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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题' C/ I7 J# C- ?. b" U5 z
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
- R5 c8 L3 [5 A( [' z! y3 }Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
7 u* J/ x6 |) B% \+ Ooperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
1 h4 g1 r3 K+ @* E8 t# ethe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"# G, w1 C2 E7 z8 C) a( @
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.8 s- D1 P. O) t" X9 f2 C
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
6 Y5 C0 L* u3 w8 k4 Q5 {) j0 ^$ Tcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel.) C- d0 u+ r3 a" d8 C3 {
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected$ O: @' T1 Z+ D$ C- @
acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and
: {; V" @3 n9 G5 {% V( [trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor! h3 p# S. C5 R, E
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.
1 w& n+ l+ t' I# pHe insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal8 @3 v8 W: c- \/ J3 x7 y* o
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp7 h8 w/ O( A& r g: j$ p5 ]) g" x
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be# F- F- b' u; t2 x) C) U
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could2 |7 u9 e! \* t1 _+ G: T
not stop her runaway Lexus.# B- i F4 d$ m
"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,
1 H" [4 l& F$ U. Q3 Z$ ^' HTenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second
/ F9 ^$ v; w7 m5 N"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.+ ^& J, ^* i* q
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues; A$ _2 A. d: X" _, c
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
: W; \8 z( \% ]& r Y"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has
1 j+ n8 @5 L3 V: ddone something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway! |; {; @, Z( W- U
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's0 [/ _. G& m, O7 I& A
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."( V. t% F2 q* p) H1 U3 K6 D
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an6 G5 P! R; ?/ K
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
. D# a1 n' Q& w3 S& }. D. sthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
) v3 G4 S s* Z4 `* g* m3 k# {malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he/ W) f" P; M9 q9 \& s1 P2 F
said.
# }6 N1 n& e# `( f6 h) n) f0 ^8 f1 r) LAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
! F/ s% J" ^) N1 S: B5 T) X" Zhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe+ B+ L4 {+ b, j% k
about driving our products," Lentz said.+ ]; {) j* s; i3 a7 J& X# p" r
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
7 y0 B1 z1 b2 e& ?2 W# V$ n7 B) @problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has8 q* \. w- | J2 H6 V5 `
recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6$ n, ^" X5 `& \1 A) E
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
7 l- V; K0 a6 X' E$ kunintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
" V2 ~3 {+ w! m W B- Yissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
+ \9 n y# u& H$ G/ Vconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of/ M0 O8 x7 w, Z" v: m
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
7 e2 w5 P$ @9 ?$ @8 ?7 L9 tdown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has o5 K2 \( b: h/ L+ L! m2 l' k
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration& b, r Z" i k" S: W# t
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.
5 G# ~, l- S- S, m8 p' PLentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own4 t* R9 y0 _7 V" ^/ E O/ {) q
brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- R' h2 I3 c: e+ v1 I+ C2 b
understood the pain.
" Y3 u8 _7 t' Y: f. B# E"I know what those families go through," he said.. X' D x4 i' Q& E; @: O
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's
+ }" r# s3 d9 z1 s5 Pfixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.9 o0 U( f+ [* b0 |
But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman& I- S+ B, d1 L. k
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put9 ~& i* }7 v8 P. [
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,2 l# S. R+ g$ X" C( B3 z9 I
Lentz replied: "Not totally."% x8 F9 y: o8 {' R7 Y8 v7 N
Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were+ g# Y- O( w6 u! V
"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
7 b2 t6 r! b+ wToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas
' v$ U( `4 f: Lpedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its& \& V" _6 r5 I j! i
vehicles already on the road.
3 N; Y- }3 b0 C* {# L9 a Q/ CMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify. ~& E( Q% |' w/ c/ Q/ J8 a
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full1 a) ?4 \( ~% B% w$ Z5 ]) K8 D, a
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
) ?" g7 ]0 k [! ^offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were7 l7 M+ R2 J" d+ V0 F7 y, u b1 l
killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.
- M- [7 F: p$ S"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
; O$ N n$ @& d: i: W8 i7 ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony& z4 g' K% h# Y
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
6 Z& g+ I1 ?% M! i% W; y+ WCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal- `4 N9 x! Z4 F6 M& e% ]1 ]
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to6 J' V/ X4 v1 c+ y
restore the trust of our customers."
5 c7 e0 U0 b: q; w* F9 jLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from4 p* M1 ^' h# @
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly" M4 m( ]; k# E( @+ a
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --. Q8 W6 D" E( p! a+ u% r
shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
5 f7 U3 X1 B1 Bhitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
# ~/ P: c7 Q) m1 d2 @that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
L9 ?: y$ s6 U# T2 z) sturn off the engine.
3 e: A d3 z- N6 ~Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of
8 s9 K) [9 {0 b" POctober 2006, calling it "a near death experience."
# W$ w( a/ ], ["After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she+ j9 S" m" O7 |- i5 H* ?7 f
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond8 r3 e5 C; k$ m- z1 u
to her complaints.& W/ n8 {3 a- ^/ U# e
In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers
0 d2 q% Z3 \* C; D( U# Sreturned again and again to the question of whether electronic l0 C# o% d# }( t
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.
$ S' x/ K$ U6 |0 Y6 b"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric8 s0 t, ?/ S m' ?# t
throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
( B7 B" u! a n4 u+ Y7 ]7 R"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 `0 Y9 \& s! j
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
" j6 c# M5 v3 @Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
: g B# W: C) P* [" J$ h, Lprepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
$ D5 d+ ]9 g1 h& R3 sbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls5 O. \3 T' w" s$ s
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer3 T, s" t0 t) G3 `) ]& o
every question."1 ]5 b3 T3 G, f/ @
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether$ l6 u7 j$ \. ]4 x
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The+ i# q- E9 H$ I4 I
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
( g5 Q' H2 X9 Rcommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small( D* z& |# v; i( e7 U0 }( r
number of vehicles+ \" ~4 k1 f6 } B P" h/ H
Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more
1 Y0 r2 ~5 K1 S$ Jdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a
7 a! O# @- B* N4 Pmechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one/ A2 N$ \8 o0 K1 O) m! ^# u+ L8 |
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.2 ~: D @& q, F# c0 s
Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,' ~) b( t; @. o Q' A4 n9 `
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
" L/ r$ K* G3 ?% {2 n; q0 ^trace at all.5 E1 h3 K \( {1 x' H
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call3 o( z) ~2 a7 I/ ]4 p
database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden, ]& O9 J/ I" g6 g' l
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the; l# x+ e# P$ J$ N9 ~0 y
recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.
" K" ~# R$ @* |& G& p& g' Q VRep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
! o; F& b- r# x Hsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and, M; H8 y( p& C5 N7 u+ H% B
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
8 A) f. A4 J8 \7 a, \1 M4 {& \# ^electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
1 E. x8 H( C! [* p) t; U* mcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
; C9 O; y( F8 O9 asuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
6 X$ @# {' F. Uby Toyota's lawyers."; q" k. |' t; u$ D( W, i3 X5 \
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of9 ~$ |7 W6 B4 w9 q7 r3 c# ~
problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our. E- [% C! ^& \! C
customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
! M' [3 ]( h( q a6 p Qsaid.8 k5 z# f) [8 O8 |
"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with+ e- p3 U# P+ S4 J7 T/ c
a rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our7 a1 w A; E6 b8 P. Y/ V) d
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
& f" t, P# s. T" I$ M" mofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
& j3 E* s5 ]$ T! H% s" [ W4 wSeparately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
9 J" }5 Y+ h. j8 C) K% qmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread: L3 S/ c6 k# C
rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the1 P* e: Q' P- h6 x2 F
automaker, at least in part because of the government's
* T9 c- j3 s& _" uinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and$ x2 D" k$ w- |' m& \& j% y
Chrysler.5 J" [. V+ x0 \
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax
% Y- P& P: W; {: vdollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
* A5 }: b. C4 G& z* p3 nHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
% L6 z! O7 b9 Z% m& jserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete @3 P9 N6 a- S7 s3 z
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
- \) e. y9 c. G3 P* l! I7 E+ v" Ftough."5 P. k8 N0 C$ v7 R/ G, t. a" r L4 z; E
---
6 z+ ?% r/ ~; Q# G: PAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom0 k$ F+ L' @* l/ `
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
7 ?8 S$ Q" K1 v! `( j! z' [* N7 hthis story.8 X/ |3 x2 R! A) L, z4 n. d% X- r
" k7 j- o& D+ r: N
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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