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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题/ J3 {8 B. B, L0 N/ e: i
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS1 h( L1 J- ^* Q
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.0 W0 c3 c/ ?: _7 V9 R, w
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that8 T1 P& Y$ _% E
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
1 O4 K* j, u( B( hsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
: H) }' h! L' N: {. ^! {"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
- G4 z* p3 _: A' T: T) L" ~causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
$ [5 ?, ^, j" x$ @However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected( V' N# t9 Z9 ]8 O- L! N
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
+ D1 ^2 X5 v5 c ^( E4 A! atrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& [' y; o( Q. ?2 V/ R4 q9 @mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
3 H* j5 y0 N. q8 z" a9 @He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal+ [5 r1 e8 x+ }1 N# a
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp. i6 d }# Z" d, D* n
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be# X, s# B% x3 H+ i4 L j
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
K) }$ h! a+ r$ D' rnot stop her runaway Lexus.
# o4 M0 b1 |8 j2 u/ X( J"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville, ?& u/ ? q* q2 x
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second) _' C5 i; u# o+ G4 @
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.; }; P' [% k! m& N+ w( A& B
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues- \* F& v' u( h" k' y* L2 ]
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
; d |1 u8 O% \$ J* B6 L- U. S. V"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has9 {! Y( g# r/ C. k1 K
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
3 V, G, C8 j( U Q* h! ?through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's- I* Q& ?9 ]$ l6 @
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
. h+ o/ ~$ E* I8 u# D- zLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
4 T7 {6 A3 y) K1 n0 K; H8 u+ p" [electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of7 p" ]" R) j( u* ^; a$ T9 o4 ]
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a% w. a9 j2 }$ ^4 s( f$ f
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
7 m$ _ W. o% q5 C* Z9 |said.' M) F" Q7 G0 \5 t; W/ _$ G. t
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what9 L* ^8 \7 f [2 f
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
" d; W6 o# o4 T0 P* c Labout driving our products," Lentz said.# @6 f: ]* p% Q7 f8 T) P1 P8 _
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
: Y: Y1 T: u; e" H$ t. |problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
r4 ^( f4 B; o1 m2 b" q; ]recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
3 L3 k+ J" D& \4 t/ T. R3 e" m fmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
5 W7 Z- x; S3 C% _3 A* Q+ t {unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking0 }7 r9 `* p4 r
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
+ E2 _$ N+ T/ K. V: {0 \9 Bconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of1 f: w+ b4 a- n1 _. g4 D; P
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow9 W; ~# K/ O1 e! ?6 K# A
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" D3 Z' r: z7 Z! v' O4 E
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
! r. g8 y: f8 g1 q9 pof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
2 R/ Z6 R* l8 qLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
: I4 {& H+ n: r' e, a7 G) `brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- a! U0 L0 x. D! a5 C# V
understood the pain.* \5 W m( u) w# C& h- x
"I know what those families go through," he said.* k* g8 k3 N& d2 a* ~# m5 V
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; M/ x5 \) K! |& X
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.8 U9 q) w4 _9 h0 A0 k
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
6 z. Y8 v. C& C( h" uHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
( Z' C- k7 c3 s4 _in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
( C" }% u$ ]' ~ ?& [% qLentz replied: "Not totally."8 f7 \- }9 L7 A6 A
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were7 c0 q1 r( Y! m- O, K8 P
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
: I/ V- x: O' e; `6 v: z7 G3 `0 j; OToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas+ u5 C: a8 a5 {: a
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
M& s; J7 @7 F9 ?/ I' Hvehicles already on the road.
$ X- s$ l- N# g) W* K- }) j9 ~ EMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
$ D7 B1 m. x/ M2 `6 ]before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, x7 O0 P1 `; o T- o6 }responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
( J1 ^& f! w1 w5 }9 \2 Goffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
) |( q: |( o$ ?/ Y" |killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
1 o+ C* V* i! i b% g"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a0 {5 {# R2 @9 {
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" O6 i! ~) _- B4 Y& a
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight4 N+ h6 f V" l2 v% O8 V# a
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
5 h! e* M2 ]$ V _$ Pcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to# W F- M6 A! _
restore the trust of our customers."
3 S1 P3 }: G9 {- ILawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# ?5 v' B2 F, p; N* _$ G- tSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly' n% n6 z- ~4 \4 t4 W; S. v
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --, s1 J% R8 u$ ], g9 b0 b$ T
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and4 h8 k- E$ |, l( {: ]2 x
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
! |) i5 r4 b3 p% D- Fthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 F; Q X; P6 k/ fturn off the engine.
$ b4 ^, u9 i g& i& Z# TFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
6 i+ R/ f A. R- a& nOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ N+ Q" Y+ q+ K0 {5 S1 r9 q5 z$ T"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she9 j) E, C: U6 \" E g; ^5 y
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* p- A1 U9 |5 H8 c/ g4 @ U" x/ n3 T Jto her complaints.; a/ k% d, k, y1 W$ u: g) a) j
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
9 a3 D, m+ f. j% [' Sreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
* N$ o1 N& D5 G& P7 Emalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
G- I9 }: T7 j' v( O9 B: J"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
8 z: H1 L! y9 o t3 B) xthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" a5 |. \# E- q1 a$ I5 h0 y
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut l* c. ~' D1 y/ \( O
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."+ n0 J7 W7 E. W
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
6 |+ l2 M# a( f! A( e/ X# S0 S: nprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
" U( a. U; s8 U$ A0 P# Abeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls# W6 T" v- C, E( M
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer) D R& f4 D5 v: e% e
every question."1 O. z0 R. u$ X9 x" W. H8 s* E
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
" W9 M! A# J) t* o- zelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# @0 S, w/ n' F; Q6 Gfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But' w% e( b/ A* c5 w" b5 X
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small( B X7 r/ c* m# ]7 I. {3 T
number of vehicles
8 ]8 [1 U4 n# n' j# y( _; h1 ATracking down an electrical problem can be far more, h j2 K+ a5 I8 I' P6 O7 v+ k
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
5 F T: S# m4 Vmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 d: s h' u( i9 O( K3 O7 Gsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car./ h' t5 v+ e5 S- R9 `
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, G2 f0 R5 x: l! S8 ?4 s! `
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
7 r5 E. Z, V" C) {& etrace at all.$ o7 X. ?4 [" _4 y# K" |( m
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call* B7 U+ ]3 z% J, e3 O7 p( W/ g J
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden" w& X2 v8 J/ P6 R, m- d1 R
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the5 c2 A; Y# N( Z; M$ k
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
. s; x$ |4 B" J2 v, _: LRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% Z% S% B4 {% w `* Bsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and2 E: L* G# }, m; ]3 S. g; {5 c
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the' d3 A% w3 t+ O0 J
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible" u* D# Q7 ?5 v8 E/ a
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
4 @- N# @- t0 E! t6 b* X% ^- Isuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% n4 S- T) o, M9 a) iby Toyota's lawyers.". y7 `1 @& O" \0 c
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of! _! j; ?1 u( S
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our$ D0 H( z& ~1 E$ K
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
. m# M* ~' u6 ~5 m$ jsaid.
6 x% P, h7 I; i2 y$ {$ P"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with% `& K8 _* S8 r, k' \
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
0 ]( [' b( E+ J6 cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating. v7 A2 G3 o6 E! M4 P
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.% U6 _/ f0 O$ v: L) Y" p7 H" ^8 v
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
% [: q8 E4 Q8 m4 K4 Z5 t, Amembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread9 Y7 E1 f" j) c; F( }) H
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the3 b9 p( F' d' d) S4 \' V0 H `
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 f# D- q/ v% {" @investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and+ a4 I) t7 j, y+ A% W6 f
Chrysler.
9 c* m: |* ?5 p/ v4 l1 d' O& y"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
1 G& W I" B/ g6 Fdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a6 w I# v& _4 J" {6 q$ v
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also" m3 H( I( k1 N9 c( n/ ]. n% d/ O0 [
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete3 j+ M$ ^: P( F! R+ E1 q
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty9 q5 G" r5 m7 J4 I- A
tough."
" M+ ^; ?& H. A: x/ I---: l4 b( I% `3 M4 X3 S! `
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom* w# t v. O- t3 i/ S
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to/ b$ W8 }5 I$ V! y8 C7 A' l
this story.
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4 y6 W" ~% C! u+ K. w p, R" }" Y-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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