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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题% r' w f% [4 I0 x! E; {4 q
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
# D: s1 D @: s4 EWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
* _- [" I' K+ o- C) h$ _9 t' doperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that7 v9 K, s, [( i D( K0 v" P! [/ L( l
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
0 K' f3 b9 y0 T8 psolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.% {, N7 C& l: ~8 [. k3 w: Q6 I
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential4 T# ]) t4 A$ L3 G
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
# p3 J Z1 D. ?" XHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
6 e/ E1 j) W5 ]" C4 ^acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and+ v5 r s5 y# @* I& [( D# u
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ g h/ x+ E# Q* ^7 R
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.( n3 F8 V3 G6 E! L4 b
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal( |5 O, u' `8 X! o
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 z7 S* h+ c# F' Z1 H5 ]# Jcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be1 a' D1 l4 v3 T
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
/ r' m( M5 X' b5 F; snot stop her runaway Lexus.
) j2 s! z1 p. C% _"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,6 i8 G: V) V5 Q' n7 F! J+ g+ w8 r6 j
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second' ]3 `2 h! B4 d/ y! x! R$ ?
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
' X% M6 k% K- v& H& O: K, K; iTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues: |0 j" V/ \7 z5 P
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said4 A2 b! |& T% V1 w4 h+ v
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ M% F" B4 Z8 p5 B: ]2 |
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
n3 Y5 k, L2 B5 Nthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
G% \ @/ w- C$ G: m6 Q( rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
: D$ [4 ?8 s2 U9 F$ y3 {Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 W( R' _7 b) I: R4 uelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of' M+ g: K: C: q, w1 u1 _* B1 t
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: p4 p5 I( X- ?+ X* w- f
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he) B+ I7 m9 _$ v8 ~; }/ a8 e( G
said.
/ [) x+ `$ T! Y& a" S0 oAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
/ I3 W4 a# D7 W2 b E. Q# phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% r; u3 M* @. F6 ?+ f1 _, nabout driving our products," Lentz said.
% o( {* H4 P: }% H$ e, jThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
$ L# q4 W) O: s1 oproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
) ]' {1 J- [4 P- Qrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 }$ m/ @+ A9 }, E3 p) umillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 B1 ] n# P4 }3 \unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking2 b8 z7 H9 o4 I- B! X, G7 |
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering7 k& K. r! p0 r( E# h* x
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
0 \) g# S! D5 ?! l# Ttheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 ^7 e# G8 m% \1 f! A
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
f3 e0 l# Q, X2 K* Xreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
6 m/ q: ~, l2 j8 ]: Nof Toyota vehicles since 2000.; G3 [ g# a; j; U* x* Y% Q- F8 @
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
, v4 `' ^! F- P1 g, @8 ^brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he. K3 o3 T% S) a1 S
understood the pain.2 I3 `8 l) S n3 [3 M8 p
"I know what those families go through," he said.) ^9 x, y8 ~# c1 s
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's5 S& B! P0 m" y! ?5 e$ X
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) q* A. B1 T% J7 ]
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, Y4 e ]% j0 |: w8 B( |Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
9 n: l _/ P( m; `in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,0 ~. p6 J) D1 A6 R6 P! Y
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
) @. c! I+ I }1 e$ R& J6 d J6 X! OStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
2 j7 `! i& j. h5 j"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said+ T3 z @8 }8 h9 N9 F# |
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
5 V# s0 k% T# M0 }" c; S4 s2 l( npedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
9 q1 a- \! d$ T8 B! ~# nvehicles already on the road.- T( X$ X- k9 [
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify0 i( r5 H5 t0 f4 N
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full0 o }7 u5 k1 H" E; [7 v
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. P9 C, U* F8 u8 i) a# c: x/ {, a
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were7 ~9 y7 v( C* [$ o) @! [) K1 i
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.& o" \7 g( b% \
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a* k6 [, _7 n9 z' F/ ?$ Y) ^- C5 B
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony# ]. r9 M% G% C/ L' J
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight5 I% c, `( y2 L) R- h' {1 q
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal, J, |; `3 J/ b# _
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to- x. N' ?, Y1 l9 ^* a$ e
restore the trust of our customers."
3 x" k/ Z5 O. S! O" oLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
0 k, P. _1 j* s: eSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 }* W$ P0 [" }; o) u7 @) `% i
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
% f8 a+ U8 s# x/ v( L# L" v* ^6 kshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
: v1 i" R" T2 e6 v/ Chitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
7 S- n; Y' X/ _. J; y( p5 Rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and" k$ C; G9 x% _& o8 I6 i
turn off the engine.- ~3 z( J k8 g% C9 J
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
& d0 n! B& p5 `. p3 w. IOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."& D3 t( [8 d+ t& d! F( z: c% z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she) S; c! H! V* v3 s
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
1 k& Q6 C+ |" ?6 Lto her complaints.
) v* S: u, W8 V% F% GIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers$ E, C* L/ u; r! O* h
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic3 ?2 E% a9 h: G7 k0 [; `
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.9 g: z: _3 G6 f
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
6 V9 \- I; ~$ Z* c3 R& Ithrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
7 o% H' t. |- ?2 f" O"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut/ k& \2 e) F4 g# Q: }! L1 ?
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.". [* E8 @2 I$ O$ Z% r1 w$ [( K
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
, C2 r9 d" c* R5 r! pprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were, c5 }# @+ B; H# K1 a/ `
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls9 Q' [) d2 u* ~
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
1 Q& ^- V! }- Y% }every question."
. I) ^; o6 d( q$ gToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether5 ~9 Z; j7 P( S2 i% a& a
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
4 @; t/ I0 S+ k# P- c8 nfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
" M% Q! r0 o" O" `) F( f, Rcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small! s5 F! W' k) D6 X6 f% I
number of vehicles
" G8 W( B; _. V8 [Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more! l$ n5 X$ ?7 q& k; e
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
) s0 Y! D r+ u( Q! Tmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
" V( A/ w6 [- ?) d7 X5 L1 usource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.& w- x0 B1 H/ W1 S
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 @/ [0 Z/ f( G% `8 wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
+ K$ [. r. G% C" E+ y/ N' y3 ytrace at all.
& s; {. M! S6 u$ T9 Y }2 UHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
$ V' ~/ v/ Z. l, h+ qdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
& _% U, E# Q4 s2 E k8 e( C% Z/ Uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
! u* j0 j' l4 s, ?8 drecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
: Z8 D& Z+ |: Y; }) i, U2 Z, GRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
+ B* r- ~- m0 q# G/ Ksaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and- m. j# ~5 B0 S9 `# J; X- j+ ~: Q
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the8 o) }/ D9 U4 F& P1 _
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible& n4 X+ e, D- L4 F; Z6 g! l
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ O8 E' F6 {+ ]1 A+ @1 m$ C5 X& ]
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
f* D0 a6 Z. ~9 D3 U6 h. C. ~& Oby Toyota's lawyers."
' ^6 n( D* q6 T5 KLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! M2 \& ]) E6 _" f( K
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
0 ~( O" L. [/ [. y4 Mcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
A/ z8 ]. r# D7 f$ h) jsaid.& A! L: h* P$ ~& r! ?' _
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with2 J1 ]9 \; _$ f
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
% `1 \! S$ L: n" Y' igood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% ~6 x: @: i' a# {officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.% l+ z/ T" o7 T$ Q; G. C
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying8 h3 ]8 J% [ g0 V/ w/ ~( e% m
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread+ b* ?" X* _. W' V* i
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
p* G, x. @! C7 y4 a" ^, T4 pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's+ W) A% k& F0 j4 v
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
5 Y y, z' _. A( S( { uChrysler.( v( d. c p' \* [1 k4 p8 ?$ K( `& ~
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax/ Y# d* `$ K, J. V% Z
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a8 I1 p3 _- w* Z3 N0 U0 Z
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 t( ]6 t' L& W8 L" K5 i1 r( {served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
; b9 {( i0 h$ t' C* Gwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- n6 b. Z& B& Y8 v! o V* q% | k
tough.") C8 Y9 N* _ u5 C$ F
---
8 c/ n% t( \7 e5 {0 w/ ^Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom. h; Q$ O8 ]; \. B) b5 U, W: _# r
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to9 G1 p! A# G( n- p+ |' H
this story.
* {2 m$ [0 M( i" ?# u
/ u. l0 c6 e- }6 E; e$ }-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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