 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS7 s9 E$ y2 q* A& g* c* Y
Washington (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S.* M. f. M; r* `/ I P& d
operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that
6 s& Q% z- ~ E+ G. Q5 n. j; tthe company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally"( l6 O. S4 C3 D6 H" G: h
solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration.
6 q! Z9 @/ u9 T1 \"We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential
9 L% S4 J! T* H" lcauses," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel./ }# l8 u) \; J B
However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected
2 j% J; a& v" c/ u$ Vacceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and. {, x9 ^* C! \( s
trucks was caused by one of two problems -- misplaced floor
, v" Y; F# n4 xmats and sticking accelerator pedals.$ } {; ]# K$ o& S) y. n( a
He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal- Z4 u- |6 j2 J/ e: |% ?
and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp
6 D. E+ v6 ~- g5 w" U- lcriticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be( I" n* g) U, U* _
further explored -- and from a tearful woman driver who could
- f/ P* C) } L p9 knot stop her runaway Lexus.
$ K$ t& }/ _) T9 i"Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville,! P G$ q$ d1 z$ r
Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second- |6 |' g7 b3 {( N8 V
"shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators.
0 B1 A, H) O3 z( y/ \6 |! F1 {Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues/ I2 g- b9 p' |! d
early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said
, Q/ p0 W* y) b# h# e"We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has7 u9 U% F6 C; ^, x. G$ s" X p
done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway- Q5 D' }# L, Z5 H1 z! |
through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's8 m f2 O) w+ o0 m
investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham."2 E# ^/ l$ v8 j( g
Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an0 l" s& F# [# ]4 v' O; t
electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of4 H* m6 N8 P5 d. M: z
the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a
) C7 ]0 B; P, Fmalfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he4 i r& A. g1 q; g; c: }& X, A. p
said.
9 s( B5 I7 r7 L' PAs to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what
9 S# X9 S7 u* ]' j7 ^6 V1 xhappened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe
% ]3 u; H. @2 T1 H1 {6 Dabout driving our products," Lentz said.) Y9 D% ?7 H3 b" ^) C
Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's4 V$ x8 J# N% i- B( A9 A
problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has
, B9 d/ l2 F2 X9 v irecalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide -- more than 6: Q3 r$ r: ?- m/ q
million in the United States -- since last fall because of" ]! q: K$ u9 Z m
unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking; B: [6 q& n9 V2 H: M6 m% N
issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering( h% K# T( Z$ q* B
concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of% n5 i! o1 [6 L+ n
their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow
. j# w: g% a0 Adown, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has1 j8 h9 V8 q% R
received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration
/ M% P( ^" _$ e6 oof Toyota vehicles since 2000.2 \% f) m1 n. h
Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own
" _$ p0 ~1 Q0 ~- o) N0 U8 Kbrother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he- Y r; @6 v6 w
understood the pain.- f0 e Q: _/ I! g: |/ O
"I know what those families go through," he said.- S8 X9 o2 i9 P- c. h2 ^9 L( H
Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's& l, V6 z+ x. A
fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems.
, f" \; _! w/ N* _But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman8 \, n# C0 j( ^$ t) g6 N* q$ s
Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put$ c1 l# G+ l6 o5 c7 @: W
in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it,
1 w$ [5 s' L7 rLentz replied: "Not totally."
! v' U6 j. H; _ tStill, he said chances of unintended accelerations were
3 w& ] y9 y& a) \"very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said
1 h" }# m- y' D9 |5 l( s9 WToyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas; j9 [0 u) V8 r$ A2 Q
pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its: f0 \( [# k, Z0 L, c" r2 {, t. s
vehicles already on the road.
7 }6 E1 O- I1 y, kMeanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify* Z8 f$ i" f2 L2 m
before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full
# Q _; D8 u1 o9 Wresponsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and8 a5 _* |/ W& ~# t3 H5 k4 y
offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were
2 V4 S0 f2 u" Ukilled in late August, reigniting interest in the problems.! U; j2 V' [$ q2 O% i
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a
' s/ u: e J7 t5 e* w% [- ftragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony! I$ ^' [) ~5 u
for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight# }( T/ W0 U4 ?. K: {* g
Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal9 j* Z; g) p6 D) |( v0 z! p W
commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to
- l& _& R3 o% |" |restore the trust of our customers."% V( d2 O& L) d. H' ^* @
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, deion from+ c" B% n/ o( F) e0 G4 m8 h. E5 i4 R
Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly6 X o/ n+ C! L$ l7 C4 O
zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop --
2 o" L; b' y: a/ ]+ S3 s$ sshifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and
7 p$ a" y% J0 m, L# h2 h$ X% `hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough
& A8 p: ]1 M. x. k+ z4 I4 e: Cthat she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and
- G* C3 o- n; P8 i2 ^turn off the engine.8 `- S4 C+ [0 X1 p& |# Z
Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of( ~' ^# q0 I4 |# e
October 2006, calling it "a near death experience."7 u0 t' n( H/ o% y7 h' r
"After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she8 c$ {* b9 S0 b( O
said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond
& ^0 P4 t2 l/ U7 [9 R/ _to her complaints.
4 T. h( M) ]# B/ h& KIn an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers, M3 }, N/ o u
returned again and again to the question of whether electronic% k6 d. p6 ?9 t) I' I$ h5 c( }; t
malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars.! I% b3 C) u' }6 t' K7 P7 X# S
"We are confident that no problems exist with the electric
" _0 h3 _) F/ m- r8 othrottle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited. _9 I! E( i4 ?5 D; A, U6 h. p
"fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut9 L" _4 B) A7 H5 N
off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure."
6 _" y$ P7 [8 I/ j& {; kTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel in
+ G. j9 ]" c, W! ]" O* t r3 q& \prepared testimony that possible electronics problems were
5 g1 c; x! ]1 r6 s3 i( i! Tbeing looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls* \5 G1 r( U( ?' v
were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer
+ T& H0 I1 O; P S! cevery question."
( h. u1 V# b, W7 pToyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether+ ]8 ?1 a2 x1 |+ B0 K
electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The
# c9 B" M3 Q4 m% Y! C% L. tfirm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But& D8 t+ D+ F+ {* B/ N( t! d# t" f
committee investigators said the testing studied only a small
( y" _% ^- z$ l# k/ snumber of vehicles
" `, x9 q7 X7 M% q7 wTracking down an electrical problem can be far more
+ G0 y: I& I" C$ [- N3 U" c% Gdifficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a! `$ B4 R6 G7 q0 A) U" U
mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one$ z' |' f; k+ I& p8 Z+ r# B
source, and they can come from inside or outside the car.
; F& K6 u* d; K& f% M) ^. \; P& AMechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage,/ Z. e% t3 q3 {3 d7 z' H
where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no
3 m( h% e: }2 gtrace at all.6 h5 F2 D; ^8 }2 r
House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call
; J1 P8 ?8 E8 ^( g2 ~# Ddatabase found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden& ^ O F2 v" C5 X6 V1 H6 c) a
acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the
3 a& q# {1 i1 ~( e- `8 mrecalls over floor mats or sticky pedals.0 k* k% g. a ~, _$ j
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee,
& h+ Z: x5 P6 b. j6 B% Lsaid Toyota "misled the American public by saying that they and6 }5 d: f( t/ Y7 `* ~8 r3 q$ @
other independent sources had thoroughly analyzed the; d3 T7 S9 t; G1 {. f
electronics systems and eliminated electronics as a possible5 B5 ~6 U6 J6 [6 i- A6 i$ I: W1 B
cause of sudden unintended acceleration when, in fact, the only
* X+ d. H M' i9 G5 nsuch review was a flawed study conducted by a company retained+ ~+ H* W9 l1 ]7 _; U9 T
by Toyota's lawyers."/ z9 q5 w# _% {; O
Lentz apologized anew for the company's slow handling of
/ ?# o5 c1 |( X+ q: Wproblems. "We have not lived up to the high standards our
4 _- J8 d9 y! d1 pcustomers and the public have come to expect from Toyota," he( `6 ?& ^. _: U$ f* Q* w& ^8 R
said.
; R( ]+ _: R. I5 \6 Q6 {+ T"Put simply, it has taken us too long to come to grips with
. H# t) f z$ H: c9 ua rare but serious set of safety issues, despite all of our* S3 u# |# X6 o& y5 P" m6 R
good faith efforts," said Lentz, president and chief operating
" e; o( ~/ X. f# _3 m _officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc. W9 y* d. |+ U% a& `- U
Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying
- G. Q8 k+ D& i. |5 }% m' Jmembers of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread
- y8 i2 y2 B2 K: N' w- O, g- Wrancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the
* c" I( D0 o/ g: p8 C/ e2 Mautomaker, at least in part because of the government's& J6 t* `" ]7 S8 }6 g* A
investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and
: p( b, L) k, p: ^Chrysler.) \: i8 `& ]( W5 f& n
"That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax/ s. s3 |& \8 ]* `9 g6 q- H
dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a
" E7 O8 S) w' l) N% RHouston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also
% N8 @1 s) F4 t6 lserved as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete9 h! u/ r8 B/ j. V# z! P9 a
with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty
0 h7 T0 p; c9 j5 I. t, O; h# Y! btough."' T# K5 m/ C% Y7 m+ \' W: i6 Y
---
5 ^6 `: Q0 B+ f9 L* U" [7 [Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Stephen Manning and Tom! a+ ~; w# Q7 m) b: ^+ L
Raum in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to9 j& D! r0 Z) V2 _/ C' D; p. V
this story.# y+ g" U* t: W6 I& c. r
0 u K* T# H3 v% j' Z! V
-0- Feb/23/2010 21:04 GMT |
|