; m6 o
about driving our products," Lentz said.
+ S: p. t% f8 Z/ ?9 c0 xThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, z* N2 v8 K$ b4 F) j) i$ c5 x
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
/ L# J2 D* e+ V5 U- frecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 65 V4 [5 S( ~4 J! {
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
$ q0 s, s, z: b4 Gunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking7 t3 n, z5 \4 l+ e
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( E, v. s$ m5 U8 L$ t& X4 o/ j5 F
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
3 Y$ l# Q2 B9 N) s5 t) f" d; utheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 W# m, k! C) K8 p, ]% _& V. Gdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has& `. k. [; V6 b- R$ E- Q* i3 B5 h
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration4 w/ n$ Z# Z, r; g9 y9 s1 W0 s; x
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
{4 G7 k# A7 S2 g o! bLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own/ p* b+ {7 B m% w2 v. J
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, ^) J1 k( O" E$ H
understood the pain. }# P- o) b Q
"I know what those families go through," he said.; [- f3 \6 |; t3 G/ U
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
+ }9 L& o. _4 ~4 D2 I; ufixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
9 n, G* {* `" J' m$ eBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
- I! B# p. U- O' B1 HHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
" e3 K4 c G+ o+ T7 D# [+ uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
# q8 O# }: n" }/ y+ t/ b! i0 l* ULentz replied: "Not totally."2 w* V; r$ p, g B4 K c" D
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were0 K( L& G( C4 r/ w, R9 q$ v, M
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
8 T; b% ]4 D Y+ kToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
* r, H" B2 V+ F2 [/ n2 xpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its% R1 O* a5 A$ V A/ U
vehicles already on the road.
; q: \7 a5 x' |, R/ i- C- iMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify+ W! _* h4 g/ ^$ P6 A5 ]0 s
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# ?1 d8 u2 G& u/ j, Q$ gresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and) l& }& Q/ F2 P/ P! k( ~
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ J0 F1 a7 t0 d# N$ i- J
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.. G/ f0 t+ B7 c- |" N
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a* D5 ^- a" i4 g$ h' c: d
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony. i# {% ?% L0 i) N: Z& z% }" }
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight2 _' }$ k9 b* o# q
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) s1 { _" ~8 }2 U( k
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
7 m# F; _) H7 k5 qrestore the trust of our customers."
$ |" o" q3 v. K$ H& e6 Q- {Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from3 \5 y' U, P* T9 G
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
2 |6 O" u/ V' p: @* W) [zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --) n4 t( j/ ]' y, ^
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and: p' K. _0 y) X' ?. {* |
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, n7 v1 j$ P0 n
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
1 l# L% v, l' y3 n) u/ c. bturn off the engine.5 j5 Y- S0 m0 m
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of& J( t* J& Y# i* Q$ C) V2 K |8 ^
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
* j* _6 j& {& |$ Y- x, p"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
9 d+ p/ Y, j. `, Jsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
$ }! D N- _! W5 L1 vto her complaints.3 w; w7 `* {$ ?& k: e* z
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
5 K2 P: ]8 Y7 y9 }6 u. y) B" o6 k; L+ preturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
' f- h" ^, k5 V0 H8 t/ {malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& S8 [6 @/ B1 J3 k3 T
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric( A' `8 s7 [' T8 e
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited$ O* o- X4 V2 U7 P
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
3 s* X; L% t& ^% doff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( L' w5 G3 E4 O2 l0 w% u2 TTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ h: O6 n1 r1 k2 Q1 U! f! u) ~prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
1 Y y9 a( L; P- lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
2 N- Y) ?* d* u* y2 awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; L: ?; D4 p& mevery question."/ M. {: ^2 S+ x- E. ~9 S& `1 L( X" @
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
7 e8 v) f! j( K# X9 d2 q! Z, ]; |electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ N2 G4 S! N- E- d. F, o: U1 }firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
" G* B& F* W9 ycommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
4 E: Q b, A- o5 n! Rnumber of vehicles
" R2 b4 w; G' s" Y5 x) A8 STracking down an electrical problem can be far more
; O2 O/ N! l# u& d& c4 {3 ~; n$ ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
1 s3 Z, y" a, \5 E: ]/ fmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
# U) z. Q; F$ {source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.# |0 u# L- _( A7 ~
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
# w+ P& A4 A! u7 w5 F2 v# gwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& }) \. C1 k: K5 j- F7 x. K
trace at all.
5 W `6 O# w) c; |House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
" h6 n# H6 g# h, W4 _$ Q% odatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% E+ Y( O; n5 ]6 i" z; gacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
, \2 }$ [8 u% n7 ]8 |$ wrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
6 i1 ^0 _0 w# Q* [0 [- |* ?0 BRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
; n+ a0 A4 Q9 usaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and" s8 D' Q! ] X
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
5 D r. d7 A7 ^6 h/ {6 P% Q K; z* Telectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# J* F. a4 s7 c: `cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
[% h# D- q: Bsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained# ?' ]! N- I8 U1 h) c9 {0 Y$ \
by Toyota's lawyers."
5 P. Y/ X7 ~7 p7 }0 l' `* p/ L) n% NLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
% y7 C8 q! @* F5 O) L' C5 Kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
7 ~' s& |. _1 A! e* Ucustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
7 U3 v' q% i# l4 H" M6 E1 c, usaid.* n2 _8 f, e s
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
3 l: W$ \$ L4 y y- g2 ya rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
( T# d- T/ z- U+ c; D/ ]good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating, \! `3 k, q: s- ?
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.& ~/ i+ b# j# Q6 D- r# I
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
+ m' |' \' |- Q& F0 Emembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
$ Z; M' A, k& j$ M# }$ C' Nrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the0 H- @) f5 A& b, Q
automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 x) ?' G- j. n# o
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
V# c; Q$ L, S6 B( s- S: Z6 w- ^Chrysler.( B/ P1 w1 t: i# _
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
0 W: U; o' J3 f8 adollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
]# k7 w2 i9 k" [ BHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, v7 R) w5 [9 ^2 k& @2 O' c: ?served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
9 D# t' V: m, p7 X$ ~with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty4 M, a" D0 w; w+ X2 c8 r5 A
tough."
9 ]5 ` A4 Q! R! L5 J$ d---5 ?8 l: @ r" @- r
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
5 l9 s7 A2 J& [- n+ e1 GRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to- u7 N. T/ K6 Q0 w- q+ m! g
this story.8 o5 T4 S# e H/ l+ a) k
P, W/ n/ P. c1 C' A& m& `6 Z-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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