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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题5 _* F4 o* h8 M) s
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS$ j# _2 L8 L( U) V/ j3 ?& Y
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
/ k- g: W2 N% }8 `# ^8 Koperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
8 r/ O* j3 q& P$ x( pthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"$ c- v( V# ]2 X" N
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% x$ E9 `& B. m/ v5 [4 J o9 u! s$ m: E+ O"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential4 l) {( F5 L7 H) _$ t1 O; h
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
$ U5 J1 s+ t+ [$ K2 MHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: }0 ?' }4 U! f n( M4 ^( Nacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
; C3 `" [& {2 a* v& T& Rtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor2 A! d# o* g3 W
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.; r( S( p; L- j; ? N
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal) c4 Q: i$ q: U% H4 m9 S
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp& q7 a4 Q8 j( c
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
8 X; R# X) K5 _* p$ ]: s9 gfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could( L( i$ A; `1 N+ E) S' r
not stop her runaway Lexus.
0 `* Y0 F: d @"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
8 V9 T0 B0 }3 G2 z$ D5 S- l8 BTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
# B; M; d7 b% x S. F"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
, ^) w( J6 t* X; j2 H3 B2 ITexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
5 ]8 ?: }, |7 ]2 J6 K; Pearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
. j ]2 y) \/ Z: R# a"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
) `, E v1 C. o- idone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway4 z- [. q- B2 B
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
- Y! O6 c/ A. C3 O$ Iinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
8 ?5 I5 h S3 m! u: }% r! d7 r- hLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
2 S6 L- J2 A6 c6 I& P welectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
: E- M* Y( H8 y- D4 ]. w" X9 \the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
3 S5 j6 O% g8 Lmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
8 [! [2 _0 s. W" T0 I$ ?said.5 A/ m, `% Y+ D. X, k
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
0 Y% S- n" V+ i. \6 L/ Jhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
, \4 b: c7 i8 C& C# ?6 C: E @about driving our products," Lentz said.
0 i- l* `) }* o. sThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
- b9 F7 I! n- L1 _; |, D8 C& Mproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
8 ~. l! g/ h3 E6 t) Urecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
# y3 |4 @% h. y* _1 |million in the United States -- since last fall because of9 q1 `& `' X( _ i5 F6 R+ N
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking9 o4 f" r- C) M, ~, j5 ~2 L
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
1 J A8 i6 b3 X7 Hconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& j5 N8 Z L" s& M B& Mtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
9 P, a, P; q. J' a1 g w) }down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has, h5 X; \ L \0 q
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration8 O! |% L* F, v0 C( X; J4 K
of Toyota vehicles since 2000./ F) C9 d# K' i! r; Q, l+ w4 K
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own+ N$ x0 V( Y) `
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
9 z) T- g+ x- N- ~, Munderstood the pain.
# i3 } U! T2 e( c9 _"I know what those families go through," he said.
4 z4 s- g) f* g1 OLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
" f& x9 C( }; gfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
I) ~. g5 Y& m2 x( XBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
. b& t7 f7 }! f& [* r# {5 NHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
, \9 A: F$ F/ P' U+ b4 K- \in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
* p) K- Q3 D9 V) g( W- i' J j; hLentz replied: "Not totally."' D/ T9 S0 V. Y k2 |% O6 C; B
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were0 D) h& r: J) P" o6 V O% u( i
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said4 Q$ j* P4 g- @# ~0 S% T
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
h9 G* P# O2 {) j# ~$ b7 `pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its; K6 Z4 w. u. N. U$ n
vehicles already on the road.$ r' L3 @) m. z5 s* e% D$ `% B; B
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. _( I/ V* h- e; B5 q1 R% u, E
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 O C$ s _; d2 g1 A
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and% f" r6 n: ^" m' F4 g
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were% g2 O9 p7 K, C3 o" m% O
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. u6 i w R6 V$ E
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
# a' e. n% ~. N5 vtragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony3 `% s; F8 x- w/ v# O2 j1 m. C
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight7 G2 y, J7 X3 x' q
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal1 M! j% n* p, a y7 N; D g
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to% m$ o- c' l0 ~0 h7 k. i5 {+ E; q
restore the trust of our customers."% b) o; {/ B+ w* k6 \5 f6 c& p6 A
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from7 L* a3 ?8 B4 z
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
' g* ^( O# G; e, N5 Jzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ R% s, p/ f. k9 ishifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
% p: s* c6 y6 {" qhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; z& F1 d1 @8 D: w8 n1 tthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and6 i; F1 O* `- p; ]) B: o; [$ A, A
turn off the engine.# s6 n% x9 H c5 p# Z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
9 S2 Y% K; j4 B4 l4 fOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
N- B6 E6 c$ A. k# b"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
( [" Q' N8 }; B2 qsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond3 `. P P% d- Z+ B* |" f
to her complaints.
0 ^! F! k7 `' N- }* K* k" ^In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers3 O$ \$ `+ t1 h6 N& q0 I+ T; Q/ B! t7 x
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
/ u/ D$ B+ n7 X8 rmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.3 v+ }9 y5 I- A% [- C
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
- s( v* g1 {' Q7 z. q7 O. m1 Ethrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited( B7 l/ C1 T/ g
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut7 F* t6 R! _9 r+ \" _# N( k
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! t3 V$ l6 r# F# Q9 GTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
' S+ }: e; c$ Y' w5 Uprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
$ s( v4 G R' Abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, u. c8 C6 \6 |' a, o4 a% j! z
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
6 ~8 y* j( ~* j1 S" N' S9 {4 hevery question."
" x" {0 H( U5 T9 }2 m& kToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
% Q, J- @) g7 a' R/ f1 ielectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The2 a" S% ~- ~/ X6 L2 I
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
* ^5 f( |: @4 d" s" K/ x" ucommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
1 m- G! Y+ A4 gnumber of vehicles' _7 o# }5 K4 T+ { M- R( _
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more( m9 `5 j: Q) A% z3 ^
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a! m T% ?9 V: o, d: B, o: m
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one2 v/ Q. R" P. U$ [# k
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
) e0 k& ]0 m& }( C9 D4 tMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
1 p# i4 K) g4 Y: K! `: nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no4 s9 Y0 f# O8 Z" `6 g
trace at all.
! L4 `4 D8 T+ g* ?& s' c9 ?" kHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call- x5 v/ t7 i- N& j' T
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: D2 o# W& Y- Hacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the: r. S7 G' {% l) [8 E
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
& A* c _4 P) ~8 \6 ]3 z" l4 PRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,: ?* l& S. i& x
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
' b/ H* ]! C- a8 p+ Tother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
- t& `6 ?! Y" L2 b7 @5 A- L* _ }electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
, j, V1 g4 u4 G# k9 O% g L" l" H' fcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only6 w) i; ?, w% j
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
7 a& n6 V( g4 Z# w: b f& dby Toyota's lawyers."
9 J' ^- Y3 ^4 v! [Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of, `- r5 I+ M+ p C" b
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
1 z* |+ E, ~% K! a1 }customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
7 L$ _+ ^: V: I( N6 D( g! |said.
" M: P* p+ m; i"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
2 B7 w8 V1 n) o$ k( z+ La rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
% j3 F n( C4 W$ i& j' q, cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating1 F* r4 i8 i. |! B. v z
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% i8 z% N p0 S cSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
! n, `7 f2 M6 W5 Lmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread8 C6 n, d# ^2 `" g+ Y/ L# J* X
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
+ B( W+ W/ g, ^' B, tautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
' a6 p9 l1 j4 binvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
9 l3 P' D* b% B& `Chrysler.
+ B$ T* t. F5 |7 ] m"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 Y. E& E" e. F7 S! Z# mdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a: z0 u9 \* n$ @
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also* {5 t" P0 |4 G. a: c% I% j) o
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
" V4 s4 f ]8 }with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty+ g: f* }1 [" |) b
tough."
, ^, V' n; u7 Z3 Z5 A$ V3 |---- d4 i/ Y# T9 B% g* T
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom8 y. k& ^" A, A$ T
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to, X6 N' Y: c/ p# u" x9 r
this story.
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% o( e* r2 R& @-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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