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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题6 |2 l4 L# t ^* l4 |0 b8 K
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS+ F; y. H' d" c% o
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! o0 X6 t- V0 q& ^
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that5 e) a# L8 A6 U3 w3 P
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
2 V. q" k7 d, w" G5 Osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
; a1 ?7 o" R/ _3 C"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential. b! N# K, j. a% u5 p
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
; x- i- c3 j% r* c! X' P& L6 bHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected1 _6 w0 t9 S" Z3 F* i
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and5 s, E% {7 S8 g, M/ q) u/ `3 E
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
9 D# z6 J+ N& S0 N+ G7 l7 c; Ymats and sticking accelerator pedals.4 a$ L' Q6 _4 _$ ]4 o* M' n
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
' B& S8 w/ g8 F, J% v, uand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
8 e, N0 c/ ~: L/ }4 ]9 z6 ycriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
7 e1 h# @/ Y& gfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
- a) y2 e- ?6 l9 Bnot stop her runaway Lexus.5 H6 r& T$ Z( x+ f+ W7 v5 [5 P
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
9 L3 Y0 w2 b1 K: D/ V; k: u* DTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
- F) o/ }* n% Z4 T"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.- N8 j3 A/ {+ D& Z) _; O
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
( [/ C# Z9 e; m0 ?; P/ a6 q2 Cearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
5 ?2 ]2 `: g. r/ {5 F8 k1 i"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has) j( }' F# M4 t" | o7 c! h
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
* L$ X$ F5 Z! {$ o0 cthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
/ L6 u% U* n$ g+ K& binvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."2 }' G- {" o$ d; }
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an/ g# F6 F( g' z; p( b
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of f/ X+ U% E/ `& }6 b
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
/ X2 s/ L! x* ?( [, ?* rmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he2 l' W9 i f6 m) O7 _. S# H" b) a( W
said.6 ]& X' z8 K# G5 q$ D/ x9 U
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
( r9 L8 b9 g0 |7 \3 x8 s. V2 Bhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
v3 O& Y# u8 t% n; Vabout driving our products," Lentz said.7 ^8 j0 f& i$ C6 r2 V& Q- f4 J
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's0 Z! b7 l. m$ P2 G( B! K; P" M- |
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has9 |$ F5 [* ?0 j' ?
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
. _* i+ q- w7 o9 ~& Mmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of5 H q9 a9 D2 J9 r
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; a, v# S% A- c' B8 {( Sissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering P1 e4 ~% S7 h( B( d
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
1 E1 |( [7 M3 z9 A- ]their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow' Y" U0 e# p( E! g6 n1 ]/ h
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
" ?0 G7 P/ w8 I2 d& ureceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration0 o' }- W) T0 U
of Toyota vehicles since 2000. ]- [: X# R$ v1 u) x/ n( ^
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own7 _* @. P+ ]7 h6 E% W
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! c6 P* g5 h8 T8 [understood the pain.
X0 j: E6 A) `3 a* v"I know what those families go through," he said.
+ I1 o( N+ l2 i3 a( H% b, I; fLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's5 ?# E: R% I5 H% ~( y. S
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.5 j' d/ J S2 w- W& v0 p' [: f
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman) h" ]6 ^9 w( J$ ^* `/ P4 h
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put/ a" k; W! ] f
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
3 x$ F) M! I! B/ V) a* [- \: PLentz replied: "Not totally."% A& L' g; i6 ^
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were, i: \1 I' x" S$ K+ r
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ E8 p1 r0 C( c& ]' e% x' l
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. `4 i* G2 j* [ h$ X; ^) d
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its9 [) M9 H6 l; a9 H4 o
vehicles already on the road.- c" t3 L4 h; U
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify( X* ]/ @5 `) v5 F
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
; p( S( p7 C- [, u* A) F: v% T% D, S+ kresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 m3 X" |/ O8 q: s9 o1 [3 C5 b" O
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
- w8 S4 K& [. X6 vkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.0 V2 }1 z* ^9 h9 N- g4 D/ j
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
3 L. w. d0 }, F7 stragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
* E. q( r9 C, ~ w& q! F. ofor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
5 I/ O) s0 C* R% PCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal6 v$ Y/ ~3 _ Q4 v! t0 ?% M
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to) ^+ v9 e8 v6 ^8 N
restore the trust of our customers."
~% j# e% ?( p5 }4 W! R% ULawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from( m6 P q% O# J- {. R
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly- I0 A% J# }$ F( \0 ^; d2 A
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --! O0 b' w* h3 I
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and- s5 { {: l' O) A+ G( j1 Q( v7 V
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
6 H! N* u U3 C8 h |that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and7 Q. F1 V* [8 C# J( P J9 r
turn off the engine.9 E7 T$ L9 _- B; I6 P! q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
# m- O+ t- _5 S [( e" n* p' `October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."2 e# R* h! ^3 o8 z" ]
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
. }8 l5 J5 V& N0 V+ E: Rsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
6 F" r3 u) } q% [, ?to her complaints.( U; }/ T! R0 V8 y8 H3 Q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" T/ R4 ~& G w6 xreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
2 V' S1 @5 l; S% N6 ~# b4 o$ pmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
% \; f7 P! @9 [3 i k3 k"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
5 s/ b2 o3 N; o. S% g5 Ithrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited0 P$ U3 s8 t' b
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut) T- C" g. I& m5 s3 ?8 ]! G- S6 P( J
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( u: _3 f. e" \1 s1 C. OTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
: |2 `* T, G4 R! ?3 q2 ?prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
# v! n U/ p a6 _; I/ G! A% X5 X& Qbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls J1 E1 l" U. w9 C) |; t! r; v) k
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer$ T) B9 ^# M1 J
every question."! i. h7 B5 @6 d2 N% A- k
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether8 f* B0 S+ W; s) r- x
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The1 s9 ]# D0 G" b1 J" n3 k+ m
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But! D8 }$ @8 w+ @' F
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
+ @8 v7 N0 j$ } q: k {number of vehicles
1 c+ P: u! U& r6 fTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
4 d( t/ K6 D8 o5 Cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
) {- o v* r+ x3 T6 Y; Xmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
* e1 C5 i: {( _! A- [! J: |2 qsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
8 C# P. A" \9 v+ nMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
4 c& t; U8 w) O# i( lwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
- n0 J# f) S& S' e- A; Ctrace at all.
U$ J. K6 V- ?/ _% ]; h0 ?8 THouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call. b9 p1 d& k( H) x: n( W; @# c
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
9 r; g. t) d3 l. ~' p8 H, M. tacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the/ I+ P- i* L( H* n
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
5 ?# ], C2 L1 i: V; d/ GRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
$ R0 }# c" [& Z q" ? Z: \' l! Isaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! t8 m7 n9 ~3 k4 U* f
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! E* G8 P9 q6 x8 ~; m& M5 `0 e
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
6 c3 g) Q1 o- icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
/ u% J1 T; s4 ~such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
' @. N) R, {/ x2 Qby Toyota's lawyers."
' ?" r: J0 t u tLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of) J/ |. ^6 k6 ?7 t8 T3 m
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our4 Y+ U+ h: l6 d- P; v, h
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
* y# ?5 c8 k2 u3 fsaid.$ a" a' W; b9 \6 U V( \
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
9 r8 s6 s G% j- ?a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; _( M M$ `$ y; C
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
3 j4 X3 b- M" P8 Yofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc./ l" w- W7 n7 \( {. |$ V% ]4 S
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
* h& O/ \1 y" t* K7 w$ h2 A8 }2 xmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread ~1 G- |+ ^, d
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
7 x: X4 }: M1 o9 m' nautomaker, at least in part because of the government's9 h6 y, K4 P% }* u1 W
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 k" I# [3 F* m& n# E$ w6 rChrysler.
6 I3 o% q3 E' l( C9 i$ z+ w"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" R3 {: b! S2 X" @
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a3 C; g3 w! a. R. B' {% }% T
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also* ~3 v# @6 _+ L# A& |+ \
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
( `4 H2 m" x4 `: x: M" s" rwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
" p" J: F$ b \9 j* a0 B/ ntough."
) U7 |; w( l. y/ Q/ z8 [% w: |& r% ?! a1 D---) B5 H8 u% f$ N8 z3 I: I
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
' d1 A! L0 C7 d' \Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
, v5 X! u U6 k, Tthis story.% R, c2 x' ]0 ^' _7 _: m
S' Y1 C1 F( b& s Z-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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