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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题1 c, D, e# ?% f) w0 Q
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS. _9 y& k/ d3 ?7 W0 g" u
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
' l6 [# r2 @, P: Noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 C$ l% w+ w% g# cthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally". @/ M. ?" T6 N$ j0 S9 m
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
% F$ T. s& r! J/ ?( N) o/ h" Y"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential( G1 t* e$ Y: v3 ]3 m6 s
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.2 {. u! F* z% M% m3 N
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
$ T- ?6 R; r; L3 w, h. wacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 p* B! [1 t/ x6 i9 z7 [5 Ctrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
5 h" C, X4 \# X$ M. T: ~1 i, Smats and sticking accelerator pedals.2 _+ x0 X1 ^5 C# z8 p
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal, j3 E0 ` p- x
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
) V% a! [1 P# E0 zcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be9 @' k& L0 n& u- @) ~' w
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
7 ~. u% `. P) \9 ~$ O1 jnot stop her runaway Lexus.
& Q4 \0 n; `9 H- `; [- H: o4 F"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville, G4 k4 j) s# A
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second9 @' }* x. q+ Z1 k3 G4 w4 |
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
9 M: \# l( Z* FTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues
! c. k' n8 `' o1 E" oearly in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said- i! y& F$ H3 ]7 f/ X
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
* c4 b1 |% m( P) O" |done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway7 U' ^" n; D' o
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
8 o( u" l! L# n7 qinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."! V( ]% m: X e/ A: K4 _1 a- {0 r
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an
1 w ]& x' }# i1 M# P: h, L8 helectronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
# ^, e) [1 I& i- e& u: K% _the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
& n" e6 \$ E4 U/ r$ fmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he+ T) J# S6 |5 L
said. \+ g. `8 @7 c. B
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
, R! X- {3 d# l& H' _: q ~+ Khappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
0 K% F8 w# ?! L/ O9 @& pabout driving our products," Lentz said.
% ?4 o3 v ~7 [% L- z8 E/ Z9 VThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
- _4 |" M) E+ k/ M) h. F2 _problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
' F) E3 {7 l+ j1 } g! B% J4 Zrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
- E+ }, F/ y& u* w9 umillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
3 x/ V: {9 o V% g2 H- uunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
7 z& c9 @) K3 g$ O8 v$ F) U6 z* r, Yissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
& I' u9 @. V" p8 R+ oconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
) \' ^0 i' f, v* H+ Vtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow) Q5 i# t- b( H' Z7 D% c+ J# u
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has' @. b+ A) \5 P# Q& p, X
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration2 _1 {: X' A( z" q. o' b
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
! H+ B5 q4 A" z0 N1 WLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
. [5 e$ O W! w1 d' D. _5 i4 `brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
" l T% F' n/ sunderstood the pain.# Y0 ?( j; q* _
"I know what those families go through," he said.! m0 H2 s I \+ f" z1 p7 T
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
' g0 J$ S' O$ `( r. X) ~4 Ffixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
% {: e) w. d! p1 r# q& r) RBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman" u, M9 X3 R" K/ ^9 b2 }6 }
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put
6 Y% ]6 [6 I9 Z1 d% Z- d/ S7 Jin place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
& L1 d& i; B) n PLentz replied: "Not totally."
4 v+ S4 `; M+ d. B KStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
! x6 W. b9 V/ U# ^9 o+ Y4 ^2 p/ v"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
1 G- y) P8 X* Y1 i/ pToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
9 q" J/ {8 ?; A) Kpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its* P" M# J0 C! r" A- s
vehicles already on the road.
0 [+ Q0 q4 i# F! G2 f1 fMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
% w' m' ~6 t- ibefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 V7 t8 \; ?8 n6 a
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. f% K7 M( B0 |0 @9 p# V
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
& D4 t' c8 k4 Dkilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
' d3 s0 Z+ [" N! O"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a: W/ i& L' {5 H+ u6 D: K
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
) a; a: s# U2 ` O1 [for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
" v5 p7 j( \& X7 x/ qCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
$ b k, Q+ ^9 {* f% D8 B2 K6 Icommitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
, M* t$ e8 S+ S+ _* P( j5 \! prestore the trust of our customers."
- k9 M( U7 e% k# ? yLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
& i+ _0 J! E7 g7 b8 E4 `Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly9 \; M$ f$ `3 `: y* R) [
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --8 i4 W+ h, {+ H8 }( z) ]6 z3 T
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and" x4 v0 @& L* J+ A$ F0 [) Z' Y9 t
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough( I* t9 W! h& Y- B# y
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and0 L% m5 m) } R o$ |' [/ C
turn off the engine.
8 |+ r2 B. k3 k5 x' [6 q5 ]" F, u- V! aFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of' c# j8 g4 L8 K, Z& J0 r0 R7 |: v
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."! b* }' f2 T) { {, P
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she: H/ `. A: m' i% { w
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond. k, n9 z$ w" T
to her complaints.; B. ]: Z6 z+ y
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
# t8 u7 e9 E$ k5 c' xreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic: ?& m1 r/ W9 G3 l9 B6 T& _
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.0 A/ W P1 _: Q3 L' p) ^( g
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric: Y" ?! ] i4 D1 U5 C0 R2 y
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited- X$ o# Z# y1 d/ R- V1 p# h
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut2 U1 f: e7 l5 P- u/ k) L. H9 p
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure." M' s& l7 `/ N: W* K- Y+ X7 E
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in; X( x2 J3 G" c+ F q
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
/ t+ Q, S4 l% s- ?being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls& _1 \' o; M7 z% ]3 s
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
, k" i2 a. O) N. t. Pevery question."
4 X7 n" b- u' }" T3 H$ ^Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
" ?& u3 `0 M7 i7 x4 W' k2 e4 |5 welectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
- G y$ ]% L! X8 u# L4 ?firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
3 V4 u0 O% H" w9 |, u6 m2 tcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
$ E. ]! b2 R) j ynumber of vehicles
; h3 |$ [8 J5 r- s, n: B5 HTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
. ~$ L% i. D+ I8 udifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a2 w. K: c' L# T3 Y _9 E: d
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
% Q. n: _3 X" v/ |& Y; Ssource, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
T# ?+ _( \$ @* ]! N+ t7 [% jMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
, p2 }5 J4 O8 C+ S, e6 H5 a4 Nwhere electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
4 g, O& O% C" _7 v D% S( H! T9 Ntrace at all.
3 Q* J" I9 w4 p, h% iHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
' K, z. g* y+ t* G: Ydatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden! c! D/ |2 G n& {$ `* \ `1 E8 f
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
, a8 Y8 k% w% N8 w( C) {9 Urecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
! j3 z9 ]" _9 D' `# \" `Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,! P) C8 E [3 r4 }* W% c
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
/ W+ L" n) P0 X2 R9 q- Qother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the5 w6 }! M r; e! W, w
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
/ o0 N3 W! ^/ y; H9 ^cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
7 V* X# \9 @) m/ P/ u H6 hsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
8 C5 l% r! N$ b+ pby Toyota's lawyers."/ Y5 X; O2 T# Z9 R+ F% n6 v U8 v G2 z
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of4 h3 h# y0 ~- _4 U3 E
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
/ d+ P* N$ P$ q/ W6 C. x$ ]customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
8 x# E- I+ I: c0 rsaid.3 N- G7 V8 Z- {& K9 g/ B1 m% p6 @* a2 a
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with" w5 L. e+ I+ B3 v
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our( Y% g& ^! A j
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating& X- E0 T: P2 P: O
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
" k0 r. Y# I% z R# s2 R. j6 USeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
: ~. P5 b$ _4 V& r4 C" `, Ymembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
6 i$ [5 U. K8 M, C9 ?( N3 f7 P9 N( Arancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; x& g* W' E% I) X9 S' e! k" N2 Y" }automaker, at least in part because of the government's
( V k% C% X, t$ j" b2 ^investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
' E, D# N+ V) P' P; F9 TChrysler.
8 i# l$ F) V* ]. {# R9 }"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax& M/ h. X R# i3 a C7 f
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a; q. f6 u& Q! g4 N
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
5 Z% h& y) b1 S2 p( Z' n9 N A7 r' Nserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
* y- K8 O% ^3 a% P' {$ z( fwith the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
. {0 }8 b; Q) A: s9 J# Ctough."
! m" r$ t( m5 e p---
0 G/ f F2 x$ W nAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom) H- p. i$ S( T- L# K& ~
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to; q1 ~* S. o5 m3 }
this story.
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% y( k1 z" i# a; J$ o% l5 m-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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