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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题$ L7 y2 z4 n4 ^7 Q! [" k
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
7 C' A( K; _1 N7 _. I+ ?( b2 wWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. H0 _$ H, h/ G7 Z( ^- q
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
# H1 X* a9 e: O) }, w+ }2 Athe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"; {6 B) |- Y7 i" W* u
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.. Q! ~$ t4 h, w
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- H+ e1 X- S) u0 _+ bcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.( A) [2 }4 j4 [
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected% C3 Y w" q3 a' F$ T7 `
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and$ u' {3 w/ f% m$ f; H
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
x* `) {% x9 O( S4 B, Wmats and sticking accelerator pedals., F7 O5 N c) H9 p
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal% X# k7 n: S; N3 B& m2 Q# X# h* ^
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp- z% ^( T! q9 r) b
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
! I4 p5 |) ^" _. s. h0 pfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 T( n8 g& i; _; K, k" Pnot stop her runaway Lexus.
+ H" w* f$ r; Y. R. U0 \"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,) x+ n& ~- Q, Q2 V
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
9 T9 y1 C, m. X. h3 T"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.) K) z1 o1 L! Y: H) ]
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues/ M9 d+ \; o% P: Z$ l/ @5 B* d
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said/ D0 k V1 o3 @$ A0 {5 {8 r
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has8 @3 M+ j- P. I6 u/ d
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
9 V' o) A/ M) Othrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 ?0 R, ]4 |% x/ {8 l% a2 oinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."8 b$ `6 H f6 F9 _% B7 C; K5 j
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
0 s( c+ Y+ r4 \3 N, w9 ~electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of) Y0 o" {7 m! j* v8 e T$ V) Z
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a: a' J3 @* ^* L5 [0 k" F n
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
" q, Q9 q6 Q' |said.
7 `3 ^ N# ?9 \* t: YAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what& `2 [6 w; v% |
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
4 R% G6 A8 {) J1 [about driving our products," Lentz said.
! S* l" a0 z; [0 V& s6 h6 p- JThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's0 P" Y+ @2 |7 F/ O7 q
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has6 E2 N/ C- I4 T
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ [7 c# R. U; a' A7 S, F7 emillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
! ~3 W* I7 ^+ eunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: G& c7 |$ @ N* M; B, t9 {1 r9 b! Xissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering, e3 O# v$ X& }" }1 S' m/ _
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
, r5 l4 _1 h3 N6 C. s# i9 ttheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% K# ?, D6 ^# w8 w; s
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
) |* [) Z5 R" a( o9 L I, Ureceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration3 s" v' }& p9 z2 O
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
3 j2 c) e; F" Q* w/ G, t5 J+ K& V+ eLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
8 y2 E2 [' H S5 U$ Ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
) [* ^' z) q ~# b7 G1 @' o' u' [. ]3 dunderstood the pain.# r( ?/ \+ ~. P5 L1 ^% f
"I know what those families go through," he said.
9 [, i+ p, [3 P: f9 M& p1 W9 B4 kLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ P1 k# ?! s( T; R
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
8 }& v: T6 Y; ? c. {. YBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman( o% J: p& K' [
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
/ h0 V8 y) ^5 D! ]( w/ l9 kin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
' }$ r$ C* G4 o D' t( |Lentz replied: "Not totally."
2 D4 Y. B2 |( k# m6 KStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% N. `3 J1 z! \' g! V! n7 q. M"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
. N2 H* x, t% c) e5 K/ iToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) p0 z1 N5 O2 E' `# I& y* apedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! h& I4 |5 E% i0 [7 g4 |
vehicles already on the road.
+ O% q. b3 J6 W) N4 @/ S) yMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify7 Z9 l, p! J, J% c: z7 ^5 X
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full# l# R3 A! v# z4 J# l" D
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and0 e6 i1 h5 K8 V
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were- V2 S* R% j7 p# ?: v5 y- S
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
7 O- F3 H4 T6 L: d" d* o( `5 D, C. c"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a/ W3 l/ x s' J& B! `8 @
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony _! U* [+ J: [7 S# U
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight+ ~- V5 ^' F' |( E& @4 j$ \
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal) W9 A `' E# f5 K3 Y+ U+ a/ W
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to0 z4 E3 L- ^# R3 `& ~* C
restore the trust of our customers."& c5 R$ z4 ]# D' m$ R
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from5 Y, W- f. r$ f7 ]8 q2 B% C
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
4 u' d: I1 Q( C- r( ^2 |+ rzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
0 v8 j% n/ Y0 w4 v6 z! P: [shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and% I3 g2 z9 e) _
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 f. N. e1 S0 P7 H; {) B" R
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
+ M) s# `& _: Z4 c8 v Tturn off the engine.6 A: L% z: d/ W' a, F' \, A
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( ~2 C) p9 z% _! {2 ^% } G0 I3 ]( dOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."* H/ \0 ? W/ ~* @, G( C- \7 n' q
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she+ r/ M) N K# Z& [' m6 V w( F: I- Y
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond! P- b) Y4 y; l ]
to her complaints.
3 w8 ^1 O0 X6 C4 O& s& X, O* KIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers+ k2 _ z4 y6 `9 ^) O8 V. D
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic! X6 C: s7 t d C, d
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.) b+ c) ?9 v N" l# H+ F/ G4 t
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric) ]% H: d! m" i* b/ l" \2 ~% v& ~
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited/ q. ^) w7 v+ p2 I. L8 h) d
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
3 Z0 J, i4 A, aoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
/ @7 I2 V l1 f/ g& G. l0 W1 i4 KTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
& F* f' _& k* j' pprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
* q6 W. c) h0 P3 q; w; X1 Xbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls1 T: Y9 A& x- r7 A
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer4 s4 p5 S- W& b8 G2 S, h" a
every question."
0 w% x- o/ G2 E& V$ {: ]Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- X' y D' I' x: y/ s
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The. y+ ?2 h2 ~! x1 V @
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But% v4 M& q; r: e9 {4 Q
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small/ c+ x9 }" L; ?
number of vehicles
. T7 m9 ^% ` ]. c. \/ STracking down an electrical problem can be far more p3 @' Q E' n5 G }. h$ @1 O% j
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a& f9 S) m7 @' J% B1 g4 x
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one9 C5 q+ U( {5 t
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
% H" i: `1 D8 O3 b! q* |Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
7 I7 G! F# L% p' E3 |& {; wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no9 B* g+ `/ s Y0 h8 D
trace at all.
+ Y* Y" A2 Y) L; nHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
: }8 u& [7 A, z& Z1 [database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% p5 F4 g5 P" I4 s9 t! q$ a, Xacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the {$ u4 n% o9 O' v5 o8 P- T3 J
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
+ t/ O3 j& q% @( P4 gRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,) j' S6 c5 H6 n3 {
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
- ]/ Q3 M( G6 m. Dother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
) w0 @- }0 g4 o# \ Q( }electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
- `; d. o( w# B7 H0 d. y# n* d3 S3 lcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
- e4 n& M1 g; gsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, e* B9 k2 ~+ p# o! _( ?. Z& N; I
by Toyota's lawyers."% \; G. M1 F+ l/ D. Z& l4 I' r
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of5 F+ j( s" e- T, Q: ]' L9 C4 n3 x
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our! G# n, g1 [1 J3 f9 f h
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
6 I4 w3 Y/ p: |9 F# Bsaid.
& O; `* { Z2 T"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with2 ~! k6 |& W6 K6 b( T4 k9 u' A
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our0 h0 ?' P0 j! V, v( a3 K& e
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating0 s3 H, n" ^2 \
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.+ i C9 ^7 h8 y
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
; V1 a* A7 x/ B; b }. G" |members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread6 P9 I6 q5 h1 F& M
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 ^" v# L7 u& {1 j! Z( F# h* Jautomaker, at least in part because of the government's: J! |' D# J) F1 d
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
) _* }, J& ^9 f% F5 ]Chrysler.
) y: f! `' \$ U4 j* I"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% c _: Y ^/ u- Fdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a5 D W+ k3 T) p# w& p) x0 K$ a8 u
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
$ t M1 s. \- N0 Q- x2 k* rserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 k) b$ ?5 F. I5 j. ]! |
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
8 B# G8 B2 N1 H- ctough."2 r, {5 T. |8 W4 y* d
---
' T" H' }( A" v/ ]- eAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
% e. A* G' B: R7 d6 oRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to9 W8 S, X5 p5 x7 \
this story. k4 i0 @; X5 y4 v4 P0 B0 {
+ F+ ~7 S H' w# g9 X0 ?" j. e-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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