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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题" a8 f6 t1 w! Q. M7 b
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
/ Z( ~1 w' C/ z! O* oWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
4 e! z( }9 _1 b9 r9 ?8 Eoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
) y. H% Y+ P, ~the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
2 _$ V% p1 o$ ]solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
+ A5 o. E) y. M% b' u: Y% Y* d"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential2 I, V; _) x' `1 u3 \* J5 R# Q
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.3 D& |. [) a) p
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
, H3 E( e5 {- hacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and" i% ], R* n5 M) K! q2 L* g1 J+ I9 n( G
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor/ V* g# d L/ N$ T- n$ H
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
4 f8 h$ `1 o/ bHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal) L9 Z7 |* y U8 h: {3 d6 s. U
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
1 A# z u3 y* J& I* M2 \criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be/ h7 `( T1 i7 t8 o9 `5 C! _
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
: Y: k' \/ F/ L; f6 V( E, Q* jnot stop her runaway Lexus.
3 h4 H- B" f+ U6 d) `"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 N0 [& L2 L: Q- M9 oTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second0 B" I6 o2 R& g
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.1 I) V, t U& ?; D5 U
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues5 }4 s7 ?- _( z% t- p3 B, Q T- v
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said, L, ^% G9 W* d& t
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has% m/ _0 T+ Y6 H: Y
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
3 O6 L: Q4 \+ f. \! Xthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
! C( @3 h8 Z7 u( z+ ainvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."4 @4 z, W" q& U. B. O
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 G) T# h# F, ]& B; {
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
# F# f) T' F6 Y; |6 V* K' N. _8 ]6 S) uthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
' w8 \4 [6 T" p8 R( ymalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 h# E8 Q0 c+ z9 l* A' Qsaid.; _, \- s3 @# [) q2 c
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what# E. c9 z- w9 u4 o
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% r e* x+ j" O( }1 R, Jabout driving our products," Lentz said.
8 _4 P1 K: W& I: p5 j4 ]3 YThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
3 h2 y; R+ s. v$ Lproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has" e+ g) J& @) f; L# `5 z/ G
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
" {, i2 J& a% v3 Z: F$ ^7 P/ g( [2 tmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
3 v# `6 t) \, o5 \9 {1 r) |) ?unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking) s; K9 ~+ f) M* I. d0 N; y$ z
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
5 \, k2 l L/ O& [concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
2 N+ u ~( m0 X% V7 b `; ]. vtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow1 p/ f& w1 Q+ t5 ~$ K
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
3 H/ g) b/ C, Freceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration: d, A0 _/ g8 d% Z* x) |
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.( V) I. v( P" N1 y1 T1 O
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own# |9 H# j% x2 f* P
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
0 s+ o4 c$ n" W7 T4 w3 ^understood the pain.9 F, z0 R$ J" c- d6 R' A, p
"I know what those families go through," he said.; v3 p7 `6 N x3 g, z
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's2 S% x3 z! k* o# f
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
& F2 e+ G3 g8 e% Q/ B$ N' _: qBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
9 p( G0 i U4 S' w" y3 n* q4 RHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put: r3 N2 P9 |$ M1 B
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,3 L0 ?( ?7 v/ a" c2 B) \6 O9 M
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
% r; Q$ Z. j" u% u7 u4 q/ _7 BStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
( D( T9 o* @4 Q"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said, i7 j4 M2 u) L5 m8 j9 d( p
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas. `& k) z/ ~/ D4 c& U
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its0 n( |0 G4 g8 O1 ]) G% W
vehicles already on the road.( c/ q9 l% d6 T. p
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify) {/ {, }2 _- j1 Q$ V% \0 v9 y% b
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full" g0 K; y& N; t$ _' z7 F
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and& q9 V! E8 x+ I9 ?7 k1 F) E
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were$ c% Y- k' i% w$ Q
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
0 I5 k" P- p: A! l9 a0 |& P% c"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a. e+ M3 Y$ z4 Q! E1 S7 }5 }
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony9 }) a% u3 n( ~7 T- I2 J
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
e. l; U+ x4 Y' |Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal+ z) q/ I1 \5 d. q7 l
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to: a8 g, X% L+ P6 c# b, W
restore the trust of our customers."' X2 J) R1 Z+ C' I3 c/ A- E
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# _6 Y; z2 Q0 {7 R- TSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly1 M/ D0 F! h( E; o* s+ V' ^
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --! l0 h7 f; S% p( u
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and) B+ k' |- p. {2 O0 T9 Y
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
1 N) Y+ B: E$ ?! Rthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and: X3 a. G/ M2 D+ I
turn off the engine.
+ Q4 p8 E. j' k9 o3 S1 {+ [/ ?Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
( u2 i3 m5 H& e+ W! g& POctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."4 K) ^3 }' E2 R7 S
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
: L( Z$ g& t" D! dsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; J2 Z) B) w& E- x, m1 v: D1 Q" `# J
to her complaints.4 g/ F4 N- b6 w2 B1 q |
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
7 M7 e. U7 v: a2 H) }3 qreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
a& L- [: ?- T; i7 i$ gmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
8 G( k$ j; w% ?" [. N"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric6 |( y f% K% V8 t( O. D
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited1 ]. A9 N1 L. a: K; [, M
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
* n# N) O e. F, Moff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."6 K0 M$ ]. F' W0 Q& q* k% V
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in5 i' P+ y8 d. N% b- H
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
0 v7 x1 N. k6 \% m+ |being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
( L; e( A2 _% O, dwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
# S# v7 J& {! E& p, M8 pevery question."
. x& E8 }& f/ wToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
; n- C1 m7 T" G: K8 o) O6 helectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
3 w4 _8 R" {2 x/ N0 Afirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
; J/ W" C7 @6 y: {- C+ Zcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small- E8 Z- C/ c4 O: @
number of vehicles
. e7 o, c0 s) yTracking down an electrical problem can be far more2 f7 ]+ \; A2 Y7 `0 E
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a" n3 b& w' K5 x! g
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
+ A: j1 F- ?$ @/ E% S4 \source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.# z! ` m9 t4 y3 v
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
0 E* A( e' [1 v0 G, z. twhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
7 \- P) X7 s3 @trace at all.0 z( `. g/ w+ |( Y2 H/ W
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call7 d, I, r( Y9 t
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
" Q, Q/ Z% I1 ?, z- Y! s" H3 Pacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the0 k e1 g; X$ G) s
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 v* Z: y: l9 I& C; r5 N& R
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
) L5 w5 U% k9 T. Qsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, y' ~. T' W, Y7 B4 H
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the# j5 I" h" G, [- H, K/ l
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
) X3 P9 m4 B2 q* Mcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& d% {- W, q- b& Nsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
" ]( M- r+ q ?by Toyota's lawyers."+ b2 y# v' J& O1 ?4 p
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
1 ~& N$ w; [) g) qproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
}9 \6 M2 u) B! J9 icustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
# K c! [6 F$ s- H& ysaid.$ D' X- Q; Y7 X+ S) z3 s
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
) O: Q% l; e6 S# ma rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our; P' A n4 Y+ c+ o' Z
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
! `; n8 k1 c0 _9 j4 V1 [8 M& [( }officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.; F2 P- C( B# P
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying5 I1 k+ y7 a" M" J
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
$ A5 n7 q' c) N' F/ ?rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the9 \& ?* @2 \' O- @) R c/ J
automaker, at least in part because of the government's8 _0 R7 x2 Y8 e4 a' V) O( O5 p7 b$ R
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and& p4 M$ b- X) s, a! l0 j; f
Chrysler.
3 g9 Q5 l. _7 J6 f5 a"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
+ m/ C# K( w, I9 `9 i, q3 O8 Hdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
( }- | Q8 [. ]9 ?4 A$ gHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also( l* ~1 G! u7 \% D) c4 u
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete+ X4 g+ O: _. F: m' ?' m& R
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
5 D7 `; f v9 R/ d' gtough."
$ m: _5 V# n$ H3 {( C: x---8 f, [ O# H5 q* s2 K/ N/ ]- [
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom* `/ i, A8 [7 s" k& y" ?
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to" u. O- v% J( \8 t- a
this story.
' L/ E1 c) q7 ]; S; z; ?6 n0 V2 \
* G5 g' D8 j# x9 b& c; X+ ~' [-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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