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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题3 `, g6 g" F1 l: I0 O- p# ~* _
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
+ x' H& b8 ]& R$ K9 J& [4 r Y7 |1 z" {Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.6 ?2 A: H5 k! q! b5 t- V
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that' f2 f) `: ~- l4 M2 O/ t
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"0 W4 b {" o6 g& f+ x- ^
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
" I& V+ X% n* f: l"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential$ f! W9 p+ _. w; T0 |
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.; ]9 }6 l9 t% H4 Q
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
; U% K) a8 M: t9 ~% Kacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
: n k2 q# Q' _2 [5 O7 P( ttrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor D+ E. h4 y* s$ ]7 C6 T
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
! m: M3 \( M z+ \, N. ]He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal/ i8 L& I3 n6 L& A1 P" y, ~! ~
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 c! p9 O: h1 ^3 o2 fcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be* t+ G& h7 }7 n0 Y
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* }" L; J+ [# v% X2 z! bnot stop her runaway Lexus.' p6 E9 t" C5 g* n" J/ d0 q
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
2 k& f5 y7 o4 P$ F+ qTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
1 @) l0 h# S1 ^0 w$ r% h# T# s, l5 _"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ H/ V) `' ]' s4 m. _% z
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: X( |# n- ~) h1 y3 E. h8 Yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- E, d! f5 @5 s- A$ i* \) H
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has. K. i6 G% X. B) w8 n3 g
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway8 K% F6 o7 W% H
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
( z) i: K4 o5 c. j8 a6 v: qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.". a) s1 w4 Z" y# Q
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an q6 |; ?4 o3 @: p
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of$ ^+ ?7 X! N- F+ F
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
- z5 M5 k4 O; qmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
; Z8 I6 E$ b# S, e4 Y4 |said.
7 u$ E& I( ~. `8 n. y/ h K: pAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
# p9 X/ y, W2 B2 G: M5 lhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
3 h' w+ f' w( L- nabout driving our products," Lentz said.
5 r. ~6 K9 A' T& m& UThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's: Z4 A* ], \! Q+ f5 k
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has* b' {2 W6 z' S
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
7 Y; N% l' V) Bmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of4 G0 G$ h! V. c' ?
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
O) H b9 [. X/ ^issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
- w" j2 n, P0 \0 k( \concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of6 G0 v7 N) ?4 E7 _, \/ {# W/ _
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
% v: i$ U0 b* Z4 Y* R+ z6 L$ Udown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has- H$ ?! f. m% V- y* B) E
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration5 ^( B5 M8 Q$ x1 `6 S+ r2 I( [. ~
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 @; \3 ?6 c3 w0 E' D
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ }) K/ U7 q* W ybrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
* e; s; X! t/ {( f& H" r; D9 |understood the pain.
7 o+ K2 M" J- V6 x"I know what those families go through," he said.
6 F& d9 W) H$ {( [# P. iLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 ^. V0 _8 x! H4 B1 g
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.) J' i3 A2 F5 S# J7 j
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
) w6 V/ I3 ~, G( C5 x; D7 M( _Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
o. H, J3 f" O5 E7 uin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
& P5 k( Z) Y, x7 cLentz replied: "Not totally."
+ }* v O) J6 H. u4 X! bStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were6 S) F7 F p* s" k
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said. g, d% l6 G9 y/ F. g+ L# r8 C4 u
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
2 f6 m/ H6 g; k; ]/ T gpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its" B2 a' r: D! k, h/ b# o; X% B& d
vehicles already on the road.. Q0 }5 U( c3 y9 `; W& Y% ~
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) O: B y4 l, R+ K0 D0 J- A
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full! j1 U7 I2 \$ Z4 ^$ S/ W9 Y3 |
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and: a& D; ^" h4 v1 C) d
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
! ]% u c4 O- `killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.2 | H& P! t0 ~6 z
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
, W4 X- k7 [- Ctragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
- m+ T" Y4 W' Y# bfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
6 a) R( ?# O8 N3 d5 D# ]7 t5 GCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
3 f: K7 h) U. f- m0 \commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" O" T# J6 K* i$ e4 v
restore the trust of our customers."* S+ k- T6 w5 W) s* [
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
4 T" @1 g' R8 |5 c% t' ~Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
! i3 i# K5 |2 {! O: hzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --4 h! j% I+ b. d$ |
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
' R2 @: [5 w; }hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# Q7 H% Q1 U7 fthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
3 [4 a b, a7 W( ~) Wturn off the engine.+ A) x( y2 n. }, D; g
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
, K" Y% ?5 G& g5 dOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
/ V6 S) k/ p( B) M% R Z& W" H9 g"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ u# h% a% q# H: w& Isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
P8 R5 d& k8 vto her complaints.
4 Q9 t( R' n" a8 l, aIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
" V k {( H1 ~4 n! h oreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic Z7 R0 v1 g2 ?7 s2 \. j7 C3 q
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.- d& h6 U! C& f6 x+ d1 b
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% Y1 U0 b- p$ ?8 U7 L4 [5 g7 `9 Dthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
4 n5 _* w3 t+ B5 s$ }, U$ N! U"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
9 e, V U* k w) Goff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.") m9 [& ?: M; }2 w/ M
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in) h& Y1 S/ K2 e o. U5 `- f3 q! q% Z
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were* R- d+ {1 G6 h7 E- T* ^
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, D* i5 Z5 B3 d- O u& _
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer% w( _7 D8 X3 Z: C) Q
every question."3 z' W# Y! `8 w) a# l3 z
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether; D% [6 O e1 N, n6 Z, h5 [' n. I
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
+ z9 O' O7 H. m# a9 cfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
2 R" ?6 T2 K! `committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
2 [* ]: o! _1 z/ g* L7 M" J; d6 T Enumber of vehicles! K' u% Q1 N! E* R4 }
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more1 ~; R; Q. l1 Q/ k/ ~
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
& t0 c5 {! ^1 l5 nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
) Q* |8 p2 p! Y; N9 s5 }3 ]9 j' R y5 P+ |source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 r% r$ d+ A8 ]7 N, P) A/ M
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,# W, N9 w! r z# b! {5 }5 t
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no& u: a. s3 r" X: ^8 j
trace at all.
5 E& f; J) e) f: mHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call" D6 @8 X0 P& |' Q4 w' `
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden' U8 f5 ]4 S, O& Q3 O
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
+ [ o$ Q9 g7 Q+ d9 I+ krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals., `& j, S# M+ u
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,8 P4 S$ M+ n# a4 |8 G G5 h/ O
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and# l5 x, J4 Q4 j, Z' \6 [
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ v* J" F% l+ D4 {) }8 _
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible! k4 H+ `3 x7 u. O
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 \2 k1 k: c% ?& d7 z
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained6 [' ?+ R$ h, h6 _5 U
by Toyota's lawyers."
2 b4 P5 K5 O% a8 ?5 q3 lLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of# S8 I; Q) K# r
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our1 d* r+ O9 l/ l
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he7 u W2 s: [; q. F! N( x6 K9 j& u( }
said.: f0 Z4 y/ t5 J t _
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with B: [3 B# H# i- d7 L
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our! X& p* A$ l+ R7 K& [& G0 [
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating5 H% v: j' c% z" `6 I* z9 v
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
3 z+ z/ y x( T5 j' e7 l2 Z( Z9 aSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
& S- m: X' i- a/ B* amembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread) n d1 \5 K: u& r7 e, J) c! g
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; H5 ]# v+ K# t3 b* W4 ]automaker, at least in part because of the government's, n4 v4 u8 E0 e/ M. e
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and9 M9 Q6 r2 z- c1 |
Chrysler.# q& {/ ~, w0 g Y$ P3 l
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax; l/ b& b- Y+ x- \
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
: y1 W+ o9 R( N% f! [$ Q8 m* \Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
; ?6 {5 U6 g z- c/ m4 h H2 Fserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
3 j- i$ A. k, j( d g( |with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty; y& J# t6 v' |( O0 K
tough."2 D8 `$ R4 L8 K, n# U; g! d! l
---
S# A6 i) r8 T0 Y% VAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom" D" @ N5 A7 W1 w' M* u% z
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
h9 q4 f- ?6 L3 `this story.
& F2 G3 y; h' U5 G- n/ g# C
7 N$ l% g% a5 v! S9 A-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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