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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题7 ]: n8 U' s$ |; v T) i8 p" @
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
- B1 P% S% P3 b) _ vWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
( f8 L1 T$ B4 I4 Doperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that, `2 c. ^( C! I
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"% l- F8 r$ ]5 U3 B+ ^6 ]+ ~
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) H/ n5 W6 {4 ]"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
" S; S, ^% s2 L y1 q3 qcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
$ n7 {" t Q6 W uHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
5 z8 R% G) _* [* \& \) Eacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' I% f" x x p2 mtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor8 y0 J+ A3 Y& j0 y
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
" ^" \9 h5 a' v' z+ F) j' N1 rHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal b' ` h# i% v% n
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp { G, O& n4 T8 Y2 ^/ r/ g
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be% g0 g- D5 F1 R
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could- H( h& J& o/ g3 n
not stop her runaway Lexus.
" @# V* x5 j. r$ _: |. F: s"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
8 o. K3 Q( y0 _+ m+ x6 O3 q" TTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second0 R7 [5 c' R' E7 d' y# @9 Y9 y
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
5 N A- Q% i8 d$ uTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues8 B. z' l* K" w& S! I4 R. {
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
3 `1 C" J! U* F/ L' q"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
- W: L3 ~6 g7 |; e, P+ Qdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
% G& ~/ s* T& xthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
7 c P1 M K5 rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
2 o7 _/ h9 u& A; W5 ]& d; y9 dLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
5 e# [2 E9 y) {4 _) i) Nelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of; F7 N5 r8 x4 ]
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a1 C7 n* c, [0 f/ T: y' C% ?% ~* m+ H
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he4 `/ c( _$ d/ @ ]: h
said.
5 [- G0 t0 c9 q9 O) O. |- b& cAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& P' f* B; b6 f5 r0 o2 A X
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe2 C) t# L: @( k$ L# X. A$ ~
about driving our products," Lentz said.
9 d& L" p* Y6 E- {; I% UThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
3 @+ Q" u2 G% s$ b& |7 E0 Cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
. {- Y% F) B' O& R& j; Trecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6- J! m$ N5 U& T' T8 V8 n
million in the United States -- since last fall because of, g9 C5 {! l3 q9 c6 L
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking3 z" B2 A" I; Y
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering# ` D6 R W" m
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' ]" A4 }3 u, T! f/ } z G: k3 Ttheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
P1 b. Y) ~$ r5 r: Kdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
$ Y1 |5 z, r6 ?+ Hreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
! _6 w% B3 ~$ R' Y# fof Toyota vehicles since 2000.- `% ?. j/ Y' C
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own. i1 ^$ ]$ Q) Y0 X2 X
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he6 G; l2 v+ J& f X
understood the pain.% C% j5 ?% R3 W) Q3 D7 f2 f
"I know what those families go through," he said.
$ c' @2 R) u: q+ h: ULentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's- M* p0 K o5 W, q& g
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.7 K! `2 A6 I6 c! h0 x) v
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
& R2 F5 ]$ W/ l% `- rHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
$ ~7 e7 S% {& Oin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,& X5 W/ N" o- M5 i+ ?9 h
Lentz replied: "Not totally."0 X+ C! `* J! X& \7 ]: y& c
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
& q; }- T) P( p"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 s6 |( @# M4 n, r; S4 aToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
6 M: E2 M; Q) Lpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its* S1 |6 v$ G5 T3 Z7 V7 l
vehicles already on the road.0 |% u8 X5 K% R0 x4 z' p! w$ n
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify$ O; g' l* W% h0 y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full+ z. W& S C% i1 o
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ p* A$ X( o& _) [& r! G" R: {offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were. X( `" A1 x& Q+ J: n
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.* Q; J$ x% B7 v% u
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
# f! z* B8 H! c1 S* C2 htragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony/ k, }+ |( P" H, ?5 N C' f7 p
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
3 J+ D) }" x; X& ?. S+ fCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal3 `$ x1 T2 T: [
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to6 W& N/ Z( R7 \2 P: W* [1 c- U+ O% ?
restore the trust of our customers."
* I, T* B5 H! S8 L2 t" j5 KLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
8 W4 N5 L' a+ ]Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% C4 {0 m i2 A
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
5 B2 s2 B: Z2 ]" Z( T7 w+ x. qshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and6 E3 G5 o: t8 Q0 j. F6 \
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
( g! `, O! A# |1 [4 w; g: ^, }that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
4 o1 k) W/ t; Q" M6 W* A1 s( xturn off the engine.2 e7 J1 Q2 v! g& n7 H% m$ I* u
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
! n. h0 f+ F' A- ]October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
+ I" V. \/ p+ l) ~/ o"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
3 n' L8 z0 f P4 U* jsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* D) M7 s* v3 w- ito her complaints./ h+ h3 L% G7 W$ N# `
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers# E9 t7 D& x# [9 K4 r3 t
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic1 W1 p" ]( q9 ^, ~# T
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.0 D1 x, S @* R* `1 s. e
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
$ J* c4 p! f. ]& _8 k+ s3 S3 ythrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited! b ^1 `- I* s8 A- _+ l0 O
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
5 t G0 |, H- D5 i% uoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."; }( |& n) q* B% ^( Y# p" G
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
% e. Y2 z, s' l( z: Z5 }prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 W2 [3 v/ Q9 H6 F
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls2 {5 P' T* \( g% t8 ?/ g3 k
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
4 T; ^* X; L. c* xevery question."
0 S" E. x3 R3 Y& e' `Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- U1 C/ t1 Y$ D5 b7 h* h* k) Y
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
. r: t' h$ C5 c: G* S5 n5 P: k# Efirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
+ F1 f& R- _" \5 B! pcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& E: N( k$ K! O, ~; N1 U; a4 Unumber of vehicles
9 i+ n" w" K& ]Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
) l9 ^- `0 m6 z+ b8 U: ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
& {2 ^( E5 p ^5 emechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
6 X) N, D7 q( J3 O. A: b) _8 Msource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.( W. X+ _3 K; E3 v. R/ T
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,+ D2 U6 e: M- L6 n
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
6 h+ T+ m- Z- ^' {) q9 w% W+ otrace at all.
0 D. D3 g: f2 X- p, g5 _! VHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) \; ~5 |% P# B) w' Y; [: K
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
) a p6 g. x( d/ pacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the" m2 W" J- o4 E1 [2 n! Q
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. P7 S4 h% Y; d% wRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
! K. g0 c; K$ B4 E. R) ssaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and) \* p" n0 f- E
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 p" K# [$ F. k6 n% oelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 f# k0 g- D/ c1 \6 Tcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only6 I9 f- Q. h' D' A9 e( S
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
/ l0 |! T4 e' [9 f5 r% hby Toyota's lawyers."$ ?5 P1 }7 N P" {
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! |+ P" M4 F, V9 f
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our9 {4 F1 z% ^' T7 S
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he5 ^& _( ?' o0 D/ D1 u/ u5 e
said.+ w, R$ T/ \7 f/ j
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with) C6 a# Y$ i7 W0 c; H6 `3 Y/ M8 T+ ]
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our Q7 T% I8 U+ g
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating+ m( K* \) f- ~0 m. ]' c# b
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
; m* G0 `! g- H" YSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying5 S! L/ E! n$ H/ s, T% c1 f" y+ A2 X
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread; A- P- N/ z% T( Y' e8 h) J
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
. ?' X5 D' |: I8 \3 C fautomaker, at least in part because of the government's! H# e7 a# v) n, x1 v; g* U/ Q; H0 J
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
! [7 s) {+ b$ C8 L4 B, hChrysler.( N& W' c5 ~% o! |! R, P# l$ l
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# ~$ F5 |$ N2 R0 n% \; V& I& e# y
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" V8 x& f+ v" e8 {6 u$ ?4 e, v5 W
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
% t; }- b/ H: S- K: l; O' W3 Zserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' P4 \' w0 u/ bwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty" \( {8 e! j* ]: c
tough."
\0 c7 j2 b$ b, N X( p% B---# P. X8 S% m9 i, B# { Y
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: M. l( A0 D6 n( R' R; e$ }Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to$ J( o3 v/ P7 M) v1 Y- @
this story.
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/ ^' L- ?" t) t# o& O1 H) h, Z-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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