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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题/ M4 T5 n$ [ h3 i6 O$ @0 ^
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
a4 o7 K% `3 PWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.1 Y/ W& f) ]& H+ p' ^ h) K
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
4 [9 J$ u8 l# x! G7 F& uthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally", C% _% f$ i9 i: f. K
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.* [, S* o6 T P$ X" i
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
& v2 L; W' v" u: H; wcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel., {9 }' [( M+ |8 D& Z3 V- M' ]
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
% O6 Y. p8 H" x gacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and) O0 o3 H I$ S2 H( j
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor3 Y3 |6 B2 G0 U6 [. K
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.! _; R+ n+ Z c8 [
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
" L; Q* l7 G4 w: W6 Rand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp4 M! W: W% s8 M+ a4 L& V
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be" D2 k& }% Y8 j( @. Y6 d9 V
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could) b2 V9 P5 x4 O! W/ a
not stop her runaway Lexus.0 |* y/ A) Z: R+ Y
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; F/ [+ Z4 _* \( N0 P& E3 n
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second$ ^/ S9 z& m9 ?& k& ^* k0 J3 E
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
3 s* [8 c7 `! F& u0 b" DTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues1 M, {$ x* \3 I. Y' p0 v
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, T3 N1 R5 _8 t/ `5 d) J"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has: O! P$ X, c7 G. B
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
+ j; C, O2 D4 _6 Rthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
; J! o0 Q6 T8 C, vinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."+ D0 G0 A0 Z- j8 Z9 z6 a L1 W
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
( ]) S& o" z! ~! [electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: t' {; L5 H; t8 q% Qthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
; `( j; \+ }6 r/ |" a9 N$ ]malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he/ |" B& y$ K5 J9 [
said.
6 K$ Q4 h! {8 |' [* o- GAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" V* h9 ^) w3 O& J4 e3 Lhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
0 {) v' d! f9 E" Z0 c' oabout driving our products," Lentz said.' Z- V' z( e0 }: Z4 l$ a
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
$ Y3 C' [+ R! ^4 rproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
& M3 C& {" K) @5 P1 S. Jrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6! O( |0 }) E E* T. u
million in the United States -- since last fall because of4 L! L" d+ `6 E% x- Z m4 c
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
0 U* O0 b c: l& W; @$ ]1 t0 z5 Wissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
) I: \ n" g/ N7 b5 I1 Z, e' z3 xconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
' P' B$ L/ z' T" P0 X" Etheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
! `$ d' [8 w [5 {% Y( Vdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ I, J0 N- F; K8 |7 ]
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration" s2 z2 Z, H# v+ q' _. u2 C1 B' A
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
- r) y6 \) M- z6 ?Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
6 g4 |& s, j! I/ b: c+ B1 Mbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
! o1 G9 y4 m/ V+ r t- h/ }! ~understood the pain.
: Q) A/ ~+ j2 ^* B"I know what those families go through," he said., m K3 s8 z% `
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' G4 p) j( C4 D$ h% w! f" f/ z
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
% u! _0 b* v5 H; S+ \But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
+ Q; \' x$ I; L% VHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put/ O6 b3 c7 X2 D8 O; o- M0 @2 r9 g
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, D( |- O4 v5 i: N6 t V
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
8 s o0 Q7 e7 D% a2 Y8 R6 xStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
% R4 k9 y& w9 H% I; M5 S"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
% S' g# `$ S- B CToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) ~4 Q+ u( O0 O: m2 { kpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 ?8 P7 p! C; {9 g+ a! H( e
vehicles already on the road." D1 O8 `" G0 p( w' y
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
9 s, b s! ?8 d# ?: abefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
" k) w1 m+ h; Z8 n6 e: m- P# X" rresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
) m- @9 `1 L+ \; V" D0 Koffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
* i( `* S- m2 Rkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! ?+ Z# V; ?7 ~7 l9 S
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a' U: O5 B6 X5 h2 R" |" u; W+ F
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony4 S! O, Y8 L& h0 E( A1 Y7 c7 h
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight+ s& R4 C1 [' r0 y4 M; ^
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal& i9 @' h- O) Y' G1 _7 y" }$ U, n
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to$ I3 U0 J: Q) @# Y
restore the trust of our customers."
& ^0 x$ f) I* i+ \1 wLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from3 _( k. v" r# K6 ~
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly2 V; v2 G6 r: Q1 i @
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --! `5 }8 j3 T; d- W6 ?9 s/ Q
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 S% {, U, {8 Z7 s5 D6 p9 F( ahitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
' U' |4 c3 b) {4 I# r4 dthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and8 f# f6 T7 g7 n1 y7 v1 v$ H/ m
turn off the engine.
' V% `6 a! S$ g, w9 S$ gFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( g. v. S/ A7 x; w5 tOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."2 W! V, E' a% }+ k
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
, e9 |6 |0 B/ msaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond' |5 N5 R0 Z E. f) Q
to her complaints.
7 B( J; t/ ^" C4 r0 R: E6 MIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
: q3 i5 X7 ?9 U3 W7 U* ^ Z) e7 greturned again and again to the question of whether electronic9 K' A7 V V" H9 ^; D* }! W" b2 q
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.* h: R/ i/ O' B( q0 e
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric/ K& Q; g- K: @( q. F2 F
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 Z3 ]1 N! }0 A& N+ W4 E& y2 o5 G+ M"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut1 g$ H+ |3 Q3 ]& B' C* g
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure." Y0 y& G1 t8 ?5 ]( Z8 U! N
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in6 ^6 p4 [0 `0 m! f I
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
- T1 P. W2 \. |* |. V( dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
9 x$ x7 m9 F( y b' }were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer7 [$ d: o! r( C1 g! T
every question."
) x5 w4 N; n, {+ Q+ aToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 Q; F( u n( p3 ~+ J+ `9 aelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
6 n- j6 U$ n9 {. Kfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& i4 v* @; @ `8 H
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small& O5 p$ z) v& T* Z
number of vehicles9 U( j* o9 C% E5 R( v
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
( T7 C" y" Q1 M& X5 R- ddifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a% c5 }6 ~; i& J7 ~' U
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% J: G! g' L; O) l. a+ j& y6 Ssource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
9 z$ ^' R$ T7 k0 EMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
, h* X9 ]+ k+ W/ i) Swhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
: R" D. R' @( Ftrace at all.
9 c/ d& @* D, v) R nHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
* l) J3 h! f6 X" J. c6 @. K$ rdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden+ d2 o- ?1 r) H! K+ i! _
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the- n8 B4 @9 `. N8 J7 f( L
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. v' z0 p1 u% A" z) M: sRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,/ w" s1 \1 H( t: M& m
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
& o+ ~3 J( J0 d& I: u/ q; O2 bother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the6 P! }- N# p" g
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# ]# ^- z1 b& ^5 V5 R) }$ a
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
0 H$ A) k$ b% q: Dsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
- l7 y! m9 |' Q2 V8 aby Toyota's lawyers."% j% s; ]% n# F& ?
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
" L7 a* v5 D: t0 hproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our/ ^* V1 Y0 p6 Z7 y# y
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
$ W* R. g0 E$ E' ^% X$ |said.1 \ ?8 R9 S, o
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
: k) ~% k: D. _1 J& o7 ?. K+ Ra rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our% Y$ o0 x* l. ]8 l/ o, I
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating p4 r' `/ k' t* L i' u
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
( Q' D7 F! p1 D J% D a" ]Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying7 n3 A( A- a$ R! k3 c
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread% M7 O; D- p ^2 \. Q0 S
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the+ m2 {$ _7 j0 h; f# b( r0 G
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
) | L* E% R# }% jinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and1 [% H+ c4 y$ l# i0 t8 W
Chrysler.
" x2 ^: X8 ^6 U' J: M"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
# t6 H, T- f: Z8 idollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a( q8 U# f3 _: f/ Z/ r* o# C- [# J
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
6 U1 X/ [3 _( H$ g0 f( iserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete# g7 v& u6 m- _! T' ]
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty6 q0 \7 h2 k) [- f+ I
tough.": Q# d5 I1 y. m4 W0 S6 L4 y- R% t
---
( \# ?: K. W4 \) {; T( AAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
8 a6 h3 x0 Y( j- t6 o3 SRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 g! t6 n; Q+ y' j
this story.
+ L* Q0 o5 k% i) w+ d. B* c( |2 b. v0 O( H
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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