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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题* k- G5 @5 S, x) Y
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS6 h" ]; s' S, s, [
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
; o; a6 V- T; P* Q# [) c: Hoperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that6 K- n$ }5 H" w+ B' A! h6 Y4 ^
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"* a/ h8 e" F# l
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.; t6 Z T# F4 `
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential' d* n) q) L% P1 A# t/ n
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.; K, r% H& Y% J0 s8 {* m/ f1 l/ u/ m
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
0 f& ^4 @" D) ~5 y- iacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
3 f/ I: E1 r5 C/ Vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor2 u" }; b" {, j |1 }
mats and sticking accelerator pedals. D h/ _* K# }2 I" b( u' D# B
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
- M8 ^4 \* e: E& v% J; @1 yand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp+ ^1 i2 y/ W; h6 x+ `0 ~
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
3 D( C- J2 Q, ffurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could3 @7 @- Q! Z3 m1 M/ ^; D
not stop her runaway Lexus.( l2 | l% V" V9 J7 ^0 ^9 Z
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
* M, C% }" T' g, K _& pTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
5 w' R ]0 z1 B0 _"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.0 o3 U% A; H5 k. d Z
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues+ x# e4 e1 r5 X) M" L O* v- h
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
6 h( {0 @, {; U' k1 G3 t. e"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
3 e/ [+ I9 F. ?5 s7 K- _6 y3 `* W: jdone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
. h" @1 D X" ]% M6 l) z7 j* [through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
# e! C! F+ V, N- w2 r& k5 d+ Uinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham.") p* X" ^4 d E4 ?7 `5 S0 U; h" C, T5 [0 W
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an9 ^9 z" P" o* A
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
. G: p! g5 f( _the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a) G. k1 [5 i; B* L9 b$ w$ G
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
# |: l$ c/ I5 l2 Msaid.! \( k& ~9 Y% l: ?- `, J0 m+ l# e6 K
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what7 f* M8 {9 O' n, g& W
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
* B$ m% J! h( dabout driving our products," Lentz said.
4 g- Y8 J; A( Z/ rThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
. s1 E# W2 o& G7 \, `problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
% v/ [8 P/ d" qrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" c; d% ^. y8 A' A4 `* ]$ w# O- G& i
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
# W( s2 T$ t! n' M1 b b+ j M; uunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking1 }& F9 x* Q- `( M
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
/ p9 D! m4 ~6 s5 s' `! P0 W! I8 ?concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
: M( U7 u0 L- N, @* z2 ]& A3 ^their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow! B& k8 l. M5 ?' E- W
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has( Q+ E2 P: w6 ~
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration: H* ~" F, F' c- D
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
7 Y- J/ |7 a' K- [; E7 iLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own, |' y8 P" V% k
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he+ |7 Q$ \$ Y* s3 d0 \; O
understood the pain., B4 {) h- W* b. A7 O
"I know what those families go through," he said.
: S' V, d: C6 A! ULentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's7 }1 ?1 m, l$ @$ e/ I2 z1 U
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
& a3 ] |' k# b; cBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
' n/ k: T( \: \' [Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
2 Z$ E5 X8 o1 Ein place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,* w6 M+ Y$ m( F' I8 T+ E( u" k9 v
Lentz replied: "Not totally."- ^+ I9 C" r0 F% w: J- q7 f
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were4 p: _( h% E w8 ^2 D
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said( L+ Q) a' O9 g% X
Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
' |% t' J# s7 A1 _0 R9 f Qpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its! ?( z+ O2 O1 l0 U. B; E
vehicles already on the road.
% p$ \0 b0 L0 tMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
2 ^+ h7 h8 o2 I0 [6 Y4 ibefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
) B' A- R/ i- q- H9 Jresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
# K( X% g6 v) ?$ ^$ c) xoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
0 E7 i4 t( m; r* D) X. W" v; X1 mkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.# V/ V1 k% w& L4 c7 J$ f& A, S
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a3 s+ u" \. ?. c/ g1 h
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony' @* s* X3 t) Z. [& o; y4 F
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight/ w' m9 k4 s2 {6 e# Z+ c" H
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal+ i6 R. O$ Y* q6 Z: d
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to' K* Q8 [) T& o( V& s
restore the trust of our customers."
) m8 M3 P0 Q( f+ cLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
3 {- ~, c! @! e3 W8 }. g/ ySmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly: E5 h& I6 \! ]; }
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --& N% V( `5 Y1 J; M2 d8 x
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
* I; r' N9 A3 uhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
! r: V, h9 T( y Q# Gthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
5 B0 @/ r: H$ Oturn off the engine.: ?6 ]# L1 H4 {8 N
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
1 R! l5 O8 i' |; m2 N3 ^October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
! j% T/ e1 g' v4 ^' P5 k"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 ^, U5 ~8 \- a$ b; j
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond' u1 n6 d# D( t) O
to her complaints.
/ }. f) P* v) F2 X& p4 N" x0 oIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: Q5 H3 C, H% w$ l4 {
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic; A% N3 n" A+ T
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.5 V, Z5 Y1 T9 N; j0 K7 Z
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric7 T9 c" e2 l$ U7 G
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
: A" k8 _6 J/ i: \2 C"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut% y) B4 \ I6 s; `, D% j8 O
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
- A. Y! }5 T: H4 KTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ E: f( S: X, j1 e R" f5 F" u xprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were/ D" j5 `6 T5 L) N
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls& d1 P( e, r: j. p
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer* [7 b4 S0 S* _9 ^+ D$ Y# `
every question."
. p/ h; j8 a6 S/ V2 r$ O7 F+ J0 eToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether/ V: M; B# r5 E* g- C& B
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The, b& Y n3 E* V/ t
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But3 D: C8 m+ w; F! O! T( Q" s6 r
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
* K1 i5 F( g* T. R" Lnumber of vehicles: G0 S1 g. X$ F) H+ |' ~
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
3 `4 l9 E+ h2 _; Bdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a6 r, L0 ]* i" s. M2 Q
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
9 y- w/ S" T* D$ D4 h; Z+ V4 jsource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.8 X& K$ z% E" l a
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, v* o; [9 X7 z7 m- ?
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no6 W3 h& c( W x% E
trace at all.
* J/ @$ Z2 ^# V0 _2 U1 P/ XHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
. ]0 l/ \& C; S& T8 odatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden
s k2 ]3 n: o$ X ~acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the% q( Y% j0 h. E: m
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.7 h: t% Y8 j7 S' O8 F
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,& Z$ N7 f- Q4 l5 S! k4 \( k
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, a4 j9 {5 k5 _- m) S& k
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
2 ~- V! ~7 m9 r; G7 X! r8 L- e% z$ belectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
6 Z) N' [+ W- p* i6 N- g' p7 Icause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
9 \$ b0 z/ B: N# w- Q; r5 Zsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained' W) z4 @1 K( T/ ]( N( b7 y# T+ H
by Toyota's lawyers."
8 r. f5 R4 G9 L9 P: H% Y$ a9 W0 MLentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of2 f; C3 `. O8 N4 L9 a9 J
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our( s8 F' b( R$ D9 S
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he: i4 R# m, e' V. b* r7 K, z6 J4 O
said., J4 f& v% R# F l/ p2 V3 d
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
9 g6 B$ ^# d( ^& D: _! aa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
. Z* C1 I# l) ^5 ]5 l0 L1 Bgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating5 B# q+ M6 o% W* T+ _$ j) R% {
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
6 R8 l! J7 R$ f, FSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
& A: k) @3 |& ?1 mmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread; y6 ], F1 w! Q: A1 e/ z8 i. \
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the, h- F+ ~7 Q( j! }' G8 e; i
automaker, at least in part because of the government's7 O3 I3 J& u# d, x
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
- g8 g- N8 P+ @3 n: vChrysler.% d X0 G; h& _' t% S
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax% O& J( |+ o) n+ w
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a2 s& i# \8 D2 }2 k
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
. N8 F3 F( r7 _3 @served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete' a$ w$ r3 K/ \9 O U6 p0 h
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty1 t) ?6 g5 ?7 `# q( ^
tough.": u; |3 P1 C, K& A1 v1 {
---
3 H8 r; q' h) P! s8 I. k: X ~Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom/ q, S+ q9 b9 S Z! I
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
6 f! v# l0 a* q0 y* [/ Athis story.
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2 s$ k1 l0 y! |) I-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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