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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题3 t3 s3 h, g0 r. v9 K; z U4 q1 W! D
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS6 f8 g+ a8 w f& w
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S./ g7 N& Z/ I# e
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that' y# l( ~6 c+ b8 Q
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) j1 O. y% E% j$ B# Zsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.4 B1 \$ T$ J9 l4 ]
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential- y0 V9 T% j$ _1 P+ F3 E9 O
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.0 v* g0 X6 p2 }& C* x
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected: ~6 W( q4 u; m
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
K, Z Z& i/ M; b/ ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor& U, D1 f( E0 B6 I% d) I u/ f1 m
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.: l6 ], i. E+ Q, U) A# C
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
- t* v: @" }0 g. {and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp. @. l- c: Y2 k1 y5 c- o' `
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be: J; z9 I' ?4 s# M9 K0 ?" [: ^; A; ?) m
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could6 h6 D7 C7 l+ q4 w" A1 i( c0 D
not stop her runaway Lexus.8 b4 m( K9 S: f4 I
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
/ y3 `0 k2 ~( I7 v& dTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
4 \: q% b3 S* G"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
$ n8 @3 |5 |: y' s3 YTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
% _$ @; v$ k: d. S' ?$ Wearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said, {1 M, E' \& w0 S$ A' Q
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has, f( K; \* Y) {. ~6 l
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 m" z, l9 g; J0 e6 Y7 F* A' n+ p$ kthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
0 e0 t+ u5 }! ^0 W% V& E% ~investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."; Z, n& v0 M5 _* r0 U
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: N/ {' _: k4 ]$ N4 l$ C' f& lelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
6 B& a3 ]' l5 D% j% [the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a( X# K# @9 s: f" w) b. V* S- [( H
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
w C, Y9 }" V1 r: P) f# Rsaid.0 @; A. Y' Y* }3 T
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what$ S; A9 j P+ i) m5 W& E
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe; [ N; Z/ k5 h2 ~7 F4 Y
about driving our products," Lentz said.
, o. P5 ~. A) nThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's$ i; z9 p. `! o; w' w
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' F$ ?& ^# R' r: w. E& precalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
6 h1 ^3 j5 ?- }3 a3 d2 ?million in the United States -- since last fall because of
9 Z- y8 h, z2 n3 runintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
! {0 R9 r0 v% M4 ~/ R: u/ W/ aissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering6 i* e- v' ~$ R$ f5 j
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
/ g0 c& U/ b' s" Ltheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
- q6 E* S! n8 s; h+ K; a1 \5 v5 r/ pdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has2 t2 K |+ Q' K+ d X
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 b. v0 ^3 e; e" b( cof Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 v$ Q9 `; A* x& Z: H& m
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 ~1 r; y7 m9 P9 G3 ~1 `# k
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
" i6 Y: U$ l7 P, Ounderstood the pain.
9 s! M- m+ S! ^$ E. j"I know what those families go through," he said.# s7 g) x0 Y% J$ [+ Y2 T1 {
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
, V5 d. F7 J$ j) _, K" Ffixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., \) K4 _" ~0 `$ o/ T
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% |2 T% C. j D3 L- |" U7 iHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( t& M9 t9 y: ~5 z v1 [* Din place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
& O+ {9 E. h" VLentz replied: "Not totally."
. [( K, G w6 v0 t$ D2 o- K6 D6 EStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were! j% m6 I* c# H' r- I
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. i5 L" S2 C$ e/ h3 h& EToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas: L7 m* |+ O1 n7 K
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its) ~! s% w: k* H$ D8 W1 m7 }
vehicles already on the road." Q( j8 Y/ w7 ^
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify! R0 k# D8 b$ h1 c6 w" q
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full+ I" f$ x6 F. M }0 R
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
. Z- r8 c) }" f$ H& foffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were U* U' T* { {$ C. B
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.4 v1 _* t4 @6 A d; T9 X0 e4 _' T
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a5 D' v: U% a, }! u2 Q G& q
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony M- m& Y1 w5 T8 p( R
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
/ V: E* q. ^' j* W9 Y: uCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- k: s; Z2 B+ E
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
5 x+ m1 j% E( E* z: K$ C, Trestore the trust of our customers."0 [) K5 X% w" c9 T% \" B0 X7 e2 ~
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from) f- b! U/ P3 N. D. m1 F
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
2 h- m: F( B9 l, ^1 Q$ }1 l% N4 A+ Rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
- z6 f' u7 f& ?$ f. l# @% V' K/ G- [3 g1 qshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
3 u+ @, ~* k( X1 [' ?hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough( ?8 a) X, _5 A/ E2 _: `
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: o+ r. ~5 U5 h1 t$ L' J8 m4 f
turn off the engine.; O2 y/ X$ X* d' b
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
$ H, k* X8 Q0 q! R: V5 A' j. ~ eOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 Q& h3 [9 l6 Y3 k1 v# a4 T( J
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 [' D( l* ?+ z" B, q' T% Q2 A J, D* wsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; h3 L% F8 l* ~ e6 c
to her complaints.
& D+ P0 j+ M5 o- qIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
# S: o" Z0 j+ r; vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic: g2 ]5 c' F8 h
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars./ e0 X+ D0 \" x3 ?" L/ q! \( f
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
! h B! Y2 ?% }5 k% T0 q! vthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited: K t2 Y( a1 a* I+ m
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 l! d2 p+ r+ V7 n; c. x5 c
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
# y& M H6 ` n+ z4 L& v% `, i& I. eTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" K' u' ]0 K/ E1 Q1 J& p
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
- c2 l; d+ B1 ybeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls( j8 J v- |% e1 a. k- O9 ~! A h
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 l, n$ c6 p8 D cevery question.": j! @5 ~. n* q; n5 r3 W1 O
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether, P# }- ]& a. s1 O! x' }
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
* J2 S- D7 Y7 X* d+ ^* Tfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But/ b D p- i: {9 f0 @" ~4 q m% s
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small( T; Q6 p+ Q4 {/ l' C
number of vehicles8 H/ h8 Y+ L k* m7 E& z/ H; o
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more; {* h: z7 P' U$ |
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a9 E5 s! k0 b, L& r+ F# _6 v
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one0 H1 T- @: x5 K1 r4 I
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
8 t- T2 J- V5 z- ^Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
6 e0 \. O0 }( d5 l$ _where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
! D2 ]: }! |6 p& a, N2 Gtrace at all.5 F' R8 V8 p# ^
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call$ g L2 a0 E" `. y
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" U- \: ^: b& u! K3 Cacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the. [ {* n) E8 Y3 R- K: J1 i
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
6 r5 [6 ~! z% D) e- o! DRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," S5 c' w; l& f% ~- @9 x
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
, a7 Q. q( A2 Y( Wother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the6 ?! E% W& j2 C7 f! N8 w( \
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
; v0 P' N) K' H0 m- Ycause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only2 i& u F# Z0 E, v9 n
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
. D; T/ s, i# s/ b3 q6 l: j0 xby Toyota's lawyers."
8 @# A3 q8 |' I# S4 s+ D0 dLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
; q/ t, P6 y4 x, |' F4 p- @2 ^2 eproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
) V4 S; B# F& [* K; acustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
" L H9 E4 J! d# gsaid.
# {8 l% o, M* O" k& S7 B1 D"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
. L; o, [+ E) m9 G$ j. Ha rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our- f0 ~) e1 p% Y
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
, u) l1 M- ?) ^- ]6 C; S9 pofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
7 c& a% c3 o6 v" cSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying' ] a) O! v# O8 r
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
/ p* f+ H/ N+ l y8 K6 [, xrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
$ E6 j7 }4 m6 Z( C" h1 j1 A* s9 z1 Qautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
9 P( \" t% h% E: u# O) W8 Winvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
( a2 s1 w" C$ D( q; b% tChrysler.
. T/ ]' o0 C4 T+ G% G"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ e/ E# W; E( Q- v3 y+ n6 xdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; R+ a- M" r$ I- d, _
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also3 m8 d+ i; ?: c% S* o3 \" N
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete4 q9 l; f7 J( @" [
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
5 j) ^) Q! |4 Z( z6 u9 |5 \tough."5 j/ M4 U, p# Y0 n) j Y1 o3 ~* j
---
! M" k' D! N' H9 Y" [. g; iAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
2 o- K7 A; K( M0 w6 ZRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
8 C9 F) L0 i7 m" Zthis story.
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9 I* y. h6 n. f' D! v-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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