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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题4 ^/ l4 ^# l o, M9 X* D
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS2 S' e2 _4 Q1 i! y8 V
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% s5 g2 K' {0 Z; p) ]
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that, B& y i# l& c e
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"7 N1 g" Z) V! y) b2 [
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
0 D6 w9 g. Y& A2 Z; X) M"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential: f3 O/ d5 B8 o- T, A
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.% S3 Y2 S* B# W/ C, ~( L/ i: s. j
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected1 w5 q% g4 }4 ~6 i1 t' g) `! N- x2 L
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
* q% G/ A& N- E s# Y4 \trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor. v! v0 E" D1 T1 R8 n
mats and sticking accelerator pedals." Q( n/ J% L" M, N
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal6 j( c. F3 s5 f" ?
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp) g4 q8 i; X) g$ V z
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
1 M! K f) B- M, `* B; V7 jfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
* K8 E' c. O! F! V8 pnot stop her runaway Lexus.
+ V' Q# ]! E: [3 n"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville, e" g' X9 m- G( {3 }# V2 D
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second4 ?2 V" C$ I" w4 L8 E
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
$ A1 T7 _. d* I. ^! g cTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
/ y! r0 H% t; [. p$ h9 Mearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said& ?% ~! G! n5 ~( _. \8 a$ s$ D, o% ^- [
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
" v2 [, f& a- t2 Ydone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
" h2 q! A# s b# Z; Mthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's e5 _, i4 }; L0 m& {
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
5 d$ k G" s4 |; dLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
4 z) Y- @! V* J7 helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
I# M$ K+ \9 `( y* othe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
/ p6 V. A5 ~( G5 F) f; i6 ^malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
5 A# M0 p5 T+ ?) f+ H$ Rsaid.: U0 g6 H6 O# D! ? Y
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what4 j$ O( A) g9 x* e5 `
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe, l3 R2 Q P' J& k* A3 {1 r
about driving our products," Lentz said., A6 ]% ?3 v7 }" ^: h
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
1 d5 b' G5 B- _* m9 m2 cproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has2 O5 I" C' j( _" S8 b- D! a4 C8 [
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6) N8 y( N+ b9 `+ O! T
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
?3 o& r) X% x7 ]7 @0 runintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
2 ^4 R( l. q/ }5 p. l/ Cissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
- J: e' A! m' t- H6 vconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of6 {9 ?9 ^- _! A6 l3 L
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
& f* |5 f1 j9 _+ gdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 B% J: N0 B; ^7 y
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
3 Z8 f# ]+ @9 @3 Z6 V: Hof Toyota vehicles since 2000.4 Z- C* i6 ^+ c' n3 \6 {1 k- \( s8 `
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
) n6 V0 t" Z( z I m7 ~, J( Fbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
+ X1 C" A; }# A" b4 D) \understood the pain.: O( W9 K. X- j' H+ b
"I know what those families go through," he said.( i! M2 R" R: M& k
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
! y1 D- E5 ~% Y& Xfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
q' g$ ^; F e9 V, OBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
, ~% Z5 [. I9 y% T3 nHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put5 p9 ?& @& c' _7 J- y
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,- K% h: l3 J3 Z9 ^; F
Lentz replied: "Not totally."" L2 J$ V) ?( [5 p4 R
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were" Y f- L2 z" `9 N1 g# k2 }& ?
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
8 P0 ]5 u' ^+ g7 M& q4 e" S7 D9 PToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas$ p; D; L6 S& j: S8 x: ]- x2 Q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
% z, I2 f5 f+ ]4 `( F5 Dvehicles already on the road./ Y9 n! M% r7 E
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify% ] u% C& l+ i' [1 v+ Y- k" i# B# ?
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
( w, G2 i' c/ E! G( qresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and# E7 O( B- s3 K+ `
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
4 ^! y( h' G0 n# s& Nkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.) T: \- I' |/ r
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a' L) d5 N" V) Q7 P4 x: u2 q( ]- g( m
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony5 G6 f) V% B- A8 p w4 y1 c) t1 M/ f
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight& s) J; I: r0 _
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal. E/ t6 [0 r7 @ s4 N l0 B
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
/ o7 p% L, K9 a4 D3 Grestore the trust of our customers."
; y3 p7 J4 }! a6 @7 i* i5 ULawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from! @% {' f; M( D. h% n
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
I0 c4 _# B1 J M- Szoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --, w# ^4 |4 Y' B! ]$ l6 x
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
* M2 {( ?; u6 Nhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough1 G! h/ Y& c" {, ~+ }
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and& B" D# q( q4 i X
turn off the engine.
& S- c! o O; E+ gFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
$ R2 w k; A5 D5 nOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
! x# ~7 g+ \1 ^ O6 M) d"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she, M- {6 C* W- j9 U
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
" b/ V/ }9 n8 W" l5 P3 b- m) k; pto her complaints.
% z( J$ L- X; k! m9 SIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers; s0 @6 U! X6 S
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic/ ^' ]! h( X4 b, g9 B
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.: o$ o) G# v9 d2 a; ], ]( O2 U
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric5 y. i' a i' [6 t6 h7 e( G
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited" z, b/ o( b4 `
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
3 G0 p1 z4 ~: q! Q2 ?& O5 L( `off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."3 K1 b1 X4 [# Z& R5 p9 ~
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
! p$ `6 K( J3 H' t d1 s/ c1 Yprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
2 V0 D4 l# {' Y0 w! f dbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
/ _0 J% V& V& {* Q5 V1 K4 u2 Fwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
2 w4 a! Z$ ^5 \) j: Qevery question." N* F( i1 S; L; h( e7 ?5 ]
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether% f- Z* g! H! |+ X9 ^2 e& a6 e
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The! W( Z7 {2 \' X- ?
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
6 Q: E( O- k5 a( tcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
) J7 Q" M$ j! S# Znumber of vehicles3 c5 q6 ^. Z8 p1 j/ w. n
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more8 u- M$ r1 Y# Z/ N+ I- C; W0 G
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 V; O9 a) U. p* [ nmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
+ ]) `1 |3 a3 D5 ysource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
4 {6 y W) j+ B; r! ^" @+ a, | u9 LMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
- Y) j+ a0 ~. V4 G$ |where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
1 ^1 V7 a4 I& W2 L: Ntrace at all.' _3 b* R z0 } b1 T( n
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
1 P% f) v9 C; V' ^# ^3 b4 S8 \- udatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden& I. ?% W% G- @+ ?/ P
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the8 n7 D* m5 u9 b% ?9 T
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.3 k1 v' a$ R" ?; k( e
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& w3 e+ r) S8 T Z3 Rsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
- L* C4 x, C1 z1 f/ N( nother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
3 g7 i( s) e( ], K1 ~5 Telectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
% Z u3 {8 d; M, t+ b2 d0 U+ ccause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only4 r* i. C- D' s0 u6 x
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained% O5 ?% r( e% U; N: n% b
by Toyota's lawyers."" b! A) `3 ^* v! B9 W
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 {' E) h1 u; A6 G6 [+ j
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our: ^$ Z: {( }! F: W7 A
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
" }$ O9 ?* d3 e/ f" [# Z- X: nsaid.& W0 Z0 y' l9 I
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with$ [4 m6 b7 l* U
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our1 v' C& }* q" [; E0 Q- l: ]
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating2 N4 g6 @6 e! q8 j6 |! ^! T
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
' T, D3 l3 f r* i U. lSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
. `& Z. I: E xmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
3 ^" l; R" V- g' U5 d% o' grancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
: P8 d c# F: gautomaker, at least in part because of the government's' l# y9 h1 }8 J7 e* h
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and" q0 U" K' q& n- ?, b' s, I2 \8 l( f( j( Q
Chrysler." D) q4 H5 t* q* W
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax- H( u D1 w( g# i
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a+ s4 o- t* X* d7 Q! l
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also; k0 x; x2 t! l6 S. W: j
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete3 e" J$ `! i. G3 U
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty) q; a: d% Q6 }3 s- ]: D
tough."4 [2 o5 Z6 Y) U6 E/ F! V0 H# F
---
% `: {" T1 {7 o- X! u1 A7 Z9 jAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom( R6 [/ D6 J+ z/ X/ l! q
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
; x9 e( A. b# {this story.# s( b( a6 K# }" J( O
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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