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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题! b* q5 F9 K* g: T6 ]! L+ Z/ R
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS" l4 C" `: ~9 M- \' e, x! d* m; P$ t
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S., }, L/ ~ W, ?
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
7 D2 j% ?1 |# p- H+ Jthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
G3 _4 ]: l% U- g5 p8 dsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
& r4 q8 c. Q/ G"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential4 T5 Q4 W0 n1 Z4 Z
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.
& o8 }5 j& b. y- t) ]0 aHowever, he repeated his company's position that unexpected& O( n. L2 e8 N5 E
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 _$ M( J3 H* P/ ~: ftrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
% ^, T/ [2 d* W6 U2 N6 B# rmats and sticking accelerator pedals.1 w6 h% @5 p5 Y
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
: i: t2 K+ w: c* {9 Z& [# @9 e5 C0 dand fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
* m1 W0 i: O) \+ ncriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
3 X1 y' r5 w& n* x! l: Xfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
0 C( M5 d7 `7 @4 k2 R$ dnot stop her runaway Lexus.' h' r8 n' `: s" s4 p
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,* K/ a2 Z7 J- F5 D7 k
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second' W' B1 \7 X* V
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
D) W @. ?1 |! zTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues4 O) Z4 l+ E( Q/ l, I9 e
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
' f9 X4 A r: @/ S"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has; Q: g, X( O" S
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
! x" s& R5 l2 ^" N+ b& y* [through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
3 S" J( P4 O/ a3 Z+ X9 l8 rinvestigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."! `/ {0 F/ E* g$ c' N8 N/ ^& v
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an* d6 _2 @( w0 h3 o
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
4 L2 I) S$ e* i- k( g+ @# dthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
# v r5 l! v5 y- e0 ?4 l& xmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
9 U0 E% k: j' D# Xsaid.
& f. ]9 R3 }1 ~8 l+ R9 tAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what" z; Y$ ~0 E7 a N' E( m" A
happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe# ]* p' O8 N' V1 F5 }- M7 F
about driving our products," Lentz said.9 n3 q3 c% m" _6 k. }) W
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's7 Y/ l Z6 a$ r* F
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
% F2 f7 p/ ~$ i" M3 S$ h& U! wrecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6
/ `" j$ l% Y3 q. y$ m% P; H6 imillion in the United States -- since last fall because of
$ L( l/ D, V% |7 Dunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
2 j2 ^: R3 G5 b- Aissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering2 y6 \9 V' q! R. U$ ]) T! g
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
, L3 S' h* Q3 \4 gtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow/ N5 I" _3 q3 ^( _0 ], o
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
# e* c+ [. G& greceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration" x7 c, o7 f7 Y# f% i
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.8 U: f; L7 D0 }
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
6 b# C6 ^# b$ X. k& vbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he
D! |: [" o, @" s8 ounderstood the pain.
% O" W- S- w% [. x$ t. c$ ?"I know what those families go through," he said.: R2 s2 C# L, d% N' Y
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's+ S8 a4 H) ], K$ K9 u* t
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems." y4 b( j# h6 C
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman/ O, I4 k& v% K/ U: O& H
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put, B9 I; Z4 \8 y' l# U
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
$ H/ G7 U) Y7 q0 h( B" p8 YLentz replied: "Not totally."
9 T% G0 `8 Y0 Z! n5 F G3 Y# uStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
6 h7 ]5 R9 s1 z"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
# x4 ~0 D8 i0 G8 @' gToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
) {+ j3 q2 ^; h+ D) ^' N2 Bpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
{) r5 m& ?) g8 ]7 K5 f- Svehicles already on the road.
/ d w' `0 n& a, ?* h+ ?Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify: \( `- q6 w9 ?
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
1 m* P1 x! R! D3 x! Xresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and. c6 n6 S7 p- S( G4 i
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were0 ]! d7 y5 {9 F/ K7 Z& F) D
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.9 s' L; L9 {$ p) e. U
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
) E4 {$ i3 ~1 g* ktragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony" {# n7 M$ \7 k1 Z1 E4 r, T
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight; }/ S0 m) q" X) c2 g0 x) T
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 r9 z/ P- g$ I
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
& {: _" Z# }# ?3 F) O Xrestore the trust of our customers."/ g2 s$ `9 w$ T* p7 O! m g: H
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from; o6 y3 B) _5 L$ E
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly
: a3 q2 w$ ]2 l4 |+ }; {zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
9 ]: z+ ?1 k1 G+ H7 p$ e+ ^shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
/ a" E! o. ?3 G2 n' j8 ]hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough$ ?( O6 n# {" E- K& X1 ]$ C- c
that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and" b" R. Q7 P5 w% T2 o1 B
turn off the engine.8 S% v* I" f) d! X! E7 C. B4 F
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
$ p# U2 s) X* j* C/ R, T" XOctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."9 [8 d/ R- d; g t
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
7 J6 y a) S! p1 p* K: i, K# ?6 i# isaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
* f; H2 ^% q: I0 U* oto her complaints.* y# S! u3 }- c/ t$ c2 q6 n
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
C4 f- {. z" lreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic
" _1 N9 T2 a, ]- O% {/ imalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
. w/ u- F+ V8 a- Q0 k1 V"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
% g$ z5 O2 {4 l y3 @throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
& \$ T9 Z! [8 j3 V: Q2 y: w"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
4 v; ]0 Z3 t x- J+ t* woff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."# F$ p# d& L3 g
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in# I8 C: F- B; i0 `: ]
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
+ N5 ?/ B, E) A) w6 x! ^being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
, t3 {# }1 \/ A4 K& @5 B% Y& Twere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer4 m$ M& E# a9 ^$ u7 q* m2 V8 p
every question."
6 `! f- l+ ]0 @( u1 R1 SToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether( u! ^6 y7 r @
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
' \6 f/ g3 B1 m$ j/ e: tfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
' l" I/ b: i" j1 ^; p3 s1 Bcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small
& r' `' i* p" }* N5 _; g6 rnumber of vehicles. L7 r) E0 c8 P
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more, I m! h' I! C [' D% e
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
9 `% Q9 d7 W! N" Z/ omechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one2 S, s$ w$ j6 j; b/ f
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.$ _( y: T' @4 i) E! f
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,
9 `0 H2 Q5 G z3 m6 ^where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no. \2 G1 `7 O$ G/ ~. }' ~: K
trace at all.6 @# s" }( N' t' g+ J1 G: [
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
5 S& Q2 o2 ]( ddatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden% i! r2 |4 j6 q* @$ D J p8 _
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
* m6 F9 T; f6 P" j) Urecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
$ L9 F$ \# O( t6 x' e8 tRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee," T I& _! V. L" r9 H5 i1 F
said Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and
1 W8 ]: J) Q$ b, Q" f3 S9 I" oother independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
) {) V2 o4 z e* Q2 h; z2 ~1 aelectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible: m1 [( `& T6 d p
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
4 H) X6 V; Z" N2 Y4 g2 [ Esuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained, v+ G/ [& N! J8 p
by Toyota's lawyers.". N3 m( \' Q8 p2 R+ ]) P$ G* e% u
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of% f4 c. b8 N5 X' w
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our9 G0 h6 A4 v# e
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
+ n0 w6 {, p6 k- isaid.8 f, S$ R- Q* Z6 @; F
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
# C' D4 L: s! X# @# pa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
* @* W/ A8 {: C ]- p w2 {& ggood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
+ R; f, [7 ^$ j" j+ ~- I, vofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.* b+ z! ?/ K/ T
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
6 S! _2 p9 n0 a% ~) b! emembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
- @! d0 R6 i: Q* V" m2 a J: l: Rrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the# ?; _0 x3 O( m0 g
automaker, at least in part because of the government's4 v& X1 P7 O' |8 A& B5 k. f$ ]
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and8 Z6 W& U7 Y, a& M
Chrysler.* J; \+ I5 B2 [1 B4 J& _
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax6 |9 E6 f0 M- w: c* i: F5 h
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a. G( o/ {; ]/ V
Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also* y5 l& t! H- p3 Z; G7 [$ G1 i& T7 d
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete0 j7 f( n! ~ g- E t" N, S
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
# c- w# e" g: T5 A1 c: _7 g9 d( l& S3 Stough." j$ _. W7 @4 o" N3 G
---
) s0 A k( j; i9 |. AAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom
- D2 ^- B0 i# C$ f; F; hRaum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to& u5 j4 |) s H- j( r
this story.
9 r9 |+ z8 m2 F4 p- S2 N& r4 B0 }. J* N4 F. [# `0 m8 m+ }
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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