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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题7 B; R ]3 I) v* A
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
0 [& s8 X) k( R7 F" i* x; C; F3 n5 SWashington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.( N/ {% ~# q) I w# p
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that( }, I9 G- }& r/ i
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
6 i7 u9 q O& ^8 t# q1 H( m; V. ~solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.+ P7 R) N: v, |1 S5 z
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
7 O9 T; q9 V: Z* r- H% ]causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
1 S% I* q6 J* YHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
q) l& Q( J: v% P8 L: M9 G- S. Macceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and5 L+ a* q9 z6 d6 c$ B6 _0 y( V& Y4 ^) |
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor, L% }6 A. I7 e7 d0 T7 R
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.' a `! H6 i; D u4 C7 {1 J. M9 X% p
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal m8 K( d) P2 w; |9 c& b N; h! I
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
. E8 Z7 q1 Q2 D: @criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
( V4 W: s' R6 w& Ifurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could& W6 h( d4 h( Y5 \3 O" y* I! I$ W
not stop her runaway Lexus.
0 o* w3 w( O+ U& d1 f# R"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
, P* h1 g8 W/ i" g! |/ XTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second8 U3 Z e4 ?$ l7 X) G2 q" ~
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.6 H+ |, h' D- I$ ?; U# R1 n
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues- G! D+ Y( S6 @; k: M! S5 ]
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- w( d+ M9 ~- P( A3 C. W7 c
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; {/ W* ]- T7 x/ F+ M/ {* Z
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway0 }3 g7 b7 W* ?" O: K x+ |
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's! Z/ L0 K5 H- D1 O$ v4 Z" E9 p
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
& U- A* |1 b3 FLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an3 V0 }1 [" }5 a- Y- c: l
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of3 l: C3 f2 Z9 j3 }& h) Q; n
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
8 U! Z% d6 k/ U5 V" rmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he3 }) Q3 H; D3 \
said.
, L% ^. L, j: w) h! Z/ XAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
- u5 S" B+ }* s+ lhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
5 K1 n/ M7 F- [% d$ Y2 w b1 H* sabout driving our products," Lentz said.
k% M+ s% v! ^+ lThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's }& q3 C7 y. a3 m- `0 r o
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has4 Y$ X6 a' T6 y* T
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
4 P# _1 s+ J- j) Pmillion in the United States -- since last fall because of0 F7 t# T( K- J1 T+ m3 K2 O$ Z! \! y
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
! N3 Z. s. L3 M6 c8 Jissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
r! P% o3 O0 a6 F! G0 _concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
# s: r% v% x3 s3 i3 e+ qtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
" X9 ]3 p; w, }. s" n4 O5 bdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
; ]! L& H: J' treceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
* [6 @# H$ j( v1 oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
1 }2 _/ j$ A1 {, w) W& iLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
% l7 V! U( e/ c4 l! {# ^brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he, N1 Z1 Y0 \& k1 g. n
understood the pain.
4 D) M+ R6 c- C4 B"I know what those families go through," he said.' d* d3 g$ w& a2 Y; y/ r3 r, N+ A& a
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 y) `& \, B, u
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.; V4 r9 j9 x0 a8 C
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman9 {; j) S0 [6 U j
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put$ b2 C. d8 x! z2 l
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, P1 \4 f+ @) `( F) _* \
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
+ Q9 Q& ` J' M3 S) H& q: o, N% iStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were5 v6 r- O2 ~2 c9 o
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said/ i7 y& ]. n2 z: h* v
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
+ A* y2 Y4 ~& e, {pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its4 C c" B& n8 J+ ]
vehicles already on the road.
$ R) K+ s$ q; Y" E4 C& \Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify$ a& p( }+ `0 Q; Y* j$ C2 V
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full2 k/ t% l1 L% \8 Z9 r
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and4 R& u" N9 h8 k6 k8 C$ ]
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
, |& ^# \) e% A3 h4 W( Ckilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
3 |5 b. `6 I, I5 v6 e5 w5 \8 I"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a! z, P5 K5 X# V) [* m8 d3 |
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony9 M$ [3 ~, |. e" q4 g( n
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight8 z; h( H$ Z6 e2 d, ~
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal& r# s, i" k! x5 s. ^4 c- Q) v
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
. g4 Q9 y5 o$ T8 {restore the trust of our customers."7 q3 R% C8 |0 R' T# H- n
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from2 m5 e# P2 U" V6 D5 ?5 n
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly% x& q6 b- Q/ ~( l* P
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --+ D: c+ A* o1 g7 s2 i: Q8 e
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
1 h8 B' ~( t9 a( rhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
% ^' }9 ~( \ r, M7 U2 Xthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
9 v3 G1 F$ K# M& }) eturn off the engine.
: u( N5 @! u! r; F, q; SFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of n0 r9 i4 l1 I4 Y4 i+ \( T8 V
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."5 T$ Y0 L8 j9 `" x& A7 X; N
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
5 i G* A. F% t. t' h: M9 f1 _) xsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond$ \, x# N) q6 Q: l3 s' M
to her complaints.
( X% Y' S1 { _' I- @In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers. F r' [ H! Q' i3 p( S# E
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
+ E% ^& d, L6 d$ Umalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ k" S; V6 i% L4 G7 k' {"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% B2 O( z! N. u5 nthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited, j+ \/ H2 F- P% @
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
; h$ ?" W7 ] I/ F) W: `( o! joff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."3 r) [; T, {7 q4 X* j. s; q" [
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in c. t+ R/ Z7 U, F
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were$ j5 f6 P8 O8 P0 F" I) y% @# q
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
1 n* e" Y8 ^! A6 y% ?were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
0 Q7 o8 c* z, C: Q( ]0 G8 `5 |every question."5 j$ A" L1 b$ o; l
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
3 r* J4 i# m. \$ T+ ^" n7 j8 Kelectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
; y' y( B& |% Y, J# H T$ h4 j4 Z" k gfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But7 A, B& P Z' d% R0 G' ^
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
" N9 A6 R' z. L( C: r5 j- v) Ynumber of vehicles; a: Y' X- O' |, ?- I! n; d# J
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more" @9 M- z" P# p/ S0 X) Y# V$ D% k
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a) |/ |, Y1 Y5 v; ^! @
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one0 g* j4 e1 A. ^; h
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.5 m( P5 r4 r$ C( @7 v* z
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
5 {! g) v4 L3 X cwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no8 b! b6 w+ v) E& U6 }4 i S1 o( G/ G
trace at all.
1 [ x8 V2 f! p" t$ |House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call, I" C! z+ g. t2 B
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
: W3 S7 I- V, u2 |acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
, p. R( i0 o ~7 {, p. u7 v! }recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.( b; v' C, c$ k! e# B% Y; P) j
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,- Z" [5 k, B* o# W; I
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
h, O8 b' ]1 H8 E1 I9 w- E) |other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
$ x: z5 G4 P! Melectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible9 A/ l, K4 G3 f5 t! H
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
4 f' e' x) z9 s, H; isuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained8 j- d1 ~* x% f6 r- A
by Toyota's lawyers."! f5 m2 K7 \# C
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
! |7 V: }5 g+ S' x5 Zproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
V. D! Z) X" N. x$ [# ucustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
( y, p0 U: q: u% V9 F; fsaid.
; f2 e/ d2 R! K"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with( M; Z3 |, o) d& c
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
% ^# J0 N2 l/ K: Jgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
% c, F: T/ Z$ t! a8 f! g \+ Bofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.7 D3 J4 j+ M0 e( P; E
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
1 I1 ^; B8 T, p, s7 rmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
" M; [# Z, g7 |+ t8 f- erancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
, ]1 {- @5 ]# a6 j1 C5 Pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
+ S/ x e& Q+ d2 t, V* Linvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
2 [+ X( t1 H! I; r0 F V/ y9 Q4 lChrysler.
7 I) ]: b6 `( v2 |0 B: K"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax# s5 j2 u7 L# E4 h. M i
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a" a. F& J) X) ]2 x5 L7 d, c
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
" ^2 e8 t+ e* P0 l. U# K# A; M# Vserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
% Y9 L5 Y% K1 e0 Q5 K( zwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty" o5 A3 ?+ T, [' j( y, m
tough."
( S" Q! v1 O( x( U---
5 K* p$ ]2 @# h8 ~# kAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
: B3 m; {! v; @. I1 Q$ G" lRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to4 A% d! ?/ x" R+ e6 I
this story.
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- M2 e5 h5 Z* Q; Z8 P/ O% ~-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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