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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题! B- W3 f! I" z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS' }6 m6 U3 q5 c% O; \
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.% `: A& s4 t' b- {" W1 ]1 G
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that4 F& U% N5 ~ P; m/ @
the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
9 e* h, H+ U5 a# z" Z i4 J) csolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.$ R1 r! R# ^3 p. l
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential' E' f" A$ S @; @$ ~
causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.& f# @, O$ C8 J p- Y+ u
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected! Z8 {3 [5 R+ I r
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
0 V, k9 s9 S) p8 x+ Vtrucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
( Y8 A3 z( }4 Fmats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 ~: D. o) [0 j% } C" iHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
4 b& l+ Y4 C8 s9 p( `8 }and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
1 G( }) K. P T' n1 Rcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( j. N3 Y+ M6 r% n/ ]6 H
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
+ Q! H) u- a3 Unot stop her runaway Lexus.
9 s0 ]* j7 } f" ]0 V! p"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
% d2 }7 W& Z, {! O7 e; `; sTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
8 P0 T) p- H5 N3 I. V' ~) \& t. E* V( _"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.8 y/ l! f# t1 N% N1 X6 b! G
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues' K% q8 G$ n; J1 S( A0 z$ |
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said& B; I3 j# \6 J# z. @: P" a
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
# i& P2 ?* I1 }4 q7 ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway4 h& T& }1 \3 A. b K' r; r) T2 q$ F' j
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
! b( N$ r! H% a2 h# ]" ?2 k0 \investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."
' N; [+ j" R5 \ @" f3 _Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an- n5 ]4 ^ Y" Q
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of8 P) U* Y# I& A" z1 ~
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a1 Q+ D, `4 T+ Q# r G$ \
malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he
: l. n m- E. ?6 e1 ~/ l+ Dsaid.
+ B) K2 Z% h$ e5 y5 wAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
. J+ Y1 Q$ }- a# [happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
$ h( c. {3 N" t# `. F s z/ q( r6 babout driving our products," Lentz said.
: d( R/ L8 Y% p* ?9 @6 N. {* D% v+ XThree congressional panels are investigating Toyota's5 `3 |8 O- M- c% j3 w) K6 }
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, f1 |0 B( e, L! b" ]* _# I5 B' }recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6" k7 B, ~8 I" V+ L: W9 r: o- l
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
/ m0 Q i; u% r4 Dunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
9 d' Q3 X2 f% k) t3 n2 c. }; ~issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering* f9 x! \5 g7 H. g
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
9 G; k) D+ F, N' n+ |( p' o4 Ptheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow6 E0 Y1 _: C! O" k" ?' ?
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has
/ L ~3 F2 Y8 b7 H9 q! ureceived complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration+ M$ j0 @( G: y7 t- ~3 K
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.. |% p- m& s5 g
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
3 |) z' q% N& |4 T& A% w; K' Pbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he5 W" c3 t: ~5 i Q# E
understood the pain.
8 f. k' R" ]& ~( H5 W6 J3 U _& B"I know what those families go through," he said.5 c8 q2 w9 v- h" Z! E6 m
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's/ {$ l% l4 L* U. m3 h
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.# C, G/ e, q# ?7 I+ ]. u7 V
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
% X7 @# f. R2 N0 S/ A) wHenry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put- L+ a# ~8 k% J$ j- K
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,9 b! D1 f$ [( P% d0 u+ |
Lentz replied: "Not totally."( _3 i- r0 @& ^' R, K1 H% A' H
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, K+ e$ \- [" |7 Q"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
4 a5 Z/ j& X8 ^, RToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas( E: ?* t/ N5 T& x# `+ j
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
' A2 a, n$ G5 lvehicles already on the road.% f/ @4 o* n+ D
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify
* }8 v3 ^* p! U5 Zbefore a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full* m8 G, N& i" c
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
/ w" K; O7 d& eoffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
8 Z3 |3 ]5 H, _killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems./ j& _, f! L! H" n/ q6 z9 e$ |1 r1 B
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a+ w$ F. p- A7 E
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony
" H8 }! W0 w, j, [) G! Y6 Xfor Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight! W+ H- O5 W6 U W @) U
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal
# l& L( |4 {2 _commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
& v& v" e3 H( }0 F% T c2 ~% }0 Frestore the trust of our customers."
. v/ n5 E3 z7 e1 w% z% U( \7 cLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from
$ o% H, g7 _2 |) c1 l0 y3 O; SSmith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly+ a; V- `, X3 u! K
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --. k. V' p. @2 @' g3 `5 s( L+ T
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and: N9 n* S; H( V6 c* O: [
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
: ]! O; d/ P1 P3 R; L4 ^) A7 C zthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and! `- h4 I( K2 m0 P
turn off the engine.
8 Y8 m' v6 ^7 i nFighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
X, ?, G7 }4 P' [/ ROctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
/ p* X! b' t8 \9 k"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
$ `7 M' B4 v7 }( _3 ?) Vsaid. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
# K: m, X; c0 j8 A$ ~8 I) _to her complaints.3 h5 O! U) ~* j3 p. X6 F$ j; ^
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers# q9 Z7 A- B7 C) C0 Y/ t3 g. l
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
, h4 Q. o8 o- [* @# r3 Nmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
y$ R* o6 G+ R0 ~' A$ j"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
1 r! M; p+ [4 x- Kthrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
+ Q K; g' g) j2 z) p"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
1 |) p, H8 w0 P, Qoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
7 j& ]7 ?+ H, j: FTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in2 d! h8 K6 s+ o
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
% K: f8 |; j) \& l |; Hbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls
0 ]+ @( G6 y% Z' k, hwere important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer/ A: l8 I5 }( R# c& z1 b8 x
every question."0 Y: i! K: i: K7 j
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether
! |8 [( p0 M/ f; W* welectronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
, ]2 v& G7 `' \6 E: Z7 vfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
& d% D( X# z+ `+ v! rcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small' n K8 c8 O0 D, H
number of vehicles
6 {0 L' H# S# c: { @. L6 H GTracking down an electrical problem can be far more' }& j0 u3 `- S7 v5 R$ H& ~
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
8 ~- \ u" v: B* o ^- \mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one
+ B# w d6 ^6 ~source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.& P- M C7 B- O& y6 D7 a
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,1 p% u2 U1 `5 d
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
0 y: ^6 _! Q0 K7 A) ~- k8 M. ^trace at all.
6 u& A. A2 g0 [) aHouse investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 L; |' L1 F6 X$ t! ~$ l- S& A
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden1 R% ~, V4 f5 b1 S3 v
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
( \+ d6 s. W O: P6 B' Q$ mrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
1 j3 ^, A) d3 h: x/ h; t( \. LRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% M, I3 f/ _+ x2 I8 Lsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and* w! [) b. Y2 ~. {9 k
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
% l# M* h0 R+ k: n9 [4 |electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
# N" K4 v" Z- @! gcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
; ]- Z5 R% L6 ]: K$ F% s1 W3 fsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
% J, H7 X3 i, G4 q/ K+ }by Toyota's lawyers."4 r4 D5 v4 v B
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of( V( S6 Y+ {) F
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
O+ h/ {/ u" g+ l# N2 j7 H( @customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( ~' d4 e3 X3 g# X* _4 T3 C' _
said.
- j7 \! p4 E- P% f4 _4 I- ~+ M4 z9 G"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with5 B, a l" X* M+ G# i9 j
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
7 n; D* [1 q2 Egood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating# Y8 A6 d" V. J3 P- s3 @
officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
$ H, m" L6 i9 b1 TSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying6 P0 N5 C' {/ V
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread4 x: i8 @0 q; @' G" t6 V! U
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
; Q, r3 V! N# lautomaker, at least in part because of the government's
: I; o$ |0 @2 P+ Hinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
) T2 _5 J. X7 {Chrysler.- g. ?5 |- C/ b( v9 b5 l) C" i
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax7 k4 k t# {; {1 z$ I7 u8 B+ n
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
2 Y; |& [# z: Q1 q) |8 F; K4 uHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
0 e. d4 z4 H: n: u# w& userved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
' V$ z! _5 ~$ d+ r2 Q% W& @with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty H* d8 Y4 P2 V+ R
tough."
% a" o7 h, A* Q7 r) _2 `* c8 X0 Q5 K---
; Q$ v7 E. L! P+ ^& q" uAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom9 k7 @" u% f* N
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
2 e: \* ], D$ f9 bthis story.
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; l4 d2 \: w( Y/ L9 D-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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