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丰田承认换踏板不一定能全部解决加速问题5 W' _4 q: @) q. I* j& r `( c
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS, I" R4 x% r; ~
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.
1 ]4 c% N, S# B$ S) [- U; Q9 Noperations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
$ k0 y( m4 i; y2 R* h5 m4 M; kthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"
$ _; o% @+ s! w; F, L9 k3 rsolve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.. U7 o% U/ {5 L$ k% o
"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
1 o4 b8 E# `) V* Qcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel./ |$ }9 z) s. `# ~2 d
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
& K- ]1 h( J4 n, ]4 e; Y; y: C6 Cacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and# N1 L5 ?( J) D% f
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor; _& J$ I+ n+ i
mats and sticking accelerator pedals.3 H% {0 z1 k3 E" Q
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal
1 v; s: V3 u+ l* I9 Land fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp r: ]3 u% w/ B+ k
criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be
8 L* o' H/ i% `8 W4 d* U. b* |9 Hfurther explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
$ ^/ q" v* d$ z0 R% f3 Enot stop her runaway Lexus.
6 F! a5 y2 q) o8 q# |! o3 D- h9 T% W"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,* n+ z* `$ m2 M0 l% W* W
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second3 n- {9 X2 D* q$ P
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
( H3 k, K9 _8 q8 i: u" a) y5 RTexas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues6 N1 {( l, O5 ^/ ?
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said2 G& l! b5 n! Y2 \# A/ T
"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has! O- V7 A9 ~7 H% i9 T
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway
5 w4 a/ k* Y8 o8 k) a3 Y/ cthrough Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's
8 o h: D) D; q ^4 _investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."7 k2 e" S- V6 s2 W5 p* v4 R
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an5 U) H7 x) s l+ I2 E. W4 C+ o
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of
9 y" @, P5 f) cthe sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
5 t8 a8 B- j S e4 x3 ^, b- l8 kmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he. t$ _/ i& z5 K9 Y
said.0 j9 f9 `$ V/ @5 w: B
As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
7 O9 @- K, e! O7 phappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
- B( x9 A' f; I& c1 qabout driving our products," Lentz said.
$ ^0 Y. t m/ T7 v9 [Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's
( z4 j) a& D$ s; ]+ vproblems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
0 @* x# F/ h, }' }recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6, D; j S9 B, [( e
million in the United States -- since last fall because of
* D7 z8 I0 v5 ^unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking
6 y" t- U4 e+ l" _$ ]4 R: l& yissues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering
3 r, f5 h5 S8 zconcerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of
* i$ D/ M; ]' J# [* P0 B* V. wtheir vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow7 @! C5 W9 J) X. R1 K- S) r* }
down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has/ y A9 [$ T3 t/ ^+ W
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration. J, |/ N6 X/ m( [4 v k
of Toyota vehicles since 2000.# e; N, ?+ W+ [" X- v3 Y: E
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
+ `( y; u' L2 \& Ebrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he* v T. z, k D! g- w1 s/ Z
understood the pain./ z$ O5 ? U( D% N3 m* ~2 S
"I know what those families go through," he said.& } j- ~7 f3 Q
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's; X1 y) U+ Q* s" m( t
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
! x7 p' T \6 F7 X, U% ZBut when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman( c, r/ k: B/ |
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put1 D+ s# x4 f# t6 T/ l$ k
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
|; a! h/ X4 ?: SLentz replied: "Not totally."
X/ P9 x4 B' |7 c. k* zStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
, n/ J2 n3 V4 ^. C% |; ?0 v"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
* l! }7 A. F) z! xToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas% f: {' R6 e# b; j1 }! ~
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its
/ t. Z P% R# |9 B. Ivehicles already on the road.! j$ F2 ]# {2 i6 M. j0 [
Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify0 t3 u' [- r! s6 b
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full: O+ E8 V0 C* W3 p
responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and
$ g- M) ] U; p# Ooffered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
_. l5 x" r( [2 O' ]! r. M. ]killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.7 d. p; W: j) m- o& ~$ @
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a6 J H0 ~9 Y& t
tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony7 b! ?2 K5 k7 v, D' f# ?! J" |
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight
2 P& e. i4 M! _5 N- T lCommittee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal5 b8 {) W8 w$ h
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
2 W9 s5 I! x1 K! v9 erestore the trust of our customers."
$ S0 h% C: [4 w6 g/ a' f0 GLawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from$ s0 p7 M& ]2 o$ r9 @0 b. p
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly$ s% v7 ~4 E Q. f8 ~2 ]: L
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
0 Z* G% W$ b5 G& ~1 ?& Wshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and4 W2 Y4 Q6 {2 `9 }* |
hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
; Z+ \- ~: I- W( Qthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and; _ _) p% O- [1 P0 j6 D
turn off the engine." F0 N9 J1 K6 p0 Y. H! M
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of8 d) N8 g: w7 H3 i
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience.", w0 R) ^6 J( u& T
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she
( Z% Q1 K, i( s0 h) }& [said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond; d6 G2 E1 Y* a, j2 T
to her complaints.
1 q+ b: ~! A. J y3 s9 `& oIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers: e, P) D% ^- O* v' Z0 d
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic
6 g o" D2 [4 I: q K$ lmalfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.7 g# z' c" G- S' S6 c
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
9 z/ Q) \ F8 I3 j& ~4 }- }* ~throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited
# J. q& M3 g* x8 ^/ r3 b9 O h"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut
" \, c: S6 [. e% z1 j8 ]6 {9 uoff or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."- l0 X3 X6 }2 s- D
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in" L! P3 H4 e. u) |3 M- d5 x
prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were" l7 W9 B% k8 W6 o1 Y' K
being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls, b* G/ x" }( ~8 K6 L5 X
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer5 _. @- q, G8 S% R% m
every question.". I4 A, x. S9 N3 H) g
Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether- z% Q" z8 e0 J
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The" f% `3 p& X# z% x4 U: s
firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But
2 ^4 F7 ~8 \2 ucommittee investigators said the testing studied only a small% c$ C S% O) E7 q
number of vehicles
9 R5 B5 z1 X% [ tTracking down an electrical problem can be far more9 R- S2 `$ ~/ H- @
difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a1 M( H0 m ]$ Z" T
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one* Q6 U( D# f6 T. D0 r8 ~* t
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
, U' T/ b& n1 S7 hMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,; x" G; k+ ~3 e* [
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no' W+ J+ K2 L- p, b3 g5 P. p
trace at all.! N4 K- c, S- _3 n- O
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
% X! l6 I$ J# b" x5 W* t/ Tdatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden) |. p5 S' Q; N* V L7 @- V' a
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
1 k! |% ]6 p: o$ j# w+ arecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.% L* m9 n2 l( y0 @& S) Y* G1 K
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
% I5 R+ I7 `- b" m/ vsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and. Q- S7 S9 @ B, S6 r( _+ |
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the
8 L+ T9 t; s+ Q; r: p1 H2 relectronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible
& d9 e8 {+ I' Y- kcause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only2 k$ u/ Z( X/ Q- v
such review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained
+ E9 [. l1 y; {. Jby Toyota's lawyers."( A1 M* K* K0 G. a
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
8 a$ c# j' }- z& b- [. |problems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
* x2 g; U4 ?# r8 \. Hcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he
' ]% Z1 Y5 A2 ^, ~) _said.
2 M Q# m1 J6 ^( ~: U6 X( C"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
" Z( y( i4 `6 g4 T0 oa rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our
$ m" Z. h, r. y( [5 Cgood faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
5 ?, y4 l% u- ?* G# F" Rofficer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc., v2 k8 U8 v$ G3 E" j
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying+ {. L, q, X/ f- E; a7 `
members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
' F: i/ \# [( k3 R7 E; H4 Krancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
1 O/ [( T& l6 E& d4 u/ S; `automaker, at least in part because of the government's
6 C; {- K' F5 Y2 h) x2 qinvestment of billions of dollars in General Motors and Z2 M+ U/ T/ q7 \3 `5 W
Chrysler.& T* O% f) j) m9 r8 ?( K8 \
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax% |: X# ?/ R! G* h, L! Y
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
. H8 E- c5 I% R# B' j% aHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also! s: _, B9 J }( R ^! R5 |
served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete
: k$ m6 b6 h @ W( V) k- n) B6 `with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
3 a4 o! I( c3 k8 `tough."8 R7 M \, T b* {
---
S# O! t; a: ]2 v3 `, @6 YAssociated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom, Z. Z9 J; A8 M- s8 @
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to
: Q/ k6 w6 }7 O: a; Qthis story.
' i: F( Z9 r$ i* ^% ?+ v
# _4 K, P* Y" r& m8 Y& t0 s) }-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
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