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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题9 M/ C3 q1 N6 r E# ?* Y2 x0 L
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
5 S! \, K( K3 k% K8 fWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.) C9 K- S7 ^! e2 b
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
5 c$ S) z' \% Q, f3 n- `8 l/ Rthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& ]3 T% \0 k9 k" Osolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
! @8 b# G/ _6 Y"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential6 \& n* P1 Y& a7 g9 C) [) B
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.% N3 i2 v+ w- w; R5 T; {
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: ^. q8 }* N/ M h- u- gacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and: v8 P9 o4 Z6 M6 K+ z% }% H
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
) D1 _, k5 g0 C M5 Y! i0 P: ~8 jmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
% b# h% Z; j6 o& q$ dHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal" c R5 p* r- K$ A! F6 f8 \
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
' M7 _. L8 U# _7 z3 R5 ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
3 z% o* ^0 Q6 U: X: z2 ]further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could+ U& X. o5 ]; X
not stop her runaway Lexus.
9 |! |/ i- w; H( [7 ~"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
; _& y) y2 c$ h$ \- t' ?Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second; R3 {& W6 ~2 F( m& x
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.9 Q2 X' A# _; ~1 H7 x4 S0 a
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues% V- O; o. P b5 o
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said2 W& A- J% F& `4 y. _: v
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' X) W5 F* b9 q' ?; z- |* I4 m
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway3 m- C' h: U2 W' Y2 ~4 i3 t
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
! w2 T9 o7 @" w/ b, ?" ?investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."" ~; P& f1 l3 z5 E0 E! O0 C C
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an2 {# f! V$ `+ G9 a7 i; Y
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of* u, D( f6 }; Y) A, Y p/ X+ p% ~
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
0 _8 k) \ T* z, {malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 }8 X( }6 {0 K# h( M* isaid.
; ?$ B' E! {% A( k4 v, A- XAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what4 L4 S$ c& c' U T$ c7 @
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
( J) }1 T, u: Eabout driving our products," Lentz said.
7 W# B7 |2 ^" h% s$ h LThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
/ H2 d/ j+ c/ _0 Uproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 ?5 W7 @3 m ^9 D2 m$ I# ]$ ]recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 67 M; C( z5 W/ T/ j* [2 j+ a- g; V/ r
million in the United States -- since last fall because of* l9 e/ \0 t& E0 G5 Z# ]1 G2 y
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking) r2 E/ x7 ? L: ?) k
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering" ^8 o6 K9 I* u s* i% @6 I
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of4 M$ ?" u& l+ T- P7 R
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow" r% D# [/ Q: g7 j) F
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has; P! o! p$ i+ i4 ?, k! j% S1 U
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration: j0 y$ W1 q1 i/ @
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
7 t- g7 ~8 P. a* l( p0 A3 K% DLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own2 V8 I9 L9 F( N
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he/ x- l$ K: J9 T
understood the pain.8 \& K7 n& G# l- b; \
"I know what those families go through," he said.+ P/ }& |4 T# x- W2 g
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's a. _5 {8 }& A% k# w8 P
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
# s t, D5 W& eBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman5 s8 g! O( z, `* e- D4 ~9 l4 C
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put" ?# R! v! @! O* v0 W! ?
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 w2 m, H" B% H
Lentz replied: "Not totally."' [; [6 m1 }' K1 Z
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were6 m# I0 Y* S9 n2 |
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
, T9 U; S5 Y6 Y( E e) \Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
$ D& ^ k* }- \9 q) kpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its6 e0 ~- l8 s# w3 [, W
vehicles already on the road.
. `6 z9 z, z- T/ ?) r) w2 BMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
1 J. [) `' P+ K) fbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 `$ s9 o$ t* l% c
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
; d* X1 k9 m0 d. C! Koffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
; n$ `8 |8 p; F) c# L) Okilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 f0 u. }* B( U0 m0 [
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a* R2 z7 t% [; z# X5 j. f# P# _- S
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony( c# G0 ^* }) D, _1 h0 w
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
' F/ q0 O) @) J/ b6 }, g* Y0 NCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
. U9 a. A6 E7 U/ _) zcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
, u7 Y& `4 W3 B9 d! V( N" {9 O2 hrestore the trust of our customers."
* K4 S7 V l; |! ?8 M" mLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from- x+ v: Z1 P Y2 a8 D/ m0 K3 e! r' }
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
: D, J5 R# Y9 _zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --5 o; i8 O. O) X+ e9 c% F9 t
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
& s' s, }. U8 V: v$ {hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough8 ]8 N( ?! V- D% v
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! b4 e, J* m* m9 O0 T: z3 H3 E u
turn off the engine." f, a- X$ b# c% I1 V. O7 V7 U4 a M
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of, u2 x$ g6 x) D
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."% b' y: T% i/ b/ s) P# v
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she& f2 E5 X$ v, R9 f. R
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
8 k; v- V1 i G1 A- Q1 Xto her complaints.$ D. W, E+ h6 p+ _5 ?
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
; A E( m! a% Vreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
+ ~: S9 R; |$ Smalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
+ }- v" o" ], ?% D"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
& y" t2 \! B: k4 n; j' W* `, X4 G, Lthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited; H1 ]3 N- L! B
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 N' e+ H$ G9 |# y7 _off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.") o1 @0 ~' T$ j$ P9 S
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
0 O3 M/ M. P# I/ k8 z( pprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were$ q' s! m5 M" R5 Q( G9 b T- c8 R; ^
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls* W/ P" m' \% f _
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 K# ~) a7 E& s+ Qevery question."1 ]6 Q$ j" A. |& F2 X! s/ R+ F
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( ]8 b; v" W1 G9 y0 a; n7 r
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
( W% \% ^% `/ A5 N; w1 afirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
/ K9 O/ d- r$ ecommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small5 h! \5 x% c( A
number of vehicles1 d, e# q/ m! ]5 j0 s K
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more: _ N y6 T: K# o
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
0 S- ^2 l" S! s8 r! u( a5 O1 Q% xmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
* G: S8 z% l8 Z; T. [" k# G: Q. ^6 t8 nsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.& A4 l% `7 y' o
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,8 n B. j0 |4 K1 R
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
O, U' G) p+ _trace at all.: T) s/ `- [1 z$ z1 a
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call8 }2 ], }: Z% u4 ~9 N
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
5 D6 |( s2 K& dacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the( T! Y+ z6 p& u8 h
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
/ s C+ V% x8 W% R pRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
- Q+ b1 ^4 w5 M# m- {9 vsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
! B0 h4 _4 f5 P' _other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
! e* e8 B- z7 n; ?' `) W- C- belectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible9 |! U/ n+ ` L9 o/ ^9 I8 P
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only( i5 w! g8 V) }. g+ @
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained8 Y8 O: N" }( V+ a
by Toyota's lawyers."/ v0 {1 V( d# Q3 T% w. g5 Y
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
3 |9 @2 z% |5 }$ Oproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
& d& x$ R/ v& S( _. B( kcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
- K% R- ?' W( Q' Jsaid.
/ g) z8 {& f) Z"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with: @# U. D3 o( }3 O6 G: B
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 F( F1 _! O8 j) I* C$ N5 d$ dgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
$ p* x0 T7 j3 n( }officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc." a F) l+ P% b' v
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
5 P) N# P0 |8 N& Emembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
. W+ }' X# w& X3 `rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the P! N# H1 ` u4 |$ P8 T
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
" A3 G9 V5 ], }# p9 ~7 a5 F( Finvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and* g* A; f' y: W C1 B' I
Chrysler.; ^1 e% z" g' Y: u/ T4 v
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 J1 k4 L( `- Y& F. `- |3 z- Ydollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a1 }% p+ v _: n: u9 L, R5 k' m
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also. N: o+ Y0 K/ B9 c. W
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ M/ `% _$ M1 O: w4 N
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty7 f) `$ S/ e& g; G# e6 |
tough.", j, Z" ?' F( K0 Z' h5 ^
---
8 a& I2 A) z5 S" _8 f! m+ ~Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: f( \- w) d0 p! JRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to) V2 v/ Y4 j7 \* k/ K$ I G$ P
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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