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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题! }2 F& ^2 c) c7 _4 {
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, f9 m' r' }8 }+ oWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.9 P7 V. S1 q. \
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
; C- {+ d% L) @4 S0 l$ S @the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
) Q2 X. L+ F9 ?; N' j: l5 fsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
: G- u: V% [6 e+ [& }* C# ["We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
; F0 G( ~0 W! i8 Q0 O$ icauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
' o0 {% j% W$ d2 FHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
9 p" ^2 y( |# T, i# u! o0 |acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ {$ u0 L8 z! ctrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
1 A2 d* e& Z' m7 m# P% B) z' u5 amats and sticking accelerator pedals.
4 K3 e5 P4 w5 |9 X) L; u Y' pHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal; h9 k2 q6 t( X1 p8 \; O
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
" O- Y, T! |8 R! N" V8 ncriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be Z& \, Y" b1 w6 A6 z) M
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
) D, w) I0 p0 M, \4 Z$ jnot stop her runaway Lexus.! N1 W! R1 J6 Z0 n, ~* X' M
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,- O3 O8 x. F* U$ \
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second2 y6 ^# |/ v d, N5 G. g
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
" U6 x$ P9 c3 ^( k* pTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
- f: r2 K" P6 S yearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said+ [2 t8 [3 s% [' ]
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
p1 j+ ?6 Y! p/ F9 g+ x. Ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
, M) u! o( A% U2 \. n3 }through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's/ \% ]/ Y5 _5 r/ w& `
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."6 O3 x, V( H. ^, h1 K2 f% s
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
" i0 a3 u( p. n9 s2 ?$ T, yelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of2 M: h! U+ ~; m
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a. A$ Z9 U" k5 n$ D% A; {% [
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he8 l+ I6 }+ _6 p( J" a! _$ N
said.
" R; M$ \9 C$ J DAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
( t% O" M) X2 v. H, Ghappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
6 O* w9 `# E7 Z# h6 D" Yabout driving our products," Lentz said.
' N! {$ c" M v' ]+ yThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's5 n1 J3 w5 w1 V" W D) W3 A
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has( C- i8 Q' q# ?, _, W$ k; J' i
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6+ L: _' n @- b( D
million in the United States -- since last fall because of, N& v' B) w- Q+ f* G) `7 {
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
2 x4 M/ S# ?" i7 d4 V5 k5 B; F% x5 xissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering% G: c9 h. P: W f2 B% q3 z T6 W
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of* A; _$ p( d {9 o' U
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% M+ Y+ R9 h1 h! C) n
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
$ g! S# S3 e6 A4 M# Nreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
2 l: w$ i0 ? j1 g9 oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.% _# u! B) a4 ~; l1 U
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
" M7 O) [, I. L! pbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
5 v' F% C" S4 z( S) S) |understood the pain.
- I; Y1 J/ ]5 `6 s"I know what those families go through," he said.
/ y* I" c. j) w- SLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 x# v9 A, G: J# i* y$ S$ M
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
7 k/ K' f0 X7 {$ ]6 y: C( \. }) lBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
; _; f$ e. @' D$ A3 z4 c% `Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put- g+ ]/ {, ^) j b
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 Y' N& j: ^) k+ W# Q$ |+ TLentz replied: "Not totally."1 d2 w: w7 P) H0 ]) b
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
/ X" k4 o9 P. m- Q+ \! z: L"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said2 h$ B7 f8 t' P: s& {: n5 D
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas4 h8 |/ ^$ [0 k G% Y
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
. ^" x/ H; w* V: L+ d0 r- l3 Z" Nvehicles already on the road.
b- f7 g) i* E- E6 Y, ?) O* p0 J( mMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
, h' y/ o5 G7 e* P9 b* Y% j; Tbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full$ [* d& W3 \" z' w7 d
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and' U! {$ m0 @5 `) S1 w6 \* H8 g! T& W
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ O% c1 [4 p& D- k
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. {! |- V# @; v% ]8 D( c0 J8 ]9 l; d
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a8 U; E( f: W; _+ h( y
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony1 a+ _4 b+ e* W, ~& ^1 A* [
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
+ n+ W2 e: w! v& b a5 }7 `. q- BCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- Z' @0 x4 c9 z/ ?: k5 ~' U
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 F, t E" ] p; r$ J5 s$ zrestore the trust of our customers."
, \$ @0 q( m& u* T7 ^9 pLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from8 I4 N/ X3 M! J8 P4 x5 S8 x
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
6 ?: `) g5 \: k$ l$ W! X- q, y3 zzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 `2 `% K3 h4 m$ a7 ^' pshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
3 J) S$ I7 F. L5 j$ {! O% n phitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough9 R8 s% \$ p) D/ e$ T; i1 k
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and. x4 m. n7 o( L6 M( d/ V
turn off the engine.5 V. N) Y( F1 G7 [# H. m
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of% X# H. G& B0 |1 J5 `
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 C" i, b/ F! m( O; z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she" U& G' F& y3 i2 M; M3 _1 i- j4 C
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond6 r% ^( P) ? P6 t5 K
to her complaints.4 |; z$ x( Q5 i6 P) ~3 d0 E& ]
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
* Z H. p* Y4 F9 ~% Creturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
4 p2 T: @( K2 v9 W: u7 pmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.& X' W& L4 w# p3 F. ?
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% I7 [: n. ]3 s0 othrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 v0 X1 Y+ t9 y) V3 t
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut8 w: u* s" } C& a" D' K
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
$ h; D; E; @0 q" n8 Z: p& ^Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
0 Y) [$ L+ {! B( `$ m" o5 tprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
' X0 H& i8 H( {$ g8 Vbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
: e9 s* E& H4 t1 m# X6 h+ nwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer: w; S! U% I/ L& } D. @5 B0 ~
every question."' |% i8 ~% C% }% b2 H( S
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether" T$ E; r/ i u$ G; X2 D
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
& U5 c2 \# }4 l( R& S4 {' afirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' ~! R4 h9 R) M3 \( d, |7 wcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
0 C$ T$ ]2 _. }( ^3 knumber of vehicles, b9 K' k1 E6 B7 I8 z$ V. n
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
/ F# M) N' u6 [difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a& s: ^; r" R+ m) q t! h: z/ F( N
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
7 H; A* r7 r! U% U) d3 n0 n1 P1 ]source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
. m$ p1 _8 `( B7 a1 Q: ?' g; NMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
9 W* v$ R3 d0 J8 o7 Y4 Z0 xwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no. _, t8 x. E4 L6 |! c2 I0 J
trace at all.0 H) U, i, C+ h+ |' x) Z+ p
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
; f& p' c2 ^5 [6 m d6 s+ ?database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
1 E S5 d+ p) f4 c) ?" bacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the) V/ P" G5 V# B8 W* j
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
4 I* D$ S5 ^# o3 kRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,) l; c3 y" ?0 M; R5 N/ q
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
: B/ i; X2 ^+ Y- C2 @other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the! g, y6 |: i# s4 @* @# v% k" w
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
2 h" s$ u6 T$ W# E) K# ]cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only# s! F8 o6 P1 e, O( v5 z, j
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; |+ A3 @ D5 ?by Toyota's lawyers."$ U% M& ]* T0 `; m& K- x5 Q4 i3 O
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of, p5 X" w7 v# G0 l
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our% h: \4 Q# ]6 l
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he+ L0 n. E7 c9 B1 E4 m* `
said.
* L" ~- @' w+ Z7 q8 C( T& g"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
* s% e9 J g& _" L" W/ Ha rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our) q/ M. {, h- a6 ]; u! R6 L t
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
) y# P% R) i# v& ` z0 h! d3 sofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.' h' h1 F% a$ U3 f* R
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% X3 M U8 k( s) k k, Z" r, ^members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread( U5 N* \, D; p& Y& \( T
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the$ Q, d+ d7 u+ B6 p% U
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
# G2 W8 Q5 }/ d& {# {& Q8 ~investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and0 D1 H- c8 [/ q2 o# | l/ g; D
Chrysler.
6 W& i* [* H o( L" B3 g"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax* c6 z! |* K+ b h
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" [, i Z+ X! }2 f D5 S' m b+ zHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
, J2 [/ J/ L6 t" Z7 hserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
, q% `8 V+ [$ s" `with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- Y$ W% i$ K& j% S: U# q/ A
tough."; I: B6 ?4 J9 q1 c3 a
---
0 F3 N( A) k- kAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom2 V% C6 s- H1 f0 z
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
# U7 H' C- N, |8 r: Fthis story.2 {; }" f! @" H. G9 ~& i$ V) ?
& C' @* k# F6 d' Y6 S; B-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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