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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题4 r: i2 g2 G# [2 [; C9 w
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
1 u1 D+ l8 l% C7 VWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% R& m( Q m- ^8 n- H% F
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
) J8 F0 o* y7 U# kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
& F7 f1 V6 \) P) x2 nsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& ^: F6 E; m% }) q% o"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential1 |$ g* a; L1 g2 q1 S+ e3 m V
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
9 b* }. S# E+ N+ n! lHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected9 x. B+ z) @1 @6 x9 s# K* Q
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
& E1 V4 F A) J$ `6 _! Atrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
& ~) ?) N+ W: X) h; Q* F2 k; Fmats and sticking accelerator pedals.* g- L5 a- j, z4 S# q
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal K O8 T) p$ K% y9 k! j
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
) X9 a2 n" B, F. F5 Hcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be' r$ [& p& K2 y7 G
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
( u0 {2 y6 d. X, x* V- ]4 |not stop her runaway Lexus.
Q- `3 o5 G: E* {0 s/ n"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
0 P1 O1 w" d! f5 Z& ?Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
' Z% i9 x) }* l6 n$ ]2 N$ P! A"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.( o# O4 K3 \; L: f; u. n( m
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues4 J5 _' t: Q! o. g8 w& \
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said! U+ u, j* T! u/ [' @
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
2 F! J- l) v$ g8 i ldone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway$ P" v2 e3 W; a: S3 z
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's* n* x, \" i% z) A3 }
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."0 l$ x3 T4 o; ?* s [
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
- V& S; L5 J1 S( i: G) Ielectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
- C& b- q, b L' Kthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
5 |: y! U9 @! w, H3 vmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 N2 E/ l: X) h9 ^( s. |said.8 }$ X. N* A7 ~: ^& }6 @, l% c
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
" t+ P2 x- X+ q' Zhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe5 ~1 X' F/ r8 B& K
about driving our products," Lentz said.. o6 l( s2 e) o- F9 |# x
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's R6 R$ h: f1 j$ M/ Y, t( n* ?
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has, c8 V+ I9 H6 X# q: u5 g- N
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6( l1 w* c; K9 G# n' p7 B
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
1 P) J5 {( `* {$ z' Eunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
2 y" Q# B3 |4 O. Dissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
, l m, _# G# b. F. bconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
% ^- P( C( z/ d( ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow6 {. E! `& x! j. m) N8 ^; N, m
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( v+ T* ^8 V4 @. h
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
* }* [% l! W1 `+ b+ s7 u; Oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
) X; Y8 ~: s$ V) z2 YLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own- M& G8 o' O) H6 d; {
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he$ Q* `2 [) `$ z7 l& V
understood the pain.( X* C7 ^1 L* @4 s
"I know what those families go through," he said.
6 p# l! P+ a! v8 k; }# o' ?Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; u" t: X* R! C' f) K; m! B
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems./ ]" s3 k$ z2 {. L4 v0 C
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
1 q! s4 k+ r- g6 W lHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
' I0 y7 {: R- {in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
/ h$ s' \) t3 ]Lentz replied: "Not totally."
% g2 j) `1 y0 r5 S# \Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were* X/ T& m; a- i* b2 H
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
0 \; s+ k/ e; Z, O; I; T, U+ CToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
% V' L& v; c, Q6 Dpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its' j- l+ q5 c; f: Y
vehicles already on the road.' O% [) J; \/ a' i* z
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
( J# h9 t8 W3 O4 i- Abefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
- }' N( d) `8 {6 dresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and/ x+ E* W: d7 X% c( B; A
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
5 H" t/ [0 v1 @: ]! W4 c' Ikilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
8 J8 x) y* T4 m( l, f; L O"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a) V: C5 W5 s7 n+ M/ E9 F
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
: X4 y1 x) ~7 zfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight. X% }& r7 V, I3 k% w# J6 @
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
$ }& B3 c( l' k2 p* Z8 e# e9 h" Zcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to2 X b! r9 C, p r( y9 Y
restore the trust of our customers."
9 Y' k! X+ z" KLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from3 \. A: E K8 Z) l
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly8 J9 {5 ?. }# R2 f7 q5 F
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --- j, H9 W! z1 l- A4 i1 t4 ~
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
" o3 I0 g1 `" Zhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
, a7 Y& ^ F- l2 k/ X/ cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and4 u2 }: m% ]4 Y6 H& @! j
turn off the engine.; F8 T0 G! w/ q
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of @9 S! t! x4 t! ~5 e
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
- Y5 D; L( p$ [7 t"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she+ L% `+ H' ^4 q
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond1 P9 V# \- J, z/ Y
to her complaints.
+ c7 P& U) |. I. E! q. j X( K& nIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
) R* z7 U2 Z6 }8 S; `( b9 Y3 E1 [returned again and again to the question of whether electronic6 J3 t- |+ D. [$ a# t
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
' ^8 f; W+ F/ j* O9 C"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
* F3 E2 `/ X$ U% e% Dthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited. G4 v% m. Z: K% e5 i
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut, P& Y# c, N8 b& d
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
+ e! b9 i- l2 m( O3 dTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
" A. o& L6 w1 O1 Bprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were+ F, S' q: Q& J/ d% W: z
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls: x. L+ c& [4 V/ c+ P; \
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
' A0 }1 ^0 z v# l' g/ c: e. O; qevery question."
+ o- P% ~8 o; R' V) i, MToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
2 \9 @/ ^' z- L- b% V) \electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
$ A! ~6 o) v/ P4 t8 tfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But6 B* C3 v9 H ~: \
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small! s5 l2 O, @$ B; _" w
number of vehicles
9 @+ I5 _5 i d7 _9 {# m6 H9 LTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
# c0 I8 o, E+ a4 G9 Z# p _difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a. x' W1 Q/ N- {3 R; t, B. n
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one) k+ Q) q4 C/ {0 c" A
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
: d+ \2 J9 a9 w+ [! h- [$ x7 ~" q6 b6 TMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,1 x& }$ Y* g8 S! M
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no/ j& e. u$ R1 B! H- s
trace at all.( ?5 n5 ]- z) o$ v
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call1 p7 |9 E0 h5 M8 F3 s
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
$ ~2 {. c( t0 u& a! Z% y1 kacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the; w1 Z/ m; w8 ?
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
/ f1 g! T. c0 q$ {Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
2 D0 m2 L) X8 g" ^" B2 \# |said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
1 L. O7 K" m e( W: `! e! hother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
* g4 o) W5 z. @% F2 telectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 f8 u5 r N2 O' V0 ^cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only$ }4 P: W& b" ~) r, y6 f/ r
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained3 n' S" `! |" I
by Toyota's lawyers.". \ t) K7 T7 k: s Y
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
/ F+ @0 w0 K3 @6 N) ]! Rproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our7 a: |! e0 r: C2 z. x3 p# ]; p
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
% z- G2 w/ J* N0 _# r$ @said.6 a( L; _3 u* v4 p1 Q
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with( l- X4 ~/ a8 R5 Y: g
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our( G$ M6 A3 h0 } p( E2 m% ^
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating, y: k7 S4 c2 C! l* c
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 r' r4 T9 ~ e& E. B2 T$ vSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying* d) _1 |2 y! J2 z* t/ \
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
3 J! |) X, }2 |" c7 u6 h# [rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
! s4 C& C: w2 e( M4 Dautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
" f9 y% Y ^0 s6 d6 A0 U; pinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and7 t. }* e H( y6 M
Chrysler. h( u+ ~% ~7 n; [1 j7 D- N/ v
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
3 Z8 ~4 U1 x7 L# [; }dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
4 z& m5 b) A2 q3 H" MHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also3 V, O$ S, ]7 H2 ~, o* _
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete/ ^% H0 e6 C7 s& p& n3 l
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty- }3 ?' M: n& X4 x
tough.") S$ K3 C1 B( v: R5 Q, N
---* |' s( X. h3 k5 N/ [2 g
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
2 L( K& d) E) r* p# b8 q! rRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to' Z7 k+ n3 F4 V+ w
this story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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