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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题* S) Q' n1 O: @& N# Z7 V6 D
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
' U: x# R5 C8 s4 w* D1 Y5 ]' kWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.* [3 R! A! W. t% l# @7 ?+ O& N" x
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that! Z+ i$ x. d+ i/ P% ^. C2 S+ [+ {
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 C, O' ?1 i9 b' d6 }solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; E9 i- ~ Y) H8 F& L1 S' B$ C$ m
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
3 |5 J9 y3 _ Z `& @8 I n2 ]causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel./ Q8 n8 k. t2 r3 A
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
: ~ ^- l+ _# y+ @2 vacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
, o9 J* J6 p% h4 ntrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor% v- g. E& W! D! k
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
8 q; _7 d% t% d$ y5 B" E2 F3 ZHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal& j k1 P- d2 R0 G) G4 Z
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
7 c, |; i: Q3 C4 H* r6 l. dcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
! W6 u4 ?, }3 `further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could4 `. V! B3 m2 o3 U' w
not stop her runaway Lexus., u8 r3 i4 o& C9 G
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,; g0 J0 z5 \9 y' Y" m' ]
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
" K/ x6 {: P$ ^1 A# k"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
7 {5 @8 s: N+ g0 `+ J6 I& n1 zTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues4 o6 Q: j+ O1 N* C+ N
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
8 ?, t8 `) C0 n% l( j"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
1 F) l/ e& Y, T9 s( D, ~7 fdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
8 e% D ?- d. k1 u' ^) i _through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 R5 `& E/ C8 Kinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."# w2 Q- t, D! M
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
: m2 E5 k1 x- H( ?9 y5 K, c1 melectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
3 D- E: s( K6 I5 Z* _8 ?* j# cthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
& O: d/ x" S- pmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he! w! u; `5 }& N2 I4 m. B
said.7 P' G% S& Z9 d; F$ s( Z" U
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what2 ~% t& X6 A/ B# r' q) J/ f9 J0 O
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe6 _8 V r8 `8 l% ]- {& x9 W" @" J
about driving our products," Lentz said.* X/ _ K! f! l8 ^) s- G, |
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's$ m. g+ n7 ]* a! N) ~
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
: A: s5 Z9 [- lrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
. s% j1 D# X" O, J! a% Ymillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
" a8 X, Y7 M- r: Runintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
$ ?1 h. C; n% F% h7 S- \( eissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering! y- x- S& `, v' P
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
1 p$ u. S% _8 w7 o. p$ U) J% J) P' ]their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
: q0 a; u- e1 N8 e0 s0 }; ndown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" I# }2 c4 A* i9 ? l I& N
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration) G7 \" u, E {2 Y! j
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
& |7 ^9 M7 g7 G# x% Y8 N' _Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own3 z y, M' n! D( I" I. o# U6 L
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
& S& f* d- a6 l* t0 S- xunderstood the pain.
0 B7 w: F8 e. g- m( v/ H @ N"I know what those families go through," he said." t+ [5 E6 z+ S. m2 A: K
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's' B. R* [- \) O9 a+ E( @
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.2 R% ] |1 C; w1 Z- c4 c' X7 |
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
! O x( k- ]5 v3 O0 xHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
' K1 G# q2 x& A# d6 N) y2 Oin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
$ Z& D: z! ^. Y3 l3 @& _% L8 S" l# KLentz replied: "Not totally."
- e4 a9 I( \0 z8 ^8 X' @Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were' F5 ^1 \7 r% Q; m; C ]7 h4 f
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said3 G: _( `; D; Y- O3 S. @
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas* M& p d' y" x. F
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its F2 S7 B8 M4 l/ H1 i- [. n
vehicles already on the road.1 D. @8 {2 u c; o
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify+ U! Y+ f# c, _$ Z
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
! u, p5 a) n- h7 p: O! E' dresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
: e6 ]+ \+ M: L) U# [; ~& F5 ^offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
* s; Q. U f5 T+ {8 b# c) [# `killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
6 U& P% @4 G+ j9 x8 F2 y"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a+ {( h+ f5 M+ [9 k$ x* ^9 o
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
! D7 w2 r* z2 K p- O+ x7 Wfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight/ O. z" O2 ^8 ]: O
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
4 k3 w e' ^$ a7 B: l! [commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" o% I9 c4 ?9 a" L; B
restore the trust of our customers."* t% H- r0 ]* B4 k/ q# R5 \/ a/ F
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
9 d, _( D; b/ SSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly; u. d; Z4 D9 z/ s9 G
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
/ v$ z. F2 u& dshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and& K- ?, u$ o( g0 U
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough- j6 W, f- n4 |1 n y+ ~, V
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
6 A9 u7 Z) z; bturn off the engine.: h* F( d+ Y! \# x
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 M* W9 Y! @: qOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."0 K2 V& ?7 h5 s
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she P4 X O: D; b/ `2 z% {
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond% L: ?% k- h5 H) s, a0 G& i: d4 N- _
to her complaints.9 V0 P- D% ?. K2 B5 x% z+ q
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers/ k: s p' e2 q; V
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic, _: W& }9 l' N' ^7 @" z' j
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.+ ?6 d+ R* g' v. r+ A# T- p
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
8 w( y- M4 X0 `throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
) S S' B0 A$ K* Z5 X1 L"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
8 ]) `% t" B; e1 K$ o3 O& Poff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."1 b( m* y: s; _9 h" A6 O
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
0 } a+ E0 N$ f+ V5 Gprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
4 |- v1 P& \1 d: b! s' z ]! i+ _# Fbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
H, [0 r2 Z7 U) P q# awere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
; ]& C, s" v* Q" ?1 g6 j' I# O8 Wevery question."
& [0 C |- f R' ~Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
4 L: _# r. s5 J; Velectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The) a. F- m4 q9 T8 A$ A1 B
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But! k& X- ?+ s" v W/ D i- \) R' U
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small8 D$ x/ z3 _3 j1 a2 V+ ]+ k! |
number of vehicles2 s6 a0 ]: U/ W, }
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more2 k/ b2 t5 Y) V7 d1 H& ?
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a1 r: F5 {0 _% u9 P; O" P( ~& y% Z, V
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
5 ^* H8 [. a4 C! i0 @source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 c) E9 k h: p
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,5 P! _- X( h, {, }: c* x% m" x3 _
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no# S5 }% J: q7 i$ Y
trace at all.+ q% b% K0 P: w/ k! D
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ p! J" E4 F! \3 M5 P- Y* ydatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden+ t7 X7 S1 o/ P* G/ t
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
9 m) Q" V- e( W, {. o$ Srecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals." l- E: S7 j; Z
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,% K2 Q) T* z; N/ ^( l
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and: A- r& d# M! n. E
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the _2 `" O: e% o0 N
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible( \4 R+ c. G+ r* A
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only5 Q* } F9 K* D/ r- ]: o+ ?0 i
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained% a* [; w. w9 q3 G
by Toyota's lawyers."
o3 }4 ~" _5 ^Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
( r* U+ t2 u G, j, Nproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
$ y0 G1 l) Y* U$ H6 {customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he* z3 y# C) e: ^6 P
said.
: k% _ L+ o! [ ?( e"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
$ S" ^7 }* |7 A: ha rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
( O: ^5 @4 R5 Agood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating7 o$ p! c8 G7 \2 J; g7 j+ \6 m
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.9 P5 P5 [8 t- A" n- I8 \# ] B# A- H' a
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% D( s0 Y& i1 S h- w" Q8 ]' m0 cmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread/ R0 x: d3 e8 X' k, T( s# B* Y. A
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the5 g+ ~1 L* O( c; V" P8 S1 X3 l
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
5 R }( l! H5 D/ Linvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ H9 O- a/ p+ Y' L% v
Chrysler.
) {4 Q2 v4 a& j; N. q: X% d"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax+ O% Q) x. m4 ~7 Z& H) T7 ]
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
0 L6 O( s2 f q% ], Q4 A) C* MHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also7 |9 S" z' B" a/ ^0 u
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
2 N' X; _: _3 ^3 H M6 p0 o% Dwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
; x* R6 I- Y8 L) C9 jtough." \1 a; b. u' O: o+ M8 \9 Q
---" g6 I& o& U2 i
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
3 l$ f% G0 B$ X% v: CRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
1 H: j4 s. j$ Qthis story.
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) W( A+ f$ z. j# x1 M# o7 Q-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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