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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题; }/ k0 s/ u( J6 c g ]
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS5 P" Q8 K) ~% c
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.1 g; N' w6 m( B/ e2 N
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
! D2 ?- K; E4 ^3 X: sthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
' Y' z! m7 O1 R4 Csolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.7 s# L: v3 }" E3 m) g
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: D; T8 t3 m# v$ ]* u
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.( _- j* q8 D0 r! Z
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
! P9 c( c( s8 ?acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
' S8 O* x- k6 b9 n" I3 ltrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
* x. B% b5 J* l. e* Omats and sticking accelerator pedals.) |, J- K! g4 @/ G% k1 m# L- Z
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
2 b% }* v2 V: [! d4 k W- Cand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
5 S) Z: W3 L2 i+ Mcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
4 X- v- L3 M! m! hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
8 C5 {9 Z% }* M9 ~not stop her runaway Lexus.
4 X- b! k8 s5 U"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,1 ?, y: D$ X* M5 i: \* i2 e6 s
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
3 H8 F2 _; Z1 F# o, h9 `"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.5 w- p8 I% ~) I \, X. ~2 n
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues( C7 y; ?7 j7 Y- q, g: [
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
# b1 p' B- L0 i1 R- |) A( Z"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
2 m U- }" U1 I4 W( fdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
3 O1 I0 A$ x5 { b8 X4 z: A4 athrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's1 m S; k8 B$ C
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.", E4 ^& _0 y+ Z4 v. L5 w
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an4 B9 o" p& a+ w8 z( x, g
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of# Y8 D1 K. l$ ]3 V
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a) M8 N5 o# @0 l) A) ]# F$ U
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
+ e0 L8 Y& n! Tsaid.! G8 }( Q1 t3 p/ u- Z# _) T
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
P& {; C' }& `8 nhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
w9 V+ x9 j: @, pabout driving our products," Lentz said.9 V/ s$ H9 M/ c* v. k- S \4 `: I
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's$ j+ C8 T5 L" Q
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
$ G3 T4 T+ l2 z; o: Y0 u' s8 Vrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
2 q' }( j- l3 v* f$ U/ gmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of6 v" ~6 ]$ m+ {5 {
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking! d( v0 r4 m$ L4 D4 H4 E6 \
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering: L4 F' _- j* e% _1 x/ Z0 q, A7 f
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
& M0 v4 @9 e- e* F qtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow+ o3 I' C& E6 P
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has" ~) U* x+ y0 o& b# ?2 v' q
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
1 D* m _2 a1 ~of Toyota vehicles since 2000.5 \) u: I& l! F3 v6 N1 s4 K
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own5 P! r: E8 W8 v c2 ~) U) S
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he! `3 F0 d4 t) s5 f! e! t% R
understood the pain.
+ r5 m5 n# `( q" p"I know what those families go through," he said.8 g2 w' t9 q, x# f: r% i: M
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
* |. z9 w: S1 ^5 y; m+ A! o) x8 Bfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.* N) b. Q/ e+ R
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman3 S' B) p2 Z- O! r7 J
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put! c) @6 n% V' c0 Z: B2 t
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
P! O3 g/ u! H/ V. ?6 WLentz replied: "Not totally."
' e: h9 ]7 L M: g( h# MStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 i+ [ u. I1 D
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said9 x, f- i6 q9 i. C
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
( o) b6 e. ~/ u/ E/ r B0 Zpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
+ ~- g% I4 B+ W+ u* _1 L3 [vehicles already on the road.# k \* \' z, E. \2 r: `. P
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify3 ^8 j L8 J% H* g4 r4 y
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full! q6 ^7 b% L1 ?; i
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ p3 N' N1 `6 d7 ooffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were2 k) L0 H5 D Q3 O" n
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.2 m4 D) q- L3 Z+ r: E4 w
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a" h6 n1 Z3 r3 E
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
6 s- T% ~2 n* q3 k0 q3 t. v1 Nfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
- I+ R& ]' {( g( vCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
6 E! D& f/ n; A- s+ z2 Gcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to o! |. w8 H; e1 I$ i- _7 q5 p
restore the trust of our customers."8 m, s3 i8 w! ~, C4 g/ l2 S% Z' x
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# b% E, i# t) A+ \- Z# v8 `0 DSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly: z5 X+ j5 \+ _8 I* R8 [( b8 V
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --2 R; d8 o' ]. u# a! k
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and( ^* u7 C+ K. P9 Y, I+ }% A
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough7 P: t5 E% n. l! I: V4 M
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and( d) d: I9 }0 p( h$ m
turn off the engine.
9 f5 ~" ~# {8 S1 R% x& zFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
/ }3 O/ X9 \0 O% A9 f' hOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
8 f! I/ o: W1 K1 k0 ^( r5 }"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she; F8 Q1 z& Q% z+ ~2 u8 ?/ j. S
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond& ^2 Y @2 Q! k1 B
to her complaints.
5 P, y. @+ Y0 [6 H$ q& u- m+ iIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers0 }, E. J7 V1 z( s0 U* ]& X! Z
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic5 O1 w% p3 q, L' ^
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.; Q2 U& ?- t; w6 p
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric% O0 e6 U. [: M% _% |$ d+ i k' J
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited% Q# \& s7 l3 Q$ A+ j7 A
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut e& G9 ^! C# @, K; E; U! D
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
( K% h% y/ e5 E8 V, aTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
7 l* j! B# D, V6 ?prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 H" d0 V3 b9 L% H% f
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
/ p& W/ R: N! z; I2 @: M& e) |were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer- u. N6 `. Q- {
every question."5 @) [* Z4 @9 Z) f/ D* v
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
, Z1 G; e8 Z6 s# z# belectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The) o# `/ P7 v/ B, I# f
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But9 c5 T" L7 }6 q2 l4 {* `2 U9 z* k
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
5 S. z3 y7 P. `number of vehicles
$ H9 E# G, M B4 [Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
# b& b3 C# s; x( \1 ~4 ^+ ]- cdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a; F0 B( g4 H7 _
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one) \0 L* L3 G ^1 }' P
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car." N% Y9 c, o: G2 l: \$ F1 [
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
3 Y6 ?8 f5 c! [. y3 J2 |where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no; e5 G. m- s- I$ t' K
trace at all.
1 Z) w1 d @$ jHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call5 P4 o% M, v1 f9 J
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden4 M2 C9 b+ F4 J& K
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
- _; c8 B" G3 B. ^# y9 J$ erecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.5 k9 Z5 Y, P7 X1 r
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
5 y4 ~+ _) e" b2 w! T% a" Ysaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
( s& \/ a/ y; A! ^* S% `other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
4 B- X+ i: v2 T! }2 e1 u4 delectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
* {; X4 J/ R" z+ ?/ M; b+ g! I, Acause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
& d) s5 o4 ? M+ s5 j( r9 Xsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained& U* i. @ K% I. s j
by Toyota's lawyers."
( R/ A" ]9 _# T7 l! }8 e. `Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
, [4 z/ R: N5 e* c) ?5 mproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our) j8 ]/ f* }# E
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
& u% h" E2 {8 T, Y6 jsaid.: g) c7 o4 J3 Y4 x# N. Y. n' ~
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with; F( R. {6 Z6 E- W( d8 o6 s" {# z
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our# n: w4 {9 p, v! } Z! n9 M
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating. {( \. i$ C. I
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
% z- G' v0 D( ^* ^+ K# d& dSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( W6 [- j: W$ a1 J. D& E. X) `members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
7 X% I; F' Q% y( h5 c# mrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
4 W' ]- e: d/ v+ Xautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 n- t k3 {* l b2 |5 ]5 F/ Tinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
) @) ~" q" i& w& f* jChrysler.! U7 F9 x! S2 i2 v) D( l' s, u
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 u# |1 E5 e. _& K9 a/ P' h) x' Z
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
7 i; a+ x$ e7 GHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also# j. c ] A# M" o/ |: u" J9 G b `
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
% }& U( o+ z& I( Y' Mwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
& e- L3 V( n6 Q1 M% d3 A# P# ^tough."
& y( Z( d+ C$ R- P---* a1 q, m" x G/ V: S" H4 P8 ]6 g2 p
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom% r% m$ V) e3 |4 V# \2 ?
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
5 G( n- y, H' W% P0 M, Zthis story.5 G. {: ~; y8 @
! `& b7 O+ r7 r-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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