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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题( d* H! U8 N# K5 K5 i- f7 M
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS) ~' w* v7 _2 S
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
5 H/ y9 p, U0 }2 N2 U5 [8 {/ joperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
- h+ U6 Z4 {; y. lthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
* Z0 R3 d5 t% ssolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.$ D( z: e9 |# _/ ~
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
: A: N8 L2 U) n; D/ {* Bcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& D8 F z, e0 O/ {9 }However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected- P9 }, R/ p2 V6 |8 S7 v, }5 g4 _
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and( L# f- @3 f2 k* K5 ]; F; g9 a
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
7 E1 y. d5 O; y2 B+ x3 K; umats and sticking accelerator pedals.
. {# h2 j* h9 V- Y8 B' D6 zHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
- F" p0 R+ y% M/ Y- K1 |4 Uand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
- p3 V& j8 _& X- w+ C' a3 ?criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
2 O; X' H, F, K1 m+ Vfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could$ `; B4 I7 z( ?6 A
not stop her runaway Lexus.
0 ]! f6 L6 L0 f+ I) P' [& M% j8 c"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
9 {3 k' K# l: h) z- XTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
& V f7 F2 T1 U H7 J) E8 E"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
: D4 @3 V) S. ]7 G- [! b* BTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
$ V& T: c! O- _( T- ^early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said6 L- c& R: u/ m! @9 J
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has$ r4 w) Q) _! m; t; t
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
6 X, `4 k2 ?. r& o# z6 e/ V% [& Jthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
5 l! x( j, t: {" W4 rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
# e5 a- }* `% N8 U NLentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
4 ^* M- o4 z' R3 Z# s) [electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
4 A% W% i/ S' b- l6 C1 o! ithe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a& V9 p) f7 I' h9 [
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
6 S# r9 h( E6 ?said./ y3 Y& ]1 d9 H6 k+ N: k
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 u* v! e, k7 T% D; L7 d/ G2 Z
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
* R( D5 R( g, q* _$ y' w" Zabout driving our products," Lentz said.2 n1 T: W( d; C* ~! P! a9 H
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
2 u- d0 w3 g% i: Iproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
9 T0 P6 J% a4 A2 s* V7 \6 I" Erecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6 V, T( k3 d0 b n" q! S4 O: _' e; K
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
. A+ M! H9 ~) w$ A) R) R0 B( \unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
) {: M- k- \+ j7 {) l6 { bissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering& R2 Q" ^/ A1 ~( @1 h, P2 k
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of: L, W: c$ A* ?8 Q) B
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow2 T9 [ n0 _- N
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ r8 B5 g% e9 @, B$ Z4 o4 x" b2 A$ Ereceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
1 \: k! [2 G& x: o( k6 X# t! tof Toyota vehicles since 2000.
) R( F* Q3 F$ H' K" }Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own* n9 |% G }1 V% b9 [! `5 Y* r
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
, [ X6 W3 n4 ~4 ~understood the pain.
6 Y, y9 P+ K8 a( V4 s8 N"I know what those families go through," he said.
9 C5 `* O0 r4 ^$ fLentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's5 ]) a) h* i) b0 y; _2 I* c. Y
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.* E6 U. E2 `$ s/ n8 _7 x
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman' i- Z3 g" I/ R- ?, E* G0 T0 h
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put' ~4 e% w6 L) k6 @) Y9 y
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,$ n! ~4 m+ Q* M( R; P/ ?- Z
Lentz replied: "Not totally."
2 U9 A/ M* k- g4 r9 c& UStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
& q [5 B3 y" i"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said5 G9 R# A4 h7 m% B: h3 ~
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas, b8 P) F, d" O9 }/ P
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
3 x6 o- Y, W- r2 m2 lvehicles already on the road.1 `, `* S3 ?% t/ U( S
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
: r$ _# e1 M7 X6 L* c* [1 Obefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
2 k" d5 L# [& q! r3 S6 B( s. Kresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
1 V W7 k: P! a% V8 J1 [# z/ _offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were( x& [9 H* j" J5 [' a7 e Z5 t
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
8 d) E+ J4 y+ d* c- Y/ L0 k: P) w. B"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a( W( ^' _; A1 x5 c0 T5 j
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
# g) e1 [8 } h& o* Gfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
( o5 r: G& ]. ^Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
0 u) S4 P3 n% {" ecommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
4 ^2 m2 N6 `4 _4 p9 }0 u% v( V nrestore the trust of our customers."
3 t. x) Z( Z9 e8 PLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
3 f! S9 H$ s8 o% Q* Y" |Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly( P7 l# w+ s2 {* X
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --. _ w" w/ T) \ v5 M& V
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and- c, {) R/ v% t0 V9 q6 t
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
* d- i6 j; l m* Athat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
% i- Q' b; j4 sturn off the engine.
" u! P0 |! o0 b/ |, n; T+ lFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of7 k" w% [6 r, L
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."' H0 n l( d, `' x' U
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
0 \* ] p9 w3 s, u, n* D) Vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond I* J _) m: D. h- [
to her complaints.* A0 o3 R9 c" K$ e6 q- M
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
, d/ r* n8 h w9 x" k% l* G9 breturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
$ h) s/ W2 t2 A1 k; Lmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.+ U) M6 }7 Y; z8 r! J
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric6 h. d8 }8 m5 Z+ C
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited( C. }6 `9 n! J& A/ H4 J
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
0 u. {; P$ N$ q- Toff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
4 X" j% {; s! n# N4 I3 ^* ~4 e' A$ lTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
# {2 Y/ L; e9 P( N$ s' t! b' N3 q* Y7 nprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
1 H) {2 M) Z; C1 g; C. w- lbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
1 B- D4 s& Z0 [6 F# ewere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
& O3 Y" U2 n* qevery question."
4 o6 Z3 y# [! ]Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether* B$ x0 {* w( v. l$ q
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
/ X; H5 S5 ?# E3 Efirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
1 W1 H7 U- T7 \+ fcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
# m4 x7 ]4 N4 _/ ?number of vehicles& o h H7 I; K, c
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more' t* R0 T: c) w* y. o! L! c) i- X
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 H- x6 C" |' `& x4 ymechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one+ U0 u+ O3 U1 t+ ~5 B: K1 k0 k
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.9 U1 F! ~0 n# n. p
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
0 |1 N% C* O& ?, V/ wwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
& c( m# X; d) O% W/ Jtrace at all.
; F; e( G" {6 ~# f# |# MHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call8 J8 y1 F; f2 e" n0 Y
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
7 d# C0 l! t! t2 _ Cacceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the/ G( v8 g* q9 S5 V# ^
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
7 ], F) G+ h( ?* BRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% W- | w9 o0 T. m# zsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
& w( X* N/ m, X! oother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
& y S5 o5 P" n4 felectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
7 \* T) L% Z! [8 G2 Icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
( s( ~( b; i# ^1 t- Zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained! S, @- t4 |, Y
by Toyota's lawyers."
3 X/ `6 x' D3 w8 P* E; h/ tLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
# I2 \. y5 {1 xproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
6 i( P& K( x5 S1 p0 W4 d! Wcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he) Q4 n- c" N6 |6 ^5 T$ \- F
said.
% x( w# W l; t: B# N) @" W"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with/ v; X0 P l" g I; J
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our6 A d* s& M# i, k9 @
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& I$ Z1 e$ V2 j" n) y! b
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
* W8 C1 r* _' ]2 LSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying& h6 D+ L* ~5 T# Y. B
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
# ?" Z" z% Q/ E) J @! z* irancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
2 w0 ]4 r5 I! U, Pautomaker, at least in part because of the government's( V+ N/ J4 U$ z/ M& H
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and% {$ p, E& J$ L. _5 ~1 j f
Chrysler.
" N+ E+ q+ z% C# c' L"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax: r. n8 q. M& O# Q
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
6 G: J" a. G6 s/ @Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also9 M) |+ l& z5 e! w0 F: D- F# Q
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete3 ~. j: q2 ?& c# W; B* h
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty# B9 J7 B+ U2 c
tough."/ e3 o0 V ~6 L, ~% |" C u
---- R/ m6 L4 }- W g
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, w5 E& `; G8 L! g( R% L. u* y# |# ?
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
0 r0 o/ ?& `0 kthis story.
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-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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