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By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
, W; c# v; L* E! gWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.+ T; U, v2 O$ y A5 a% R
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that% \" l7 [: L! `% B
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"3 H- J" c5 b* o: q% Y+ L9 \
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.9 e& c1 O5 S1 ^4 f
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
) k. j" V9 d6 [9 L+ kcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.* M6 l! U: w4 Z2 w, d% J1 d
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
) [6 u! q4 o& j \7 I x" M# u" Kacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and! O& y8 w( h! @6 _" b7 U
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor+ D9 X6 c4 L- I+ {: m) N8 ~8 x
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.! s" Y! b B4 r: |
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
' Y h0 ?+ O' k6 {) j& [: aand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp1 u( d( | E& I0 {" h
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be2 ^7 x. L7 Q8 u' S7 ?3 B( A( E
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
" L7 E& r7 q) y6 B3 S( Q2 ^not stop her runaway Lexus.1 B! L z1 J& U
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
$ K2 S; i, S$ G5 k4 wTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
7 i8 }& G' G, s, Y" m7 A"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.: n8 W& m, p0 ~2 p' [4 Y. u
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues$ e: G1 x& x9 y r( c% `/ K
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said, p1 m, A2 o$ i! Y' b; C
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has# |7 {! l g3 S* ]( j0 e
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
' j8 {% K; U6 E) l- x8 p$ c9 fthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's4 x# x1 D( s- O7 n- ^, O" A/ K
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
! F% y4 Q! T% G U# n% @; }0 W: z7 _Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an! S' J6 d8 j+ N
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
& A8 b! U5 i# r- [7 u( Q( Nthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a2 r7 Y% W/ t4 x& ~( z- _
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
* [% \' @) J6 \ I( Csaid.2 _' c3 ?) r) `
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what6 K) \" o, g2 A: Q/ p( }
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe9 W9 @. V3 M, ~2 ]0 R4 `( P3 u
about driving our products," Lentz said.
3 v$ l5 E9 H6 nThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's1 `/ i* e$ x8 k& R" s
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
1 | U2 g! N( xrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ F% Z, j+ p/ ?9 z6 s
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
. P! E' N+ U+ M5 \unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking" {6 J# Z m [" C( W$ f9 D, q
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
, l$ g( U% _" l# F$ g# Kconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
G- j8 d* o( P+ |2 ttheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
U8 p! a0 F; @, v4 [down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
% N6 a" u1 N' i3 ~; }' W0 W+ ^received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
' l% A/ g3 r) p. O$ ?of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
7 T k5 J! j; ULentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own, {. P. _% X7 l
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he& e; _3 L% Z$ G
understood the pain.8 a0 D3 j; z5 x4 T5 ]
"I know what those families go through," he said.
. t) Q, F$ Q C3 ~1 g Z0 XLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
+ F* f) O1 o# q/ v( yfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
5 Y% y8 _2 X# f$ \* x) `But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman- j* K5 j( g$ k- r5 @& ^9 d
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
# v4 @( X+ J" j& ~9 y oin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
* D6 X0 K9 d- JLentz replied: "Not totally."& e! \& u1 H8 F' y0 C/ U
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
) h9 V* R& G, s9 C+ Y* _ v( r! Q"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
* n0 X9 @2 D: O1 |, FToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas E6 V, q) @7 u* k0 f" s) L
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its ?9 q p' n1 W2 @) I+ N
vehicles already on the road.+ K& Y0 I9 Q4 M5 F2 e
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
: P) k3 Y3 j* z) X% b: d& [# {0 Xbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
, r' D( L( f6 S4 F& \responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and- \: F: h3 d* |, ?; U* T
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were0 M3 J1 R6 P. N/ }
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.: b7 Q& t# D" o
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
* B3 j* H# |2 ttragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
5 ?$ _7 B& k$ Rfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
- h7 H- S$ X: u0 k- l$ hCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
/ U& Y1 r% W1 f3 jcommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to/ s7 B8 m7 \8 v" m$ C1 Y
restore the trust of our customers."; P$ T; z$ s+ Z" W. R3 H# U" Z5 r C
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
# K {( n# j& r# f9 U9 E( k. dSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly! w4 g2 X' j) k1 I) [5 k# I. |; G; y: ]
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --' [' {# K/ u! g. E& K
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and; s) ]7 F: ^8 ^8 k) a
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough) z g% z( \' H
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and; K7 p! L+ {( b' H
turn off the engine.2 K S7 A8 z4 ^: C( e& w( I
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of9 I' S) p( c; C4 U/ p
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."7 H7 q, W) @2 j: _+ y) l. T
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she. k8 q" @/ R6 _7 x: Q3 z
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
9 b9 a% J4 {0 S) b' t$ Hto her complaints.
, {/ L4 H0 B: g! QIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
( {3 D: z4 K _+ B. K3 {) L1 ]returned again and again to the question of whether electronic: _8 p R; F( ] V a
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
+ ?. l% `! O# f! N4 b* B$ Z"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
& M$ n) p7 b1 o9 uthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited) ?; b3 V$ i# e* B* }
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
: x* A% A/ T1 w4 p8 X9 c0 Xoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
! y, x5 a/ [* t1 u+ KTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
) W q8 B% W& M8 F4 Y7 Aprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were2 }! s4 t W! i, X6 z% t
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
% `$ X8 u* g6 ^9 ], b7 l5 M' ^were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
! S6 N. e: T6 v% \7 hevery question."
7 V1 w' k1 t3 M$ h1 o0 aToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
. R$ i$ J b7 T1 V- G7 M v! |electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The8 P7 R8 \0 N1 U! @' _0 O, P
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But4 E3 S* f7 Q0 `' n0 f* v( B
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small' e. j( C! B% z# p4 M$ {
number of vehicles
. z. O! i& l1 T. _- VTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
7 }) `% H6 U" O. G3 Y' ]1 b6 z& |difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
4 G+ q7 U# c5 H. P" ?3 V$ _6 `7 Hmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
- k) k" I$ ]. K" S' wsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
$ ?1 _. R% `% q( W/ H5 a/ RMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ \6 u( ]$ M' V; ~$ F
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
! V, n. @! x, `5 n2 H6 vtrace at all.
: d4 h" f/ w- S, Z J8 `House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call) l3 w0 |8 T# G3 E6 }
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden( G4 L( L, J3 D
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the; ]) D6 q8 K f9 d6 |
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.# _& U% I* ?. Q2 J; V* z p
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
/ C( H2 `% |- U) I* r3 k) Xsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and7 [1 x% p z3 C# O' _
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the+ j1 p3 j! U& t/ a, x
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: r/ Q- _/ B% f! A" ~
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only7 X' A$ K- a+ n& S& {8 \8 S$ B9 y
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained% r% U3 J) ^1 h4 M
by Toyota's lawyers.", Y( x+ Q' V2 X! b
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of, x$ O5 i# H8 T y" `
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
! m. e" k4 Q; N- ]5 T+ ycustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he8 _3 }! Z2 ~, r* ]6 b# ~
said./ p- s7 a5 C% D0 b0 X: R
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with5 F2 m- y+ B! B9 H
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our& V; P# N! [, L) D9 h
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating( E# o9 n, v5 E# o: T: }
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
& D; R5 p4 W) q9 hSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
( C5 m2 v8 F) w! B6 i9 Ymembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
# x2 r7 B9 w% drancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the! @- [# r# g2 U
automaker, at least in part because of the government's4 A( H# n5 @$ \$ n1 _; m) B8 p
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and; ^3 r, w, z; U" e
Chrysler.
+ @6 l+ n% T; Z3 a$ W6 g"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
9 c$ n e8 y" g$ w% v) K7 `dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; a# H( i8 r" E$ ^
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also4 C* T$ T7 B* Z0 f
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
% Y$ w# o% E- J0 awith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
" @+ W: {, j4 s& ztough."8 D6 l7 e# n6 S, x0 }& _* f
---) E( y: g$ K3 R f/ R/ U
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
) v. L- o7 q7 j& bRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to- n5 s" g; Z% @& `$ \6 I
this story.8 I9 u. q' A$ f" j% N
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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