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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题9 i$ w* [- A' x6 I \$ L
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
9 \4 h$ J! z) [6 O/ O' p/ xWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
3 M$ b: V2 A- W+ ^: xoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that+ M2 Y% s4 a5 }2 H9 R+ G: P, R# h( J
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"' t9 [3 V/ z$ S. |( `1 F# D; S
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; @5 O# A/ x- m. ^7 _! W
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
, o$ K$ |, L; j: M5 N' _+ [( ~causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.9 `% x5 W: j @/ a0 |" _8 N! V& T
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
~; C M% ]' pacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
1 m5 T8 e. e w% Y strucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& O* |( e: F! p# d* ~mats and sticking accelerator pedals.- ]. c% O. W, X' |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal- X$ t- f1 T8 j9 v, K- G
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp+ K# Z5 ]7 X7 V( u7 g1 i- x
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be& v- _$ i H& C- y) k% t
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could9 A1 W+ t4 r2 e$ P* ^
not stop her runaway Lexus./ r, s! `; e! h1 j; J) I3 j
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,: o3 o& ~. a" B; x- q5 `
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
( s: T( n' y' X% E& ?* f( l"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
2 f% d3 I ~) [8 RTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
# W( f& w% o9 Y3 N9 P. F {early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
3 `3 y* j/ k1 P7 x9 W"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has' Q8 d( X5 a7 G/ @
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway ^# I8 M# ~$ G! t& W O
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's' x9 C5 l. ^% E, F+ a7 T6 n; Q
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."0 }, B* u% x' F: Y( Z5 I" e# D2 s4 z
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an, C# u! Y& X9 ` w& x3 F
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
" ~: v! C2 ^4 L3 u" E& m+ n, Gthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
5 o) I6 H6 A5 I8 V+ Wmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
. ?5 h" i$ H' _4 V8 xsaid.; k1 E2 w4 K |( v: |7 v
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
2 B# L3 @% _ x. b: p3 _, Thappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe I. ^$ o' [- e. E, |4 E$ E
about driving our products," Lentz said./ d5 p5 l" r& Y
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's, [+ Q) A. c1 ]; u( D- t7 ^$ \
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 ^' _+ b* M6 j! W. c/ O2 ]- H7 A4 }
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 63 z# c' f# h% w
million in the United States -- since last fall because of4 { j0 k3 G9 Q; c2 T0 h: K% O7 d. G
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
: y% R" o4 k6 h9 Vissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering H7 M( ]7 L: Z0 ^3 e5 k
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of9 l3 F5 T& `, Y8 D, I
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
2 B6 h0 Y+ @! j8 Cdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
, K& Z% `& i. Mreceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
$ q& f: b; A1 k2 P) @/ W, nof Toyota vehicles since 2000.- W: `" I9 Q) j6 I
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 X$ E3 Y( L7 L+ J. `' {
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
, w1 |! J: I) ]* h/ C {/ E9 @understood the pain.
: [' D: ^, O+ i4 h: e, E# B6 s$ g"I know what those families go through," he said., k/ g! P: J# p
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's4 U" t; _6 C+ y5 n E8 D$ f
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 L' t. S: f5 ^3 V" l
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
/ S8 [( s8 P1 q0 z, R/ _Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put6 p' i, p# R! \# n) G0 ^
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
! o; |/ c$ Y: H6 t. ^( g6 oLentz replied: "Not totally."9 L, S5 n) ^0 J8 H
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were9 K2 y8 a; P' Z7 _
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said9 `" w1 f$ O0 }; K+ E) g% F
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
3 N5 C# {2 u+ Jpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its/ R. m/ u4 q- s( b; P8 ^: R
vehicles already on the road.
/ x$ V, R+ y; A# b5 nMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify3 Q( W- |4 p G# x, V' R% }' e. g* N
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full8 J' ?2 O- i. b/ A0 O
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and Q" {# m& l* z% V* [* u: f2 D
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were. w: b. X0 K+ B' `; M1 X
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
6 u4 E/ |7 }$ a/ }+ i- @" v# A9 \"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
5 _% r# Q p: |# [4 ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
' @( y8 Z1 b* x0 E# @* s8 mfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
' S7 f) O3 r" N- PCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal; T! U- H& f+ i% F$ x* M8 g* N8 s
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to" l* e6 w5 M! D2 ?- X- o! v
restore the trust of our customers."' u! c2 c6 S1 g7 U) Y9 d
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from& X6 j9 D8 d( N. j
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
1 r, Y7 O7 y- G9 J, uzoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
2 n3 B' \' r( C# S! \shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and/ c: f* w8 c6 k
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
& @% K3 [% [( _5 W( Othat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
& O4 @. u- R0 C0 _( |turn off the engine.7 L$ }$ G( y8 Y, L& N
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of! [2 e1 a: \$ X# C8 S! _. _& n
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
$ I! r1 @2 {; T; d3 A X9 o0 g"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
4 Q9 D3 C* x- ?3 lsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
% I* o8 T/ E: ^# Nto her complaints.
# `0 b) Z5 _3 v; ]6 R6 z% fIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; i1 T6 H- B, V! s: v( F0 ]9 u* ]
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic# y9 J% [" ~4 R. c* D# U" e
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
* L* R9 p( J% g"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
/ B; X* K+ i' [- B& _throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited6 ]: l( l# H4 Q, Z8 H
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut; [; G! d$ A9 T% z9 W$ k
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure.". E }2 W7 `2 B2 V
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in3 c# y4 I) w; I
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
6 O: M# F3 M y; O% ?1 z0 ]* Ybeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
+ D" o z9 v: G7 G3 g5 Wwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer8 G4 A- Z( c5 Y0 w, D0 U# q
every question."
0 L1 l3 Q1 g, n& P1 uToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
+ C) c% [& R2 Delectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
' N; k' V. M" j. `! X8 t t/ ufirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But$ d' C9 ~0 K K
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
. x6 e: I t6 O v# Z) Tnumber of vehicles
1 a2 O% c$ h8 d, STracking down an electrical problem can be far more) ], q, ^9 s) w# b8 l9 Q1 W" H. l
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
( O3 Q& H: b6 d$ @, I0 X8 Amechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one" h8 f7 x& U( n Q. b! K+ x" F: O8 {5 s
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
3 s! C) i; Y! {! B5 s2 K/ O" }Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
5 i/ n5 D; {" q( bwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no( [! {# T) @7 j* s
trace at all.$ ^$ O) r+ X* R: R( ]1 g
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
+ c3 u+ n4 ^( Y1 h5 b* pdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
# o) m0 X6 e2 K1 I) k8 y4 b7 Qacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
/ P$ M' t. b* ? x) ?3 X8 B( A9 krecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 n% r9 i, | R% o0 N$ LRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,5 E3 U. L4 Q- C {& @$ W6 a
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
8 n) `+ B* d/ `% V2 ^+ N- Oother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
" @6 R4 q/ I/ Z) m5 M; j0 Velectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible( Q4 H: @! z" E1 f6 p9 o$ [* d9 ~- ^
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only) I' A3 R3 F0 }# w+ U0 v
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
6 j7 q; P/ ]8 c9 n0 hby Toyota's lawyers."
0 s# @6 S2 f J5 |. D3 CLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
$ X' H/ [0 L( C6 Kproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! K+ G @6 S2 P6 C4 Tcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he8 v, ?+ P" P; g) l' n" Y; z
said.9 z5 [% Z* ?* U5 f8 B5 [% T8 C
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with' c; U0 k2 v9 Y) C: R! r1 C6 |
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
$ m1 p7 D' g5 X- t/ N/ ~) Y$ ?4 V9 ]good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
, L) N* S8 x6 [$ v' H: wofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
, V; y6 f( c% ]Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying/ Q# w) N" \- ^ \
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: ?- G0 M* @. o
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
' i7 U' Y0 X, N# g1 P" Zautomaker, at least in part because of the government's! P1 R5 y0 z# A2 y1 y6 f/ A/ r
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and2 d! m3 c3 J7 n4 w/ R
Chrysler." n/ D K+ Q# s( a ]
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
$ r0 u6 v5 C; c# U( ydollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a% X7 W7 a* ]- k& |
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
3 t, ]9 V6 y9 r. R+ B# ?- iserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
$ @% g2 s8 [0 r0 n" C% @with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty( h; f; k' R7 {3 _" z: ~0 m7 d
tough."1 T# q0 n3 y) x" O2 u0 i7 e% f6 u% Z
---
. }1 g6 _8 @4 F0 ]Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom7 R6 L6 R1 [9 }: }! K8 w
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to2 P# M! J) Z" o9 s. _( l
this story.' b& ?. @; E7 n9 c8 S, o/ V
5 U+ d, c6 r% m* c; n+ H. Z' H-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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