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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题9 U ~% b2 P9 X5 |1 U
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS4 _# x+ W+ X: _( L6 } _1 N2 A2 B
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
% d% V$ T# \. Z" i- R5 noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 C4 G. N: x* C3 d# n( [the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
1 X$ x6 y, ^/ ~" _solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
) I9 F2 V! }$ m( u"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential+ l/ Y6 M6 _9 \" |. J$ }4 t S
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
1 x: {; L$ ~" ]% e& w& p( [However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
" p1 S5 w7 o O: Aacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and$ U( E$ U) |/ t: ~
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& h% u& R9 y& |7 M) |4 S3 pmats and sticking accelerator pedals.+ T& \8 s w: [, R/ {$ L% ?2 f: _
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal) w2 X0 e5 z' j
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp5 i* K1 }: S2 X3 o6 o3 |
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be1 I/ ]8 W$ H4 Y' B" E1 V, p0 ~
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
0 K9 k0 G" p, Jnot stop her runaway Lexus.9 ]" o9 B- }7 t* k3 I& L
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville," x% w7 d- _( Y! M
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
% [; V0 t- B+ ?"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
\* Y& y# O5 A& Y; i6 K! K4 f% wTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
: B8 D! U9 }, W( `2 g6 `6 Y7 Learly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said* K- Z7 H: Z C3 e
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has% a8 `$ W/ K9 l( d5 u9 }: U
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway% `) D& d% I h/ l3 F
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
2 P/ B5 d( ~- `- [: hinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 a" i' q& s' p5 lLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
4 R4 |* P c3 v' z( Nelectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of, @9 W" u0 k. m3 N
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' y# H' p2 v9 \malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
& F- W! j# T( j' A7 x/ csaid.+ H9 X" {3 t" T3 ?) ^5 @6 @. Q
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what* k" l$ V0 D2 }3 G* U0 H6 |) j
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
- x {8 a+ C' }5 Babout driving our products," Lentz said.( D: ?! y" r+ o g0 x- b
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
+ Y8 E5 y8 }1 Rproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 ^$ H# G) ~4 [
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
" C. j; w- Q1 D5 Ymillion in the United States -- since last fall because of6 A n; g, q. \% u
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking0 f" ?4 u3 X) m; e
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering$ _7 d0 L! p& c! @4 `
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
# B+ C8 P1 B* d1 D% F( j+ Dtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow% J; g2 g. s: `1 E$ t! t
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has6 G% E; U* y h8 n* X6 _" u
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration# M6 b& W$ M: f- @- p
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
5 @1 W+ c: k' `1 k9 x4 v4 s6 T# P# mLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own( C4 B. G5 h; c5 ~& o
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, J8 U: _* o5 i& g8 d; s R) o
understood the pain.7 R, \+ b% \$ V" w9 C* O) W
"I know what those families go through," he said.9 k4 o% ~) b% v- o8 a
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's0 F$ l6 ~7 T4 t: o. j4 y; h6 {
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems., I0 A5 r5 B( n; T7 S2 O# W
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman4 e; {) h8 r0 m+ [* ^
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put/ a& D O! U; |- k4 {5 _
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
. W+ c1 ]: q% X& D9 x- o% `Lentz replied: "Not totally.") N. A% u- L) i% L( f) i' f& O
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( X9 V$ M- ]3 s6 J3 H( c"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said# C! e9 R8 l$ `8 W& ~0 u: ^
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
: q4 A6 Q* b/ X% [/ J0 j/ M5 U# Kpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
3 P8 u' X7 N, k0 @+ ]vehicles already on the road.
: C9 h: w0 y9 t, B" V5 a: d, ]Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) _: b: G( z& q1 R7 E
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full* |- f# ]; E) o/ j
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and, v( }1 }1 ?, p- i: X: r
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were/ k1 l+ P" O: {2 ~
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
; U( V: u5 G, e$ g$ M# b"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; w- ~7 U. I/ g& ytragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony! O2 J. a, v+ e/ Q x; q3 T
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
" E" M% S$ V& n4 ^0 \Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
2 v1 E1 N, o: F4 w% ~* P0 E, xcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to: m7 T$ P8 `/ \7 d7 `! M! D
restore the trust of our customers."4 d& m6 M8 O' D" q2 I& _2 Z
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from1 d8 M6 x7 G' V/ X" }) G& Y
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
4 N7 d; l* V0 y& @zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
& l+ ^; u2 V# V _shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) P9 I2 {* ]! o1 z, B
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough, b6 k7 R# [/ D4 U
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! O( C; u. r$ |% ?! d* x4 R
turn off the engine.
; O" d* l7 o/ U, K: H- QFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
+ `: g9 d2 Z; T P. \; }+ zOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 D9 \: l- A1 M8 E: i7 z
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
! d; s: B2 ~% ]( Psaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond( d: \9 l& I8 I% P, l3 ^& m
to her complaints.* {, a+ H: b7 b, t/ A: t" ^% f
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
$ l" E$ W3 l& o. b+ z% x7 Ureturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
7 T( y: k* L' g: ^* Bmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
- E2 R& L. W% O2 R5 k/ ]( Q1 r"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric( W' Q( e! I G. f$ b: g
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited4 E; O- U" m A# A1 G1 u
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut8 d, C) E0 }, L2 O/ C: ?
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."/ U% v( r9 R" w P% K o
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
- H9 e" |+ \' Y0 R: L, Xprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were5 d* O. C! I; ^# J- m: u# p2 \
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: f9 p9 x' l* u F; I* e% `
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer- Y" b/ [9 U# K. x8 ]0 a
every question."
: U, a9 g" _/ Y/ ~4 Y; Z0 u! VToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( W$ Z9 ^! D: i+ b3 g5 J( Y, s
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ [0 m$ y: o- ?) K% W* A) pfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 u6 H# d2 p; k3 L `
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
, ?2 a& Z: V6 ?. Fnumber of vehicles
: ]5 @+ Q5 y( U% B/ C. K8 PTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
( W; j" l/ M i! C/ o# ndifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
2 c! u/ o9 _/ `! o% O v( Kmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 Y+ O0 M2 g, W e0 Z8 ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
+ ]/ a h( @; u, r" k/ ^# Y4 AMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage," e4 h2 B( q; C/ B- b8 {
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
) G4 K7 C' ]+ X. _+ r! X: L7 W. Qtrace at all.
4 ?% s7 u" N( w7 QHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call1 D5 H7 z# S) g# |3 g( S9 W
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
% e( W; n. y2 Q, V) Wacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
5 U2 | M* w) p9 ^recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
" i& u* u- k/ X3 | }/ GRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
8 [ ~+ C4 i3 z2 e4 ]( ]said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
9 w. H3 M3 W1 E0 L) ]9 Y' E& f2 hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
9 R+ }6 w$ ^2 b/ U' [electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
8 y5 u$ F7 e; h, J2 R5 s) P$ Pcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
4 z) w& Y' r0 ^* [( o2 T; J0 k/ j* Ssuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
; y/ r) m$ r/ {* f" Aby Toyota's lawyers."
& D2 g/ D* M$ ` sLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of3 R; J( k r& H% N1 `9 ]! P2 u
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our8 n& S1 ^ R# ^* \4 h9 s, ]
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' m# q1 S, s$ {$ _* N+ E9 L8 zsaid.
3 Q; k4 e, G( h0 f"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
" k, ]; H0 I z, i+ |6 Z! B" ?a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our+ n7 ~# @& ~2 W& r9 f1 O
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% l& |/ m; _' Aofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
2 `. C8 B& `& J% _Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
* X) y6 L+ @. Pmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" B" r' [4 O6 |/ u2 N' Trancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! v5 o. A7 n" c0 L7 yautomaker, at least in part because of the government's' M" o0 O, ]) R2 q* [
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and0 M% l& ~" O1 v8 {/ Z4 p
Chrysler.
A- p& W f9 }. m/ S" n9 A4 p7 |"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax* U* l4 f# _2 m; \
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a: v7 _! ` I$ Q, m4 ]2 h6 r% [
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also- t% I. E$ Q/ A6 k6 q
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
% y0 T$ X! r2 P5 y8 t1 B+ K& _with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 y, G! d. k; X: ^tough."7 G$ R& K9 b7 E/ T- u
---! r6 j' k' o' S" w& E/ n
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
0 A! d) i% @9 M/ nRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to! {- D. j/ V' @9 U
this story.3 A O5 l# f3 A$ n3 A$ b
7 ?/ k- g" A0 L: G" Q-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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