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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题0 v( x/ V4 c) x {) k# v% l
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
/ L, t% H5 V0 \* ZWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.! H) s% J9 |# t3 I7 I5 A2 q6 v; Z
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
8 R. o) [% a7 v5 `the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally": L5 P7 b4 j8 r2 {* o
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( l1 [- R/ v# R2 g"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential0 t V5 `( \% u5 j2 ?6 m
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.1 B. I4 v/ d0 D- M
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected7 Y# R, M# ~9 [1 ^& e
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
9 b2 U! x M/ |0 v# @/ F) ^7 xtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor3 x0 g$ v2 R3 M
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
) a E, A. E: @9 u6 C, W' _He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, J" V! g3 J& x& b) F
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp" g' D& \; {5 ^. m/ d
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
1 E, j; N3 C" _( c/ {$ n5 ~, zfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
, g3 {# K& `3 r" C0 x+ Lnot stop her runaway Lexus.; f# L6 x) h- t( @7 D- g
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,4 f; L! o9 A" g0 P s# J6 q
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second' H p5 h6 X+ f/ C' K6 f
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.7 Y; o/ ?* c* f3 s! Z
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ Z/ l* f7 B2 ^- B
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said1 O/ I2 _) z6 _( O3 d
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has+ u5 s) z6 W( N
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
2 {& z4 H% r9 Y$ \7 Cthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's ^2 i2 f/ {; n+ H
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
" J; u) [ ?: F3 XLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
0 C, }$ F2 J7 L9 _electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
- Y( B. s9 E1 H6 l1 Vthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
p/ x5 I z# v/ D1 Y7 Tmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
q9 p/ T, @9 Q' n |) Bsaid./ g; P. M* U9 y+ h; x1 X/ {1 a
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what/ @, {8 s( Z5 U# A
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
3 ^& ^& L9 d! Z9 b% Babout driving our products," Lentz said.; ?( Y# n, s) r3 `8 Z
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's( a4 P! e0 K+ ~$ U3 J
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
$ o) J: |% Q" e% h( B5 ?recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
% \2 [1 {2 {6 ]1 M/ xmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
8 o3 |0 |! Z, X7 B. Qunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
4 e0 w* M% q% s- u3 L! ~( Sissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
2 c, F* `' K% L1 wconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
0 ^0 y3 d9 s; M, P' itheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow! L8 U l! `' n( Z8 w' g
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
( M6 t7 A0 e" R' [2 n9 mreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration( t. V# I7 s+ G' @- E5 u
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
% [% N, s3 B4 w) Z8 r, B1 ~Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own6 C7 u7 M! B- H- K, N! ?2 L6 t
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
6 A; }, ] Y J* o& h+ Aunderstood the pain.2 t+ P! _; C% [: e$ ` ~
"I know what those families go through," he said.) T/ d l1 b1 V" V6 Q- r3 p a. d3 ~; @
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
8 S- t8 U9 w# B6 Z2 ~1 W- h8 wfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
+ b; v; I% c: {+ W5 e2 W) L$ k2 e Q; UBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman/ o" \) v7 H& p& U2 w2 h
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
' h: O# s# X* }3 c/ P5 G$ g7 Lin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 P1 s+ T, K, a1 \& M l8 d( J
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
2 t8 L% h: C$ T. h8 sStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were% {5 U) x4 V q! S d
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
6 O) ]1 a# i2 x/ @+ r. ]Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
4 B' n3 X [% N5 D6 y" y+ tpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its; ~9 j: A* T0 G
vehicles already on the road.
/ E( i, Q1 i6 _, Z- HMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
/ h. ?% t2 D# tbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 g, U0 F* O0 c9 w% ~, a# h2 M
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
" a0 l1 E5 |& a0 G# g& v. @offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were% D! `; S, i1 j4 U* ]1 b7 Y
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
! O% {% c- U/ J$ Y- t, {2 s"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
/ z r- ~9 i/ u2 a' \1 {tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
7 } `6 {* t% j$ [4 D# Afor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight8 w1 P7 Q& c& m' ~8 ?
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- K2 s: o- j# T
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to8 T0 K/ C$ e, B- ~/ P: q0 ~
restore the trust of our customers."+ M: `6 P5 v/ z: |; F
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
3 E+ B4 I$ k8 t" K0 g6 qSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
+ v3 ?( O! f+ Gzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --" h: I; h. p* g" b0 T
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
( M2 X6 ~0 T0 ehitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough% D t: q0 M c+ E
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and. B$ G' P2 \2 v0 \$ z
turn off the engine., E. \" R/ f z3 I, P
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of/ P3 ~! `; }- ?. H
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
, ]8 |" |4 i. N( b"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
! A" z, `: S$ V- N. q$ h/ V1 Qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond$ x, P# d1 q& `* {! x# y8 `
to her complaints.
: s3 i/ |3 Y! y' o. kIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers1 ?: O+ {! M1 n
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic/ q( b0 ]1 R; g$ \
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.+ G* |( r7 ^4 p" u
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
3 e6 x8 a" I* h) B* G8 y( z2 rthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
- R; i) V% [* V"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut; A6 n# f, I8 Y/ v, T2 e4 o
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
$ z! u$ v& F+ [/ O3 T, gTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
# |. T* A2 \( T' uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were* I/ |( e5 R+ L6 t/ F
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls6 E$ L2 h' Y8 k) J4 A- E, f9 {. _
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer+ H* Q' m/ T, I5 I# w8 ^6 G# P$ Q
every question."3 Q$ @% N4 l; i, {
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether) O8 y% D( b2 ?; d* a
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 A, m; F1 P1 y6 A; H1 J
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But, @! ~; D: x" Z6 ] G
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small b0 i+ U. Y( p2 ] s+ D6 h$ F
number of vehicles6 v2 T9 Z3 p/ `6 b2 U2 V
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more3 D- d" D; s, P
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
3 x; ^7 O/ b/ W; E9 g+ U- F, |4 Imechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
7 R w. }' i4 R5 o8 k' m! ?* `source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.% ], i% M" O* C$ d6 r' t8 k
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
' F" L+ `+ |2 ywhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no8 n) E. s) [- }0 N a7 J
trace at all.+ C# f5 k7 c8 S4 H
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call9 R8 n! l+ z2 I' S* S, Q) q1 e; w
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden- c* G0 V; ?# [5 Q) q7 n( J0 n2 R
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
; e5 D4 B% w! T* a- i* O* \. krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals." M1 b( e. A* Z! x) x( n x
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,6 f' G% B |( @3 v
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and! H1 U( q# S' P# Q' z# U, u; Y
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the. F7 d9 a$ N; B A0 I
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible# s3 }6 w1 Y: `, ], y7 E
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
# M. s V2 a; ]! M6 psuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained& @5 O8 Y! T( _( ]0 Q: y( [
by Toyota's lawyers."# ]; M4 Y5 Y& ~0 m6 [) {3 h
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of* {% Z( z* B1 l9 @0 I( _) E4 q
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
+ A& G, a5 x. N, N, |) E Tcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he: H7 H5 }6 R+ c% }& Y
said.
8 F1 l- T7 ]0 y8 M+ `3 s# ?. S7 G2 a"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
! q3 p& Y; A9 u0 E( {2 l1 qa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& l3 K3 S1 r2 p. q( _
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) h5 L, J% B' s4 |+ Qofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.: y. K1 q- G$ b
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying# e5 I( ?9 @3 m2 S) T5 P( Q
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
& ], ]0 [6 n. grancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the/ u# s7 l* [# ]" x
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
4 w& l* D6 Q3 t5 ~' }. Hinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and4 P B. ^) q- j9 K4 n2 F8 p
Chrysler.
! |( K! P, s) d"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax" ^, F) c3 g3 ]; v ]
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" Q- L" M. q$ P) f$ B! N0 R! X
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! N9 [3 @% V' _; b) {% J# {
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete5 l9 p* t+ [: j0 ?+ D7 L2 ]% r
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
1 x$ Q, q+ x4 ?& s, |. j5 y& Ytough."
& J. v, c+ O f1 G---# j$ ^) U% a) a0 p' h( P# M: I4 I
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) U; t) |8 r6 U& L: s$ N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 h' d1 E+ U7 A/ nthis story.
4 C7 x( g' U' G: I9 e2 [3 y# J2 Y. ]! r
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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