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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题( N7 [- L1 U9 J6 N
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS% g5 k' S7 I+ F- l6 Q+ r
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.) f/ V; Z8 D; }9 g3 P$ J1 ^
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
9 i* b5 v, ^; w" nthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"8 S6 m( X- F" ]2 K6 {+ U% a0 l
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
( h( m" O: }$ H7 j"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: `4 C3 b; J q8 p2 j
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.: [2 v2 H) R' P$ {5 L* X
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
3 I, X* A* b$ V H' S+ C7 H2 [( Qacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
4 M+ \* H2 n/ R8 D* Etrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor' |/ W/ m7 ?* z+ @$ U) _
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.4 X8 _0 e% u( T* R5 i7 }. J/ d
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal/ \, m# B; H( Y2 C
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
/ H2 D" N* x3 ]2 T/ q8 Mcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
, Z2 R2 ?: k' k0 p1 d" j0 bfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& y: \* y3 I; G
not stop her runaway Lexus.
/ e9 a$ E$ c9 r/ f( o ~, K. K"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
6 B4 f4 R, g1 v' ^! A E; dTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ b! D& B9 z0 k; k! v0 ]; V) ~- v1 r"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.; f' _4 ], l( X8 {1 y
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
" ~, u. s! {& V! Zearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said \; e5 [ c4 {7 j
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
% E1 X8 x0 v, r4 v: k6 edone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway4 t/ ]9 X) f% h" w
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
" {4 Y( g& I7 c' x" T4 ^! v2 J3 ]" Kinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."# p; t/ }( |. G2 s
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
4 c" i% c* M+ B( d% R5 Y4 b+ Y8 lelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of/ t$ {7 c6 Y& R- ]: V
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' _( w" z0 R; D5 ]; imalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he/ I3 D: w @% v2 q, O' _; }5 O
said.* W5 I; W% O7 o+ @, j% `
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
2 h2 B' ~! n8 f. U( ~$ H/ Dhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe( s1 h# P: h M6 n
about driving our products," Lentz said.
P3 R; F9 D( s0 @Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
: y9 f/ U9 _ E, `; b* D1 |problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' ]1 f2 B' }0 \4 B. n$ L- t1 [recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6' i+ z/ h: e6 {
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
; t* v" h6 j6 f$ _, Q" ]unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
; d* d5 @# \! Iissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( n L+ c, G+ ^
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of$ e+ N, ^( ]% k5 i# f2 a
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow. }0 h. F) h! q! ^9 s0 |4 r. `
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
. D4 B- U* {& r5 s6 breceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
" ?) f, x: `2 i3 Q* t d) e* f7 Xof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
: C2 J* P" k% L. h4 r" j: c7 QLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( ]' `5 a+ t: ~+ Q# s
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he4 O& B& h+ v, m; V- ^
understood the pain.
! g" V: W9 H9 F/ n( M. j8 [4 u; }"I know what those families go through," he said.: G3 g) n- E' {' p/ X
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
( v4 T: X9 c8 P: jfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
$ T1 x/ f: M: [0 W# C2 g- }% tBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
7 F; ~( w* _. j+ MHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put7 b$ ]; F: w5 W. s' K% i
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,1 C0 h5 H3 J3 T* s
Lentz replied: "Not totally."+ H1 q/ @( x n* r. ]8 I% {. z- N
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were% K4 n1 w, C$ n
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said8 T" t( c$ V! t3 Y$ S! b
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas$ X3 U3 u/ X& w3 C
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its* ]* L) ~2 n6 G7 T- U$ C4 b0 l
vehicles already on the road.
. o5 [2 X: L$ h+ q5 L0 z u- Q; [Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
0 t! R3 I' a" c' @before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
7 M8 h- t& y, J9 V8 Dresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
9 M& J1 L& N! c$ aoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
6 V8 w. f6 X* z& ]killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.3 C0 r3 H' d( f& M
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a, s' {: e5 P8 H0 r r
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
+ J, Z q A# Y) S4 Y4 @) p3 d3 ufor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight7 k4 F/ E, a2 ]
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal( ~) Q0 d9 M6 V: U
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to$ B" T! ~- `$ d7 x' }, a
restore the trust of our customers."
: [ ^5 ~ \! p4 yLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
6 } u' I9 }- PSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% ]3 Y' T/ @ B
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --( O _! A' L& g/ r4 Q) X
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and% G9 M* a4 `6 ^9 M1 j" P3 ` Z) j: A
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough' _& U" X/ H$ H0 }
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and- @" [! n4 R6 K$ V. V
turn off the engine.
2 B; N% V! T+ W% f) [Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
1 T4 N. P0 q7 y# d7 AOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 z: i! D# N4 ["After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
- |. @" {9 m7 Fsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond6 K2 R5 R8 E2 M/ N% M
to her complaints.0 S. ^1 `7 M8 L3 M- ~3 I: V
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
' Q1 A- b2 u, B0 V! _1 Wreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic4 @: u8 ]7 j! W5 I
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
0 {5 c) A% Q6 |1 ?. J: l' B"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric" \ K$ K/ N; ?, T$ [5 p
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 E# e' M# u, A
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
+ F) i" R/ q6 l3 ~6 l) v9 noff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
+ r+ ~8 H9 L& H4 a% B) F' lTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
1 W" z% s& ^7 q0 z5 G. R6 ]prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
. ], ~, M3 g5 a. V% xbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% H: ?+ t. R5 F. @( Q- \" vwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer( \6 e/ C9 O5 c# e% j3 [, `, S
every question."
3 h* }. P6 ~8 n% e0 ~4 {Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
1 d( I9 C8 E5 T( relectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The0 f& W' d: f4 Q
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But4 T$ ]* I% B T/ f
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. k! a' G: W5 x( {- `( T( Z0 jnumber of vehicles) v9 G9 e1 V$ H( \* o( t
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
$ J4 _3 D+ `: q( m$ u. S! ?+ u" Ldifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a3 z+ G- _# y; [$ Y/ f
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
; y: ^3 X J: p, ^% tsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.3 ?% u3 Q3 o! }; v9 v) ], v
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,$ T* M3 g- I; d0 v
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 z& }1 U4 G' {( x* W' D S
trace at all./ W% O! q1 _1 Y2 k0 A R
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call; p' S H8 {/ f5 s
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden3 y2 ^# [' q+ l3 B4 ?$ _
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
0 A7 b/ l6 T$ r" grecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.3 V1 Q1 \# w7 n% r8 S( k
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& w" j. d7 `3 N( ?* ?3 Qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and. \* @1 k8 r6 Q2 I6 w ]( D7 U' x
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the) E) g* {$ f& o: u0 k
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 n1 N& O& R0 I! G% w+ E/ zcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
' [& }. k6 e' C7 i) `5 fsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
1 {5 ?, {# i; Eby Toyota's lawyers."
* u/ F+ |" @( |# z' M# LLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of3 g* B4 v& v% y) U/ I6 c1 Q) F/ E* T
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our" L4 V% D3 Z0 [' F( J" W+ ~
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 Q5 ?8 u! M# i* | U
said.3 E2 b; \* \+ ?; [. O
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with9 j" u: }9 W4 R4 ^
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our/ a/ t6 d2 v8 z" C
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& q# |% }/ k3 H+ Q! R) ?+ \
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
8 p9 i0 A/ E5 I# Q# RSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying% w8 H7 N2 F; S3 j4 d C
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread& T- E7 x( p6 G
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the1 R7 X" F2 y! n0 U0 K
automaker, at least in part because of the government's2 M# M& S# C9 |
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and S) s+ ]1 X7 i4 [
Chrysler.
0 S3 t) p; B3 q" Q0 l) y0 q"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
# S! p2 Q! f1 g/ z, Pdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" d5 @' o/ l" y0 tHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
: w: F( M( _$ g) g) n8 h! lserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
+ a" N* R: \2 \: owith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
5 V, R1 d. A+ H$ h% itough."
; C9 l3 `7 D3 Y- [, X6 _---0 j. D2 ^! l7 q+ _9 i9 p" ]
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
5 n3 Z1 t7 h9 C" [Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
+ G* s- q& A8 X# Ithis story.$ J3 | t. U( X1 p1 U
) J6 N" d1 h! }% H( @& ?7 Y-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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