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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题! L( K9 g0 R m. o S( l
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS6 _5 l( B+ c9 u' l$ j( g9 Y
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.: E2 H- T' l7 n
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that4 u" O& T* ?9 S7 u6 G
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"6 R% ^4 W2 a( U; w
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration." Z- s! Y: F7 w
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential1 E) i* w0 W& E' ]
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.7 @& n- L- ?9 u6 U
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) W1 i6 e, r# eacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and6 a. _& v# R; W
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor1 d- d5 M( R8 y% |# e9 V/ C, G
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
+ i6 t( ~: e; ?3 ?/ a' F, ^He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal7 X( }, L5 f; C0 N8 z/ @# G# W" ~0 J
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
& g0 y! ?$ o# ]' E5 q$ ccriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 g/ G1 T T/ }! C) dfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could, [3 ~4 k. ]& _( W
not stop her runaway Lexus.
3 r% W7 a0 x! k1 V9 V"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
8 c; K& \1 Q& a; {4 m% n$ aTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
- q! A/ m9 R' I2 g9 W, X6 P"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
2 j0 J5 o2 B6 i* E. vTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' B+ B& d4 p- F! I
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
6 \" {: F" A' f2 D+ U* z1 ]) i0 g, D"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
# a T- b+ x# W, Kdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
7 A1 e, M$ N* C9 Pthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
6 J$ }: U! r* Dinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
+ V: F% s, |& _3 rLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an. f! v* R. A8 T4 M
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of3 Y4 J+ H3 y3 _. e1 ~) S" {
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
5 e. _/ L9 c" [malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
U: s8 \3 a3 G v2 Bsaid.
( k- d7 z6 K4 m; P R- H" Z# Z9 KAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. `. |1 h9 H) o( }! f4 ^happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
9 P9 ]% d: h. `1 d) Y4 d2 z) Yabout driving our products," Lentz said.: ^% c( `( W1 ?: U/ _0 m r" w3 V
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's" [% W, O3 ~$ I6 b
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
% Y. A! a8 v- F! e, L5 qrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
; U, I6 r, z8 Rmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
% C: Q$ d: S W1 c* E& B1 Wunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking. \- {! e) ]/ n2 e6 a
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
# P) [4 z) F7 f% \' ?concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
+ |3 f4 C8 f; Stheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow4 J! }: P' \) t2 U8 X% w! e* ]2 F
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has8 V- ~4 S7 L4 {/ Y5 g$ ~9 C
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration- z$ q' D+ G* l2 z( [& }
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.3 z9 u( Z* ^0 ]9 n
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
4 y5 \3 K% P& I: k1 [, Z2 y: Ibrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he7 q& T/ N5 m, m' W, d
understood the pain.
! I% H0 B! i6 h/ r1 f"I know what those families go through," he said.
# R! G. T; }9 q) g: HLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's( N0 y& I9 j6 r
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.- x; N; y g: \4 U
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman. _4 E6 [, v0 {9 `/ K* b% V
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put. I3 m7 K+ }. o$ D
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,6 {/ o) f* M) C( x0 ` o
Lentz replied: "Not totally."/ [$ u1 W% E4 {5 P0 g' x
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were. I. x1 F* ~4 }; }: s; G' d
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
- r. Q- }5 I3 HToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas, n+ e( L. B. e3 j
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: C" J9 f/ K( Z. X4 k
vehicles already on the road.3 i! _5 m( ?$ g! n8 Z& s5 r( t
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify: o/ x9 g" x! x, u/ L# p' h
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
$ y( U( I5 y& w' V3 z7 Z8 n. G+ Yresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and" m. }& Z2 ^& x, x/ f
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were. L" a5 Y. j7 B6 S, m- ?/ \
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.8 H1 E8 Q9 R' A1 b" k
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; I$ j3 ^! I8 g6 R2 l) y$ ~+ Dtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
9 _: e. E6 n, r' A; i+ z( l" Efor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 t% o( q4 ^6 N# _+ o
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal# J/ J9 N% M/ A! `0 H
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
r$ p) Y( ~9 c8 E1 `9 U3 F4 D' V0 mrestore the trust of our customers."
4 P( w" a* ^7 W0 G; GLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from9 O5 B' y8 }* @6 G4 b, d
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly+ t# ?1 p' D' K7 @; U- s9 Q
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
2 k' a; f: j7 U; S; eshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
( m( N: B: s9 Y) Xhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
- n# o5 y* G9 i9 E0 Rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- G8 E/ ?; r; r5 B8 mturn off the engine.) g1 x+ C6 r5 r# x$ n. M/ x H
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 E/ F" I" r9 P7 R, oOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' `) |; S' Z5 F: ^! @5 L6 Q. P% B
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ r- K0 o& _ qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
6 J0 X0 h% }, Cto her complaints.1 F' d( D6 x' t# N) J' Z$ s
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
: n* F' Q( v' ]* E% ^. _returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
8 v8 j# g: b8 W3 c- N% D. x( U$ Kmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars. i1 X# X9 `- P+ M" K. z# M2 l
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
2 ?0 O- ~6 ~3 ?/ _$ ^+ \throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
. ]7 L( M: {% O9 d6 W; i: |"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
R7 K# P1 S) l. A' ioff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- W* w7 Z5 [# s( D: |Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) E* B5 Y% n% s' x( @7 v- f
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ k) B6 Q$ W, B& C5 v% h6 i7 g* R- P! {# N
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
; ^0 i, I$ V, M" }# ywere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
& R7 L; q6 n O- l$ i# i4 oevery question."/ o, c! Y( \( }3 m- {4 s* c
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether$ a2 K3 F3 t$ ?6 B9 |8 {
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
* ^) T! ]8 J. zfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But( @3 Q2 W/ |' h; t& c ]
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, N7 C- Q# ]; q" @; ynumber of vehicles
9 j5 U5 j5 ]5 o6 l7 y8 Q/ _Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more$ C2 E0 i9 m7 Q$ i% o8 T* Y4 r
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
& R7 M. l/ P- Y5 W* n6 X' pmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
: s f* O' T L6 ^7 r9 Esource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ x, M4 |4 U+ S+ m, ~) @0 C- R6 SMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
% q1 L8 ]( y h7 \. W/ Y" mwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no5 b) T9 n$ E: X8 h( j* s7 a1 w& f
trace at all.; z, t) P* W! t0 k
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call0 @: c; ?' q5 l+ {: J0 s
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
( M: O9 y0 G4 z9 Uacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
* L- \+ z% g& k( v8 f2 irecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 {! o9 o& i8 K3 a& P8 j4 e/ k/ c
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
7 o" o( W! O8 T2 M0 ^% `said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and) T' g2 i+ }; c* Y6 l
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
6 n- ~8 ?: M3 Z: T: d1 q+ Ielectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
4 D$ ^. u% ?7 K' b2 a8 d8 h9 C7 ocause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only; Y# S1 I Z: d/ ^
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
, H: Z* j( a9 {+ O7 cby Toyota's lawyers."9 K/ N9 Y0 |% |. A8 B
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of1 Y& \9 Q! f& r0 Y
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our' V& N: e6 u: f' b+ `
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
- a- w2 D" ]3 { @4 Qsaid.
, v w% J+ ` Q+ c5 l"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
+ |$ R3 h/ f8 `% |% d& x+ Ua rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our$ J0 ~2 Y h; s/ C
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating: D0 P% u" o, i
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.# {+ I1 S8 J, L8 Y7 j/ Q1 i& \- w
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
8 a" S( F& i; a' }) lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread1 U% Y* u" w# A* S
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
8 \" u2 T* v# c. s; l0 Yautomaker, at least in part because of the government's7 i; [3 P8 [. K/ i/ p* F+ W
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and( B/ t1 n' x& p" M/ {- z8 P" o
Chrysler.3 O! ~" |" Z5 y9 G
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
+ p1 `' d9 ?# odollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a3 A( {8 l2 |1 r2 ], h6 H: c6 A
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
# t9 {7 F" d8 m! U+ z/ Cserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete! F( F9 S' L4 G( w6 U* }4 t! J
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty5 `+ q6 q' r- L/ G* v
tough."
9 s9 z0 q+ Y7 U( V! N---: r6 |8 [1 a4 X0 q6 U2 T
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" P* `2 r" f# O, p% L% j9 f
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to3 o6 f: t9 D% N, x* r5 A9 C
this story.6 r' N% }- X H: R
]: F, f4 n' ?
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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